This was the third year in a row, following the great Christmas Day departure of 2008, that the Murphy Christmas gathering did not take place on the holiday itself. Whether I like it or not, this seems to be the wave of the future. So far the gathering has been pushed forward only a maximum of two days after the holiday, but I shudder to think what will happen when Christmas comes on an early weekday. But despite the non-holiday status of the gathering, these parties seem to be just as fun as they always have. This year my Mom hosted again (the first Christmas gathering she’s had since 2007) to a packed capacity house. This one came a little bit earlier than normal also. It began at 1pm, so folks who were going to work the next day would have time for the Sunday-evening-wind-down.
In attendance at the get-together were: Grandpa Murphy, Diana & Tom, Cathy, Lori & Shane and Brandon, Abbey, and Elise, Debby & Mike and Bradley, Mom & Bob, Dad, Ashleigh and me, Denise & Aaron and Adam and Megan, Bryan & Erine, Bob’s sister Sherry and her husband Dave, Bev & Ed, Susan & Charles and Charley and Sam, Chris & Sarah and Livi, Karen & Joe and Andrew, Abby, and Allie, Jim & Jan and Eric, Darlene & Bob, Jacob & Lauren, and Zac – who was in the prime of his lewdness.
Guess what Grandpa was doing when I arrived
Once again, there was a huge array of gourmet snacks and meal delicacies. I attacked with a vengeance. There was shrimp, pretzels and crackers and chips, with cheese dips, sweet dip, cream cheese dip, and buffalo dip, ham and turkey sandwiches, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, cheese potatoes, orange jello, cranberry sauce, green beans with bacon and mushrooms, baked beans, and an entire table full of dessert goodness.
Chris and Livi perform the traditional cleansing of the finger Christmas ritual
Me, Chris, Livi, Sarah, Debby, and the younger Brad
This was the dessert table. And we saw that it was good.
Bob won the award for “Most Unlikely Location at Which to Consume a Christmas Dinner”
I circulated the house, joining as many conversations as possible, spending lots of time with Chris and Sarah, who were visiting from their new home in Colorado Springs. I also talked quite a bit with Lauren and Jacob, Zac, and Denise and Dad.
Throughout the house, there was a flurry of activity that included Chris and Bev at the pool table, constant Wii activity with Grandpa, Aaron, Adam, and Andrew, a White Elephant gift exchange, a hunt for Aaron and Ashleigh who had separately crawled off to different areas of the house to take naps, eating more, and witnessing some sort of Grandpa-intervention of an undetermined nature.
Bev lays waste to Chris in their first game of pocket billiards
A quick air hockey break for Elise and Abbey
Jim, Eric, Jan, and Shane watch football, while Ed plots a bank robbery
A mass of children gather around Sarah to hear an Italian art parable
Denise uses the toilet inappropriately
The first of several dynamic duos: Ashleigh and Adam
Cathy and Lori, sitting side by side next to each other
Jacob and Lauren, smiling like they cared
Bob and Mom, in a rare moment without food in their mouths
Denise and Dad. Third time’s the charm in getting a pic of Denise with her eyelids unglued.
Susan: “This is the word map“. Karen: “Our Dad likes those.”
Andrew and the Wii remote control. Pals until the end.
As Erine, Dave, and Sherrie can attest to, Bryan hasn’t been the same since he tried to change his car battery with his teeth
Abby, Karen, and Allie AKA AKA
Darlene tries to come up with a way to swipe the wine from Diana
The annual Christmas scavenger hunt to find sleeping people commences. Denise locates Aaron among the stuffed animals.
I find Ashleigh up in the attic
Denise finds a sleeping Megan and plucks her from her slumber
Branden, Shane, and Lori get ready to depart the premesis
Elise observes the White Elephant gift exchange with her Grandpa
Megan is finally stirred to action – and is sporting her third Christmas dress
Zac’s unfathomable lewdness rises to the surface as he tongues the Christmas blanket that he was currently holding in the White Elephant gift exchange
Denise gets suckered into the Wii game
Adam’s famous Christmas optical illusion: the table of incomprehesible balance
All Grandpa’s children descend on him to question him as to why he was not wearing the ‘Merry Frickin’ Christmas’ sweatshirt this year
Adam locked in the Uncle Brad prisoner clutch
My first attempt at fulfilling Mom’s request to take a photo of her and Bob in front of the tree
The second attempt at the picture. I think I like the first one better.
And last but not least, the 2010 very special Christmas edition of The Bob and Tom Show. In tonight’s episode, Tom discounts Bob’s performance as a mime in a glass box.
I was having so much fun that I stayed until almost 7pm, by which time the last of the guests had cleared out about a half-hour earlier. I ate my final ham and swiss on rye of the holiday season and headed home to catch up on some Barney Miller and start watching Roman Holiday. It was cold, wintry, and there were snow flurries in the air. We had been blessed with a white Christmas, without experiencing horrible road conditions.
On Monday, it would be back to work as usual, and I would quietly wind down 2010 having indoor fun with my TV and computer.
Life will (presumably) continue in 2011…
1) The degree of Zac’s lewdness is staggering. I’m simply stunned by it. I’m shocked that it took place at an official F*rrell / Murphy gathering.
2) The Table of Incomprehensible Balance is incredible. I want one. But is it as incomprehensible as Zac’s lewdness?
3) I’m glad to see that Grandpa Murphy was appropriately interrogated about not wearing his ‘Merry Frickin’ Christmas’ sweatshirt this year. It’s absence has been bothering me for the entire 2010 Holiday Season. What was his response / reasoning? Perhaps it was in protest of Zac’s recondite lewdness? Or something else?
Peter
January 1st, 2011
Joe Bradley
Via Margutta, 51.
Now you’ve seen all the sights in person.
You’re welcome.
Chris
January 4th, 2011