Hot Pot Saturday!

To clarify on some things... My "Lit Family" consists of two sons, a mom, a dad, and a (MIA) grandfather.

Me = husband/dad

Patrick (Patty) = wife/mom
Jessica (Justin) = son
Stephanie (Stephen) = son
Lily = grandfather

Rarely do I see pictures of a family consisted of two sons (not a daughter and a son)

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Saturday started out quite boring, as I got out of bed around lunch when my dad was telling me to get out of bed. It was around 11 and he had me get ready and go outside to put up the Christmas lights before lunch.

I went out and and set up those lights, hanging them they way they're supposed to be hung, wrapping them around the small prickly tree on our front lawn, and finishing it up by hanging a wreath on our front door. So now our house looks like its in the holiday spirit, but there still needs some work on the Christmas tree inside ;).

I ate a light lunch, knowing that I'll be having an exciting time with my friends at night.

After lunch, Mom heads out to buy some hot pot materials and some food for me to bring to school, and while shes out shopping, I spent several hours cleaning the bathroom. Like my father, I get this need to clean the house for the guests before their arrival, so it's a habit for me. I washed the sink and toilet , cleaned the rug, mopped the floor, wiped the dust off every spot I can visibly see, and "windex-ed" the mirrors. It took quite the time completing the task, but I love the feeling of satisfaction when you're done :).

I just had to take the opportunity to use this picture LOL

Patrick came not too long after I finished and we headed into my room :) and we chilled for a bit, until my dad gets back, telling me to hook the Christmas lights (yes, it hasn't been hooked to an outlet yet) with the extension cord. Again, with all the climbing and hanging, I hung that cord that extends to the outlet in my backyard. And since I'm already outside and in my backyard, I decided to play a little with my "sister" Rena :) (she's a dog). I love it when she, in all her excitement, sits next to me and lays down with her belly facing up, (obviously) asking me to scratch her tummy :).

After a few minutes of that, I went back indoors only to see that my mom has returned with a ton of groceries! I spent another good 10 minutes putting it all away or leaving them out (for the hot pot!).

After finishing all that, I went back into my room and found Patrick watching some SC2 videos, disgusting. I decided to watch a few with him and within a few minutes, another surprise came right at me and into my face. Alan and Heidi were over and we all decided just to hang around in my room, talking with each other, laughing, and playing games. I was with them for a bit, but I had other things to do before the other guests arrive later that night, so I went out with my mom to return those ornaments and decorations, as well as buy more lights and... cheaper decorations for the tree.

By the time I got back home, I realized Heidi and Alan had already gone. My wife on the other hand was sleeping or attempting to sleep before Tina had gotten to my house (before me). When I got back, I finished wrapping the lights and the... streamer-like decors(?) around the Christmas tree, then I was going to put on the other small ornaments, but I realized there were just too many for myself to put on, so I went into the room and invited Tina and Patrick to help decorate the tree. Before we were halfway done with the decorations, Stephanie pops through the door and helps us decorate.

My Christmas Tree :)

We even decided to wrap a few empty boxes to make the tree look nicer overall :). As they were wrapping, I was in my room decorating the stocking with "The **** Family" printed on it in green and gold glitter glue letters :P. Sadly, by the time I hung it up next to the tree, the "m" in family transformed into a "n," so it reads fanily now :).

By the time we finished decorating our corner of the living room, Jessica waltzes in through the door, and we all playfully complain about her absence. LOL. After a bit of talking and chumming and hearing Tina's "so cute!" comments about MY wife, it was time to eat hot pot.

Note: Tina is not in our lit family, and she is more of a creeper than I am when I call Patrick my wife. She took several candid photos of Patrick, while commenting how cute and adorable he is. LOL.

I must say, this is perhaps the most exciting hot pot I've had with friends. Jessica and Patrick sat on opposite ends of the table. Stephen sat across from me, and Tina sat across from my brother. We all had Patrick say the prayers before we chowed down with the enoki mushrooms, beef, chicken, pork, tofu, and other vegetables cooked in spicy/non-spicy soup :).

I don't want to type our conversation, but there was a heated "dispute" between the two sons of the lit family as they fought for the mushrooms. LOL. "I'm putting a lot in so you can't have any." And I see Justin grabbing a ton of enoki mushroom and throwing it into her non-spicy side of the soup. During the time we were cooking the vegetables and mushrooms, we took several pictures and in one of these photos, Justin was staring at the hot pot like she was itching to "NOM NOM NOM" those mushrooms. LOL.

Patrick and Tina were the first ones to leave after eating. While they were gone, my two sons and I would spend the remaining time camera-whoring with note cards and our delicious facial expressions. We spammed our MIA (missing in action) grandfather's wall with countless photos with cards labeled "porn." LOL.

For those who were wondering, those note cards were used several months ago when Justin, Lily, and I had an oovoo session. After a bit of talking, Lily began laughing randomly, so Justin and I immediately assumed she was watching porn, so we made note cards and took pictures. LOL. In our pictures, you'd see the word "porn" and an arrow pointed towards Lily or other cards with "stop watching porn" written on them.

Stephen had to leave after, so it was just Justin and me remaining. We spent all the time between now and the time she leaves taking pictures and posting it on Stephen's wall, nearly filling up her Facebook wall!

Once everyone was gone and everything died down, I decided to relax at home and sleep a little early tonight (tired having guests over), but it didn't end there. I was told to go to Josh's house midnight to spend the night. I arranged all the rides and time with my parents, so they allowed me to take the car. I arrived at his place around 1 in the morning, and spent the next few hours playing my computer, while they played theirs.

It was now 6 in the morning and I felt the need to sleep, I wanted to stay, but I knew I had to wake up in a few hours. From my past experiences, I knew that I would not wake up at 10 and I would experience a major allergy attack (from Josh's cat) by the time I got up, so with those in mind, I decided to head on home and sleep in my comfortable bed.

-Jeffjeff

&&Excuse my poor English :) I'm horrible when it comes to writing stories, but I'm hoping to slowly improve on that ;)

&&Today was the day I had a test for Government. After several weeks of ditching class, I finally attended and realized I knew nothing about the government and how it works. I sat there diligently listening to the teacher as she said, "Today, you'll have to write a one page paper that reflects the question in the discussion." I thought to myself, "What discussion? How do I find the prompt?" I looked around and saw a few students opening up their books and I realized that the discussion is located at the conclusion of the chapter, and I would have to choose one question to answer. I looked at the text, feeling the stress and powerful emotions overpowering me, and... I woke up, looking at my clock, thinking, "Oh shit! I have a Government test today!" But then it came to me, I don't take government (I used to during my senior year in high school), but I still felt the overwhelming stressfulness conveyed through my dream... I'm still not quite in "school mode" just yet.

&&Love my Lit family and Tina :)