All Wrapped Up

Kevin has published something like 4 posts since the last time I've posted, which always makes me feel like a slacker. Seems like everytime I sat down to write, nothing immediately came to mind...and then something else would catch my attention and I'd be off and running in a new direction.

We went back to my home in Pennyslvania and had Christmas with my parents and sister and, when there was food to be had, sister's boyfriend. The trip itself was something of an adventure. Since my parents have 2 cats of their own, they saw no problem in our bringing our own two with us. This sounded just fine, until the day or two before we left, when I actually contemplated traveling 5 1/2 hours by car, with two crying furballs in the back. Nevertheless, we set out and all was well for about the first 3 1/2 hours of the trip. We then switched places and I got behind the wheel. Callie, in loyalty to me, I suppose, waited about 5 minutes and then Kevin says, "Uh....She's throwing up." Fortunately, nothing too bad, as far as cat vomit goes and my intrepid husband soon got it cleaned up with the paper towels and plastic grocery bags I had brought along for just such instances. Feeling triumphant, he settled back in his seat, until a few seconds later, a rather unpleasant odor began to move through the cabin. Poor Callie. If it's not one thing, it's another. This time we pulled off at a gas station so that I could clean out the carrier. I laughed until I cried. Callie slept for the remainder of the trip.

Christmas itself was fairly uneventful and enjoyable. My parents, Kevin, and I went to the Christmas Eve mass at the church I grew up in. We got home around 9:00, and my sister (who had been working) and her boyfriend joined us. We stayed up for another 2 hours, making a good dent in the Christmas cookies and drinking hot chocolate. It's tradition in my household that my sister and I always get a new set of pajamas on Christmas Eve, something that my parents have done since we were kids. This year, Kevin was included in the fun, and we all went to bed decked out in our new "duds." In a house of all adults, Christmas morning doesn't start quite as early as it does when we were kids. 4 out of 5 adults were up and drinking and coffee by 9:00. My sister the youngest and least morning person of all of us, joined us at around 10:00. The next hour and a half was a flurry of unwrapping and ooohs and aahhs. Kevin collaborated with my parents to give me a new Ipod Nano and an iHome clock/radio/alarm that I can dock the Ipod in. I'm not usually very "techy", but this is fun! 8 hours of only songs that I like, without commercials, without interruption. Very cool. A late breakfast and early Christmas dinner meant we were all feeling fat and stuffed by 5:00. Kevin and I rounded out the night by playing 3 rounds of chess, a new game for me. The first time, he gave up alot of moves in the process of teaching me the game. The second time, I insisted on no mercy...and lost in 4 moves. By the third time, however, the student gave the teacher a run for his money. So that's another Christmas come and gone. So much more to share, but that will wait till the morning. We're home again, for the night, before leaving again for 3 days in Charlottesville.

Hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours!