So last Thurs. I went to Jon's gig which was pretty sedate, there not being a huge crowd there that night. I sat in the back by the dartboards and painted my nails, drank my 2 glasses of wine, and played "Scrabble" on the iPhone. And I had told Jon under no circumstances was I going to play! I said I'd play, but only if I got a taste of the gig, heh heh. I was off duty and ready to relax. Naturally the bassist, a friend of ours, wanted me to play and of course the answer was Nyet!
Fri. we slept in, way too late unfortunately b/c I only had time to rush home after we went out for breakfast tacos to make 2 batches of sausage balls as opposed to my 4 batches. But then we headed to Baytown a couple hours before evening church service to help his mom w/the food and cooking and whatnot. Jon put me in charge of shredding the chicken, just as I'd done at Tamalepalooza, hardy har har! Then his niece showed up and we headed to the church. After the service we ran into his aunt/uncle/cousins, then repaired to his mom's house for their Christmas Eve festivities. His sister finally got in from her flight from Chicago and his other sisters showed up and various other nieces/nephews, etc., plus Jon's dad at one point. It was fun and our chicken soup was a huge hit and it was just a good time. At midnight is when they opened presents and people finally started to trickle out. When saying goodbye to his aunt she told me to call her "Aunt Rosie" and his cousins kissed me and said "Welcome to the family." Aww! Jon's mom also had gotten me a pashmina of different shades of blue and a watch bracelet. I was touched, and I really really love pashminas and want to get them in all different colors! We didn't get to sleep until after 3am.
Sat. we slept in as much as possible, and fortunately I still had enough sausage balls leftover to take to my aunt's house, so I didn't have to wake up early and make more. Jon and I rushed to my house to get my presents for them and it was then that I said Jon and I could exchange gifts. I hadn't wanted to exchange gifts in front of everyone, I'd wanted it to be private. Jon handed me a big box and apologized for not wrapping it. It looked like a boot box. It WAS a boot box!!! He'd gotten me the beautiful red ostrich boots I'd tried on the day we took him to the Dr. a couple weeks ago. A couple of tears squeezed out, I was so surprised and touched. I couldn't believe he got me those beautiful boots! It was The. Perfect. Gift!!! (I'd gotten him 2 nice black leather-esque photo albums for his many print photos that he still keeps in Walgreen's photo envelopes [I know these things can be scanned and digitized but let's face it, that's a huge project and one that he's not likely to do anytime soon] and some Sensual Amber body butter b/c I have some and he likes the scent and he uses body butter on his dry skin patches. I also got him a gift certificate to the movie theater so we can go see True Grit and I also bought a very cute, very sexy naughty schoolgirl outfit for me to wear for him. I gave him the movie cert. at my aunt's house later that day and put on the naughty schoolgirl for him last night when we were finally alone at my house. [He LOVED it!])
We headed to pick up pater familias where he gave me my present (the old timey-Blues Calendar that he gives me every year that I love--it's my wall calendar at Job #1 and it also comes w/a CD! He also gave me a mix CD that he made and gave Jon a copy as well) and then we were off to my aunt's house. We ate, opened presents, took pictures, Jon dozed off on the couch for a few minutes. It was a typical Christmas! We were ready to head back to Baytown around 6pm and my uncle told Jon "Welcome to the family!"
Back in Baytown his mom and sisters and nephew were eating but I was too stuffed, though I did have some banana pudding, mmm! Jon and I then got out the guitars and began fooling around with a melody he came up with. Then I offered to show him the songs I'd identified for me to sing as he'd asked me to find. I showed him Taj Mahal's "I Rode Some" and he loved it! (I was nervous singing but I figured I'd better just get over it and pretend I wasn't nervous and just plunge right in and do it. Fake it til you make it, baby.) Then I showed him "Rock Salt and Nails" as done by Levon Helm. Then we did "These Arms of Mine" as done by Roy Buchanan. We also worked on "She's Into Something" as done by Robert Cray, Albert Collins, and Johnny Copeland. It was fun, if a bit nerve wracking, to work up songs sung by me, but Jon was nothing but encouraging and he wanted to play the Taj several times!!! He certainly has a lot of confidence in me!
Sunday a.m. Jon made breakfast for us, eggs w/the leftover sausage I'd brought for the sausage balls I didn't have to make. His sister had to go to the Galleria to make an exchange and Jon wanted to spend time w/her so I said we could forego the documentary at the MFAH. Jon's mom and other sister and niece also planned to go, but I didn't see how we could fit 6 people in any of their cars. Jon insisted we could, saying "We're Mexican!" and in the end, we took his car and I had to ride lying down in the back of his Dodge Magnum. Guess he showed me! (His 19-yo niece had offered first, and attempted it but she's 5'10" and I refused to let her when it was clear I'd fit better back there.) It was fine back there, I just lay down and played on my iPhone and the girls were complimenting me for taking one for the team. We dropped them all off at the mall and Jon took me to Crave Cupcakes for being a good sport! I got cranberry orange, yum, and then we ran by his house to get some needed items, including my iPod. After we picked them all up from the mall I even managed to catch a quick nap on the way back to Baytown!
The evening was taken up by going to the wake for his great-aunt that had died last week. I got to meet more relatives, and then we sat through the rosary. The rosary always makes me mellow--I get a lot of thinking done during it. Then we went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant w/his mom, sisters and niece and nephew, then back at Jon's mom's house Jon and I got out the guitars and practiced some more.
Monday we slept way in again--much needed!--and Jon made breakfast for us again. We got ready for the funeral and headed out to it. On Sunday Jon and I weren't sure we'd go to the funeral but then we decided to since if we hadn't his mom would have had to go alone. It was soooo cold all weekend long and Monday was no exception. At the cemetery we huddled with his aunt and uncle and his mom's cousin and I was wrenched between Jon and his mom! Then we went to the local community center for post-funeral camaraderie and barbeque. And dessert! I met way more Jon relatives, mostly cousins. Finally it was time to take his mom home, pack up our shit, and head home to Houston. It had been a really fun weekend and we ended it with a slow romantic night at my house last night.
Tonight I'm taking Jon to see True Grit since this is his only night free this week. He's playing Weds. night, Thurs. night, and of course Fri. is his NYE gig. He just found out their bass player is coming into town tomorrow and has been assigned to stay w/Jon at his house, so I told Jon to just stay w/me all week and he agreed. I'll enjoy that, not having to trade nights between our 2 places like we usually do!
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