Eels From the Trunk & Other Christmas Party Stuff

So, first of all, I realize that I didn't say much about my trip home to Minnesota. It was nice. I was thinking this morning that it was nice...I didn't have any arguments with my sister, which sometimes happens when we're in the same room. It never happens on the phone, just occasionally when we're within 10' of each other. Also, I was thinking that I really enjoyed talking to Eli almost every day while I was in St. James. I will be the first to admit that I don't do nearly as good a job at keeping in touch with him as I do with Gen, so it was nice to get time with him too.

Oh, and my new nephews are wonderful as are my nieces, too. And that one old nephew is pretty good (that would be Sam). Now we have just one more new nephew to meet at some point and we'll be all up-to-date on the meeting of new nephews and nieces. No more babies until we get home, OK guys? I have a feeling Heidi will agree to that, but I'm not so sure about the rest of you all...

I got to spend some time in the Cities, some time in St. James, Mankato, Jackson, Austin. I even got down into Iowa for a couple of hours. I shopped at the Mall of America and Target...I think I was at Target a grand total of five times (it's never enough). We went to the Olive Garden once and the Dairy Queen three times, went to the Minnesota Children's Museum and the Holidazzle Parade.

Bottom line: we had a wonderful time. A big THANK YOU to everyone who spent time with us or opened up their homes. It is much appreciated. Hopefully Jan has finished cleaning all the little fingerprints off of everything and putting her bear collection back into its correct order.

Now you're wondering about the title and specifically the reference to eels. Well, we had the SOCEUR Christmas bash on Friday. Hans and I were able to barter with a friend to watch the kids, so we got dolled up and away we went. It wasn't the best Christmas party I've ever been to, but I have to say that it was one of the least stressful. I kind of forgot about it since I had been in the US, so I didn't have time to worry about finding a great dress. I pulled one out of the closet. Shoes? I didn't have any and didn't intend to spend much on shoes for one little party, so I went to our thrift store and found a pair of $10 Eddie Bauer slingbacks. Perfect and the lady shopping next to me gave me the hint to re-consign them, so in a move I feel sure will make FP Gal proud, I plan on taking them back to consign on Monday.

Anyway, Hans and I usually get stressed because we're a little socially averse, which leads to two tense people snapping each other's heads off. But for some reason, we were relaxed and had a great time. I met a lot of the people that Hans works with, though if you asked me, I probably couldn't keep many of them straight, namewise. The champagne was flowing and the food was great and best of all, we had the excuse of the babysitter needing to be relieved and left before 10:00 p.m. Back to our cave.

So, still wondering, right? One of Hans' co-workers just moved here from embassy duty in Lithuania. His wife was telling me about how she was always having people approach her in the streets to buy things and that one time, a man motioned her over and tried to sell her live eels out of the trunk of his car.

Bizarre, no?