Christmas Eve

Ok, so yesterday turned out not to be so bad after all. Traffic was pretty light, for a change, which did help my mood.

Got to see my brother Mark who drove in from Texas for the holidays. It's only about 1800 miles from here to there (one way). Also finally got to see my cousin's baby who is just 5 months old. So the baby and my 20-year-old are second cousins. Not so weird since my cousin wasn't born until I was 16.

The family tradition is to eat in the late afternoon and open gifts after it gets dark, but because my aunt and uncle and cousins had to leave early to get to another engagement, we ate around 2-3pm and then opened presents. We were done with all of that around 5pm, which left my two nephews plenty of time to start playing with their toys while the adults had dessert and chatted and played with the baby.

We left my folks' house at about 7:30, got home an hour later, and let the kids open their presents from us. My wife and I decided to open our gifts later today (after the kids are back at their dad's) but we did exchange one gift last night. She has been dying for a Furby - she used to have one, which was lost when she lost her storage unit. I tried to find one last year (no luck) and for her birthday (no luck again) so I had grabbed this one up a few weeks ago and hidden it in the back of the car until I could get it upstairs to wrap it. The delighted look on her face was worth every bit of searching!

We were actually in bed before midnight. When's the last time that happened on Christmas Eve? No bikes to put together or Santa gifts to set out under the tree.

Holiday Spirit, where are you?

It's been pretty hectic the last couple of weeks, trying to get everything ready for Solstice and Christmas. Baking (thanks, Wifey!), filling orders, standing in line at the post office, shopping, wrapping, rituals, and oh yeah, working too. When I finally had a chance to go and get a tree last night, everyone was sold out! Sigh.... I really love having a real tree -- the fragrances fill the house and the lights play on the ceiling and the ornaments sparkle, and you have to run and catch it every 5 minutes because the cat is climbing up the trunk! Maybe we can spritz a little pine essential oil in the air...

I've had a harder time than usual getting into the "holiday spirit" this year. Is it because there's no tree in the living room? because I'm so tired? or perhaps because it's been 85 degrees here all week? Maybe I'll catch a little of it later today. We're picking up the kids from their dad's around noon, then heading off to my parents' home where there will be food, a tree, presents, and small children who still get so excited about Santa (my kids are WAY beyond that age). Then tomorrow, we'll take the kids back to their dad's in the morning and head to the beach for the annual Christmas day beachwalk ritual. I started that tradition about 8 or 9 years ago. The beach is pretty deserted on Christmas morning! In the afternoon, we're going to a friend's home for Reiki and nosh, a good way to spend the day.

Meme - What Drink Are you?

You Are a Martini

There's no other way to say it: you're a total lush. You hold your liquor well, and you hold a lot of it!

What Mixed Drink Are You?

Traveling Child

Finally! After four long months in Japan, my oldest daughter comes back home today. (That's her with her brother Mark)

Shellynne has been in Tokyo doing a semester abroad, which is required for her major (International Relations). I've only been able to talk to her online (occassionally) because of the costs of phone calls and the time difference (16 hours). She has a travelblog. She hasn't posted as much or as often as I would have liked, but there are lots of pictures of her adventures. I'm sure she has lots of stories to tell, too.

Welcome home, Shellynne! I've missed you!

Driven

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I've just been too exhausted when I get home from work -- the traffic seems to get worse every day! It's just not right for it to take 2 hours to go 38 miles when it's not raining. And did I mention my Jeep has standard transmission? That's right -- foot on the clutch for two hours straight. Much as I hate to admit it, my next car will have to be an automatic. I've never owned an automatic. It's a thing of pride to be able to drive a stick! I remember when I bought my Jeep Cherokee, I told the dealer that I wanted manual transmission. He looked at me like I was high! I guess not too many women ask for that, huh? But after all these years of driving in LA, my knee just can't take it anymore, so I'll have to swallow my pride and go for the automatic. Sigh.

I really love my Jeep. It's a 1994 Jeep Cherokee Sport, the first car I ever bought new. It's been a great vehicle. It's driven to New Mexico (twice), Utah, Northern California (many times), and Lake Tahoe. It's great for two adults and three kids, and boy can I shove a lot of gear in the back! Did I mention it's got over 253,000 miles on it? Unfortunately, it's starting to need major repairs to keep it running, and I'm not going to be able to keep it much longer. Sparky's gonna have to put out to pasture someday soon.

They don't make Jeep Cherokees anymore.

So now I have to find a replacement that's something totally different, yet still fits five adults (three of them used to be the aforementioned kids) and lots of gear, with automatic transmission, good gas mileage and affordable payments. After doing some comparisons, and checking out Elfkat's new baby, we've settled on a PT Cruiser. I'm just praying Sparky holds up until we can come up with the deposit.

Poor Sparky.