Communicating over Christmas

We are currently winding down the Christmas holidays with one more set of family members here until tomorrow.  Over the past week, almost every one of Dave's siblings and their families have been with us in Tucson.  What a joy to have so many Arnesons in one household.  
We have eaten ourselves silly and have exercised not nearly as much as we should.  But, on a truly high note, the three Labs have been in Heaven.  They know how to seek out the "most likely to drop a morsel" and sit at that person's feet, lying in wait.
When one of Dave's sisters called to ask what she could bring a couple of weeks ago, Dave and I thought we would still be in Hawaii until the day before the first visitor arrived.  So, he told her, "Maybe bring a pie or some cookies? We have everything else covered."  You know how in that game "Telephone", the message gets distorted as it is passed down the line?  Well, by the time she and her husband had arrived, it took them about five trips to their car to bring in tubs of cookies, four pies, candy, fudge and a partridge in a pear tree.  Okay, you got me.  They didn't really bring fudge.
But suffice it to say, we have eaten well over the past week.  
It just goes to show you how communication can be misconstrued.  One of my favorite stories my parents used to share was when they got invited to the home of another couple one evening for "a pizza pie".  As they told the story, they didn't eat all day, in anticipation of this culinary delight.  
When they arrived at the couple's home, hungry and ready for dinner, they were shocked to find no wafting odors of pizza but rather the invitation to sit down to a "piece of pie" with a cup of coffee.  
Oops!  

Whether you are enjoying a piece of pie, a pizza pie or a plate of fudge this holiday season, I wish you happy communicating with you and yours.