Bill's Feast...

How do you describe the love of your life?  He's sweet, caring and thoughtful.  He appreciates me- I hear him say so quite often.  While it's not the point, it's nice for some one to notice your hard work.  He's extremely generous- I can't count the times he's emptied his wallet for someone else.  He's persistent- he'll work on a broken car door lock for two days- emerging triumphant.  He's real- the guys at the prison, where he helps teach a Bible class, like that about him.  Bill's very hardworking, coming home stiff and sore, but his family comes before work.  He's tough. (Something I don't usually mention, but about 9 years ago a virus attacked the nerve that passes through his skull on the left side of his face.  While some of the nerves have grown back, they're not the same and most of his face is paralyzed. If you cover half of his face with your thumb, the face on your left is what he would look like if this hadn't happened.  What a great smile!  Can you imagine how annoying it is to be unable to do a lot of the little things we take for granted- wink, squint, lick your lips, drink from a glass without a straw, chew without chomping on your cheek, pronounce words clearly that involve your lips, laugh without feeling self-conscious, even frown. I know it bothers him but he never complains.  Never. Life has a way of throwing you curveballs and he is so good at making the best of things. He and the older boys have fun joking about it and, on the bright side, he has no wrinkles on the left of his face.) He spoils me, making sure I'm happy.  He puts others before himself- he has a servant's heart.  He freaks when I clean the fridge- he thinks something is wrong if it isn't packed to the brim and will grab his coat and head to the store.  I try to limit that activity- just to soothe him.  He's a take charge kind of guy and knows how to getterdone. Bill is wonderful and we love him pieces.

Bill's Feast had a godfather/good fellas theme.  He stuffed his cheeks and used his best Marlon Brando voice to invite his guests into the feast- kinda funny as I don't think the younger generation understood the connotation.  He decorated the room like one of those clubs where the mafia hangs out with their don.  Red table clothes with tapers jammed into bottles.  Some decks of cards scattered around.  We picked up a Dean Martin greatest hits CD for $5 at Walmart.  I'm lovin' that and it really set the mood for his feast.  He found these enormous root beer mugs at the dollar store for his gifts and had an assortment of soft drinks and juice- along with tea.  He provided Little Cesar's pizza and bread sticks for his meal and then I made a tiramasu for dessert.  Never made one before.  John was suspicious when I had him make a cup and a half of espresso.  All the recipes called for raw eggs.  A whole lot of raw eggs.  Too any people to take that kind of risk, so I improvised with some vanilla pudding and instead of mascarpone cheese I used just plain cream cheese.  And I couldn't find lady finger cookies so I had to use vanilla wafers... see where I'm going with this? I have no idea if there was any resemblance to the real thing, but it was very good all the same. Bill always gives the kids a giant chocolate bar at his feast (he LOVES his chocolate.)  It's tradition.  And every year he tries to make them think that there won't be any chocolate this year.  They never fall for it.  He hides them and they have to figure out where they are.  This year, they were perched on the blades of the ceiling fans. We had such a good time. Peanutbutter would have tasted great with all my children under the same roof...