Eight Crazy Nights, Six Crazy Parties

My wife and I are mostly social creatures. It's a double-edged sword though, as it can exhaust us. Nevertheless, a full night's sleep (or five) is all we need to recover. A rundown of our Chanukah runnings-around:

1) Get-together at my brother-in-law's: A nice quiet evening punctuated by children going hog-wild over presents they got, something like these kids.
While there, I espied a New York Times Magazine with a fascinating article blurbed on the cover. I read it in full. Quite thought provoking.
2) Birthday party for my nephew: This was at Build-a-Bear in Manhattan, a veritable bulwark of a fun-house for kids. The place was immense (the picture in the link is to scale, har har). What an incredible business model. (for that matter, what an odd stock symbol that has another meaning entirely!)
3) Get-together at my dad's: A nice loud evening punctuated by shrieks from children who spontaneously combusted when receiving gifts, not receiving gifts, receiving food, not receiving food, getting attention, not getting attention. Heck, just plain existing set these kids off. The decibel count reached lethal levels. Small animals with sensitive hearing died when passing by the house. My ears are still ringing. I was lucky to survive. My story will be featured on the Discovery Channel's "I Shouldn't be Alive."
4) Mad Science show: I've had an appreciation for science since I was a kid and Halley's Comet passed by earth. So I was hoping I could have my daughter absorb some of my appreciation by taking her to a science show presented in my shul. Didn't work, she spent the time jumping up on my lap, jumping off, munching cheerios and pizza, playing with a balloon, running around, saying hi to everyone within a 10 foot radius and ignoring everything happening on stage. Not a science fan yet, but hey, she's 1 1/2, maybe next year. :-)
5) Get-together for my grandfather's 12th siyum haShas: Annually, my mother's side of the family gets together in Williamsburg and refuses to quit yapping while my grandfather finishes Shas yet again. He learns for six hours a night, every night and has done so for many years. I aspire to finish just once, let alone 12 times. I'm in awe, and it's a shame that I seem to be the only one in the room who has any sense of reverence for the accomplishment.
6) Games Night for Couples: In my neighborhood, friends of ours hosted an evening of games-manship with local couples. Get your mind out of the gutter. 'Twas quite fun, though we lost participants quickly (where's everyone going on a Saturday night?). At the outset, I made a gentlemen's bet with the host as to who would be the most competitive player and the sorest loser. There was no sorest loser, fortunately, but gadzooks, I may have been the most competitive player. Okay, maybe not most competitive. Most anal? Definitely. I wear that badge with honor.