Holiday Happenings
2004-12-28, 10:25 a.m.

Good morning world! It�s Tuesday, December 28th, A.C.C. (After Christmas Carnage), and after a full day�s recovery I�m feeling a bit more writey.

We managed the triple-drive-by Christmas�WHAM! South Carolina, WHAM! North Carolina, WHAM! Home to Tennessee, a thousand-plus-mile circuit in three days. If it weren�t for the giftly bloated condition of my children, I might not realize Christmas occurred at all. Being the season for miracles, one did make it our way�for the first year ever, we traveled as a family in ONE VEHICLE for Christmas. Gone are the days of hauling overpriced and oversized loot in the pickup because it won�t all fit in the car. As the kidlets get older, the items on their wish list shrink in size (but not in price), so this year we were able to stuff everything in the trunk. Granted, we turned a Bonneville into a low rider, but we made it. And I now declare myself the Mistress of the Artful Packing. Go me.

Son and Daughter received most everything they asked for, which was far more modest than in years past, but they also got enough cash to pool their resources and fund their own small nation. Thoughtful creatures that they are, cash in hand = MUST SPEND SOME IMMEDIATELY. I trotted them to T@rget yesterday where they grew stingier as they passed each aisle. They finally settled on a Pokem*on video game each and horded the rest of their money. Neither one wanted a drink until they verified that it would be paid for out of Mom�s pocket and not their own cash piles. A taxi driver, an open wallet, and a short order cook, yep, that�s what moms are for. Hubby and I got an impressive amount of moola ourselves, and are, what else? Paying bills. If we want any �play money� we�d better sniff around the Monopoly board. That�s as close as we�ll get for awhile.

Ah, no, wait, I DID get to buy a new toy with our Christmas cash. A toaster. Yesterday, as I was preparing Son�s daily dose of waffles, I punched down the lever and FLASH! The toaster was toast. Lest my child starve to death before my very eyes, I got to spend $17.88 and 10 minutes choosing a nifty new toaster. Wheeeeee! What a thrill with Christmas money, a toaster and an American Express bill. Goody.

The Gurus are in Arkansas for a few days and asked us to get their mail and keep an eye on their house, go inside and turn on lights here and there, make it look occupied so the idiot across the street doesn�t get visions of pilfered glory. So of course last night, preparing to install our dryer in our new abode, Hubby dressed the part of Your Friendly Neighborhood Thug and began plundering tools from their garage. Jeans, old dark plaid shirt, black toboggan jammed low over his ears. As he was hauling equipment I expected their moron neighbor to march across and demand her share of the take�didn�t happen, and no cops showed up, so things are OK. Today when he returns the tools is most likely when he�ll be arrested. I hope Santa brought the Gurus some bail money to help us out.

Things are not settling down at all here. We�re getting busier with the new house, preparing to paint and start hustling things inside. I have to take some time to sit down and finish writing Christmas cards. At the rate I�m going, everyone should receive a pleasant holiday greeting sometime in June. Borrowing a bit from TheDevlyn, that risky rascal, should you like to get a card from me, email your address (if I don�t already have it) and it will be on its way. Sometime in the next six months, anyway. If yours arrives sooner, consider yourself to be very, very special.

Must go now. Need more coffee.

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