merry christmas

Well, it's really Kawanza. But we're in the 12 days of Christmas. So it counts.

For the first time in the 5 years there were NO house projects being finished on Christmas Eve. None. Zilch. The house was even cleaned the day before family came.

The last 5 years, there's been wet paint on at least one wall when family showed up. This year I actually got to relax... to a point.

This was Dustin's family's Christmas. And as much as his mom grates on me (don't all mother-in-laws?) we had a good time. They don't do the traditional meal that most folks (my family included) do. They opt for chili and nachos and more sweets than you can shake a stick at. And this year they added a chocolate fountain that kept tripping our breakers. I've never seen a chocolate fountain. And I never need to see one again. I prefer dark chocolate and these fountains apparently need oily milk chocolate to work. Of the 4 lbs of chocolate that got put in the fountain, about 3.5 went down the drain at the end of the night.

It was a pretty simple year for gifts. I gave Dustin some green glassware that I dislike but he's been oggling for a while. Dustin gave me a cashmere sweater and some new 501s.

And it helped that the 10 inches of snow (which the weather channel reported as a three inch total) made for the first white Christmas in a long time.

We're off to St. Louis a little earlier than planned tomorrow. Mom's hip popped out of socket on Christmas Day. No cutting needed. Apparently a swift kick popped it back in. But mom's gonna need some help.