MoranFest 2017

MoranFest is what the spouses of Morans call the days surrounding Christmas – because it’s all Morans, all the time. I feel compelled to share some highlights with you, dear readers. This year, MoranFest kicked off Thursday with the arrival of the Westport Morans at the home of our matriarch, and the Westerville Morans at our house. While CT had roast at Cecilia’s, we opted for a lighter, sushi dinner with OH, in anticipation of the non-stop eating of the coming days.

Normally, when school is out, I’m a total slacker, but since my SIL, Sara, is also a fan of working out, I took her to my gym for Leg Day on Friday. To repay my kindness, she and Liam (BIL) took me to CrossFit on Saturday. I’m not one for classes, but I figured it’s always good to get out of one’s comfort zone and try new things. Besides, the schedule for the gym we headed to listed a partner WOD (Workout of the Day), which (as I understand it) gives you recovery time as you trade off HIIT activities with a partner. Not too scary sounding.

Surprise! When we got there, we were told of a schedule change, and that we’d be doing the 12 Days of Christmas WOD instead of partner workouts. This meant each individual would perform the following, in progressive sets that parallel the format of the song with the same name as the WOD. Here’s the list (and how I scaled in parens):

It took about 50 minutes. I finished around the same time as Sara (who’s been doing CrossFit for about 3 years), though I may have missed a round along the way. Needless to say, I was totaled for the rest of the day. Apparently, this was not the best way to be introduced to CrossFit and was a very long workout. Not sure if I’ll go back. Maybe. We’ll see.

*Edit: I’ve purchased a 10-punch card for CrossFit Kilter on Groupon. Clearly, I’ve lost my mind.

That afternoon/evening was spent at my MIL’s (sometimes) annual Holiday open house, drinking sidecars, eating Dong-Ah wings (and other goodies) while reconnecting with family and friends we may or may not remember by name.

Despite the punishment of the previous day, I took Sara and Liam back to my gym for a light upper body workout and introduced them to the joy of battle ropes. When we got home, we may have indulged in some leftover Dong-Ah wings (because, protein) before prepping for Christmas Eve at my MIL’s house.

It was a different sort of gift exchange for us this year. We did a White Elephant/Yankee Swap. Somehow, The Girl managed to open the two least appropriate gifts. First, was an axe, courtesy of Uncle Bart (who laughed so hard he turned all shades of red and purple). She held on to it for a while, but eventually it was stolen multiple times and ended up in the hands of one of her teenage cousins. Then, a box of zip ties, drill bits, and a box cutter. Thanks, Uncle, Liam. Thankfully, that was stolen too, and she ended up with a much more appropriate board game. Still, we had so many laughs from that!

I don’t think I have ever been as excited to have an off day from the gym as I was on Christmas Day. After 3 days in a row with that CrossFit nonsense in the middle, I desperately needed the rest. We had a lovely, lazy morning opening stockings (except someone forgot to fill mine) and gifts (or, in a few cases for me, boxes containing Amazon pages of late gifts yet to arrive); eating grilled bacon (the only way to have bacon) and French Toast Casserole.

Hubs used his rotisserie doohickey to make an awesome prime rib roast on the grill, which we enjoyed with Liam’s twice baked potatoes, some green beans almondine, and an awesome (albeit young) bottle of Pride Cab.

The last planned activity of the evening was to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special, but BBC America seemed to be overwhelmed with streaming requests, and we couldn’t get it to run – only a clicking audio sound came from the screen. So, we watched The Crown instead. Not the same, but at least we had Matt Smith.

The Ohio contingency left early the next morning – just before 7am. I must say, they were the absolute easiest house guests, and I’d welcome them back any time. See, Sara – I put it out there in writing on the interwebs, so you know I really mean it! And with that, MoranFest 2017 has come to a close.
Stay tuned in 2018 for more recipes and shenanigans. Until then, I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year!