Thank-a-palooza

I know it's dated, but I just love the suffix palooza. So this year, I was thankful that I got to use it a lot.

The Remlers spent their holiday in Hawkinsville, where all the siblings and all the grand-siblings gathered on McCormick Avenue for the annual family gathering. Typically, the weekend consists of lots of competition, demonstrated by the annual fishapalooza, followed by a shootapalooza. The fishapalooza even includes awards, one for the biggest catch (which is measured by the weight of each contestant's five biggest fish) and the minnow award, (obviously measured by the smallest fish). I am proud to say that Lawson made the Remlers proud by bringing in the minnow award, in spite of having caught a net full of the biggest crappie I've ever seen. Look at that tiny little trophy next to his foot. I couldn't be prouder! Dave and Doug won the fishapalooza with their fine catch of several sizable bass.

Next, the shootapalooza was a non-competitive event this year, but it was just as fun, as the Remlers showed up with a couple of boxes full of dishes acquired from the Goodwill. China makes an excellent target. It's so satisfying to see those platters shatter. Davis got to use his new shotgun, and Dawn demonstrated her fine marksmanship with her favorite 9 Mmmmm.

Other activities generated additional paloozas. For instance, BB had scheduled a picture taking event Thanksgiving morning, which resulted in a photopalooza. The following morning, Jeff and Davis headed down to the creek to test their hunting skills, and they brought back several ducks. That successful venture inspired Davis further, so he took a solo trip that evening and came back with one bird, which he roasted over the bonfire. He had a real duckapalooza. Of course, the family can't be at the farm without burning something. This year, the guys had a field day, first burning a chair and then a tire (which we wouldn't recommend doing every year for ecological reasons), initiating the family flame-a-palooza.

What fun! Unfortunately, Saturday morning, Laken had a brief sickness in the car on the way to see Gretchen's ballet performance. Not only that, but Sydney awoke with a sore throat and headache. For good measure, Nichole took her and Asher to the doctor Monday morning, only to receive a diagnosis of strep throat for both kids. So inadvertently, Thanksgiving weekend also turned into a real germapalooza.

Fortunately, the Remlers were non-participants in that palooza. However, after my P90X rant on Thanksgiving Eve, I went to Hawkinsville only to be told on two or three occasions that I looked really fit. In fact, Angela said my shoulders looked good. Bolstered by some encouragement, I decided to finish out the last week of P90X, which makes the Remler house a continued musclepalooza. I'll submit a final report on that next week.