Ra ra ra ra ra ra

Waiter #1, Waiter #2, Waiter #3: [singing] Deck the halls with boughs of horry, ra ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra.
Chop Suey Palace Owner: No, no, not 'ra ra ra ra', 'la la la la'! Try again.
Waiter #1, Waiter #2, Waiter #3: Deck the halls with boughs of horry, ra ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra.
Chop Suey Palace Owner: No, no! Sing something else.
Waiter #1, Waiter #2, Waiter #3: Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sreigh!


I expect everyone to know EXACTLY where the above quotes are from...c'mon...you know it...A Christmas Story! Well, I was at that same Chinese restaurant last night -- it HAD to be!

MIL's bday is today, so last night all of the local family members took her out to dinner - her choice...thus the scary Chinese restaurant. It's the 'Rents favorite place to go (which in my opinion means that they need to get out more, but I digress), and it's about 100 years old.

I had actually eaten food from there before, but we had it delivered. I wasn't that impressed with the food then, but I thought it might be different if we ordered it and ate it right away - at the restaurant. So, we walk into this ancient place at 7pm last night, and we're the only ones there -- we were probably the only ones who were there all night. The place is OLD, and it smells old, and the owner/hostess/waitress came to greet us from a dark room off the lobby of the building where she'd been doing something on a computer. We were seated and started to peruse the menu. The descriptions sounded wonderful, and I made my choices. FIL ordered his standard appetizer - which turned out to be pretty yummy - crab rangoons.

It's a good thing that the place wasn't busier because it took us 2 hours to eat crab rangoons and our entrees...but we didn't actually mind because we got some GREAT stories out of MIL. I think my jaw hit the table no less than 3 times at what I heard (it's a good thing, too, because it distracted me from my nasty chicken and celery in some weird sauce -- NOT the description from the menu, but whatever).

Come to find out, MIL was engaged to some guy before FIL. She said that she accepted his proposal even though she didn't think she should...no one thought she should, but no one told her that either. Anyway, while she was engaged to this guy, my FIL started as a new preacher at her church...and immediately he set his eyes on her, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS ALREADY ENGAGED. He started calling her house all the time and talking to her at church, and he claims that she was always making eyes at him, too...typical male ego. *smirk*

One of these times that he called her at her home (where she lived with her parents), MIL happened to be out riding her brother's motorcycle (this is when my jaw dropped again -- I had NO idea she was so adventurous), and her mom told FIL to NEVER call again...but, he didn't listen.

At some point, MIL woke up and dumped the first dude and the rest is history -- they dated for 4 months before they got engaged, then got married 8 months after that...and that was 41 years ago! Go Mom!

We had a wonderful evening (aside from the food) -- my nieces brought MIL flowers, B played with the girls, SIL and I got to chat, MIL got great gifts, FIL got his crab rangoon, and BIL had to leave early to sell a car (good news!). All in all, it was a fun evening. MIL even thanked me for coming into B's life and rescuing him from the life of sin that he was leading with all his other girlfriends (that says a lot seeing that I'm from the wrong "denomination").

After we got home and got ready for bed, my little sis called from AL and I chatted with her for a long time while I lounged in bed. Sis and I love each other very ,but we also tend to disagree on a lot of things. Last night, however, we had an awesome talk.

I've mentioned before that she's preggers with her first. She and her hubby work for a great non-profit organization where they DAILY impact the lives of kids. Well, they've been asked to consider an opportunity to further their work with the organization, in Colorado. This is something that they considered months ago, but didn't think would work out so they decided to buy a house in AL and stay down there for a few more years...then they found out they were expecting, and it really seemed like they'd made the right choice.

The house they bought was supposed to close escrow this weekend, they have given their notice on their rental and have to be out by the end of May, and oh yeah, remember she's pregnant and swamped at work. AND THEN, Colorado calls and says, send us your resumes, we think we want you. What??? They were already stressed by about a million things going on in their lives and then this. They love AL, but they are determined to do what God wants them to do -- now, they just have to figure out what that is.

My prayer list has gotten longer and longer as this year has progressed. God is faithful and answers all our prayers (even if the answer isn't what we want to hear), and I'm so grateful that He hears me...my sis is now at the top of my list. She and her hubby have a lot to decide in not much time -- God has already answered prayer because they have extended their escrow on the house they're buying and their landlords have agreed to let them stay through part of June (when before they said NO WAY).

If you guys think about it, say a prayer for Sis and her family...I would appreciate it. I want them to do what God wants them to do, also, but I have to mention that CO is a lot closer to me that AL! =)