First, thanks for the compliments on the Swing Jacket and the Christmas wishes! I've had spotty (well, mostly non-existant) email access lately. My parents aren't very into high speed connections. Life moves slooooowly here.
Anyway, to aid my memory* and share with anyone interested, my holiday thus far:
Saturday:
Steve and I loaded up his car and made the journey to the swamplands. We stopped off somewhere in Alabama (Montgomery, maybe?) and had a tasty lunch and did a bit of shopping. I had this idea that I needed a lap desk for my laptop (you know, the squishy bottom kind?) and we found one at a Target in the pre-teen bedroom section. It's got a shiny silver pillow bottom and a lime green plastic top. Score!
When we got in, my dad handed Steve a drink and then fried up some catfish. We strung lights on the tree and then fell asleep.
Sunday:
Christmas Eve means shopping. We managed to only visit a couple of stores and no trips to the mall--hurray! Steve and I attended 2 masses--the Sunday mass and the Vigil. I'm sure that's not what the Church intended, but we wanted to be able to sleep late Monday. My brother, Mike, and his bride, Mindy, arrived in the afternoon, which was lovely. We're just missing our sister, Emily, and her husband, Kevin.
Sunday night we went to an annual gumbo/party thrown by my nephew's mom, Melissa. The gumbo was really good; Melissa had frozen turkey broth/drippings for her Thanksgiving dinner and used that in the gumbo stock--excellent idea! My nephew, Trey, has started playing the trombone, and a trumpet player was also in attendance, so we had a small concert.
Monday:
Visits to grandparents, lots of food, and gift-giving were the order of the day. I made out like a bandit: Steve got me a Knitting Pattern a Day calendar and the 10th Anniversary edition of the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series. My dad pulled my name in the draw and got me a gift certificate (exactly what I wanted).
Tuesday:
Shopping and errand running with my mom. We had a few family visits: saw my Uncle Matt and family, my Uncle Joseph and his family (including new grandson, Christian--cutie!), and our parent's friends, Grady and Betty, who are really like family to us all. Long day capped off with a Scrabble game. Mindy kicked our asses.
Wednesday:
All I have to say about this day is that I wanted to call the Knitting Hen's therapist. 'Nuff said.
Thursday:
Today I am catching up on a spot of web reading. Steve is out fishing with my dad and Trey. My mom is at a meeting. The house is quiet. I think I'll take a shower and head into town to do some work.
*With any luck, I'll update this post with pictures (and perhaps a video!) when I get to a functional internet connection.
