Dashing through the snow, to a padded-room wonderland...

Ah Christmas! As much as I love the holiday, I'm glad it's over and done with this year. A short play-by-play:

Christmas Eve, T and I went to Ms. Gayle's, like we always do. This year, we asked Angela to accompany us, and her presence made the entire evening more tolerable. It's not that I didn't have a good time -- I did -- but it was a bit odd this year. The tradition has morphed into something very different the last few years, primarily because there are three grandchildren present. What used to be a refuge and gathering of camaraderie for those who really weren't up to spending the time with their birth families has changed into that group of us hanging out with Gayle and her family. It's still great food, lots of laughs, and nice festivities ... just not the same as it used to be. So maybe next year, we'll do something on our own? We shall see.

T and I spent most of Christmas Day in Chesterfield, with my family. My Dad was somewhat under the weather, felled by some flu bug. It's a rare thing -- the man is almost never sick. Mom was the most mobile she's been in quite some time, although she was a bit worried that we'd all notice she hadn't felt like going to the beauty shop earlier in the week. She's had a standing appointment for Friday at 1PM for as long as I can remember. It's always a big deal to her when she's unable to keep her appointment. She looked fine and shouldn't have worried. She also has an issue with allowing others to see her using her walker in the house. I finally got through to her and told her no one thinks "less" of her for using it! In fact, we all feel a little more secure with her mobility when she has the walker (or her cane) to help her. It was good to see my sister Terri (although, the on-again, off-again, and on-yet-again girlfriend was there, and I just don't get that entire mess), and I always enjoy spending some time with my niece, Heather. And Tony and I were both taken with how cute Heather's boyfriend is. They've been together for years, but there was just something about him this year that I'd not noticed in the past ... quite yummy. My other sister Kathy was fine, but a bit on edge, what with all the insanity surrounding her oldest son. Suffice to say -- he's on house arrest for writing bad prescriptions, just had a nasty car accident, and will most likely be paying some heavy consequences for his actions. A very Jerry Springer Christmas, folks.

At least my nephew David, Kathy's youngest, was still sane and, in fact, quite grown up this year. He's 14, but acts older ... probably because he's been around older people his whole life. Sometimes, he's so much like me it's scary. He's had a really nice growth spurt of late and he's really "filling out." He's a cute kid ... and I find it very easy to believe his claim that he's popular in school. He's funny, smart, and adorable. I just feel really, really old. I was there the minute he was born. That's just all kinds of wrong.

Last night, Tony, Matty, and I had some friends over for games and frivolity. It was a lovely time. Angela and I spoke our patented shorthand while playing CatchPhrase ... and I love it when people think we have our own special language. I guess it comes from knowing each other for so long ... but, yeah, we really are on the same wavelength most of the time. I mean, please -- who else but Ang would have been able to guess "psychiatrist" from my clue of "It's where you go when you're down?" :-)

OH!!! Tony got me the most fantastic present this year: a digital camera! I am so not worthy. But, I'm geeked because I'll be able to flex that creative muscle again ... and I can start posting fun stuff to flickr. Woo Hoo!! He was really too good to me this Christmas.

Now I'm ready to just coast into New Year's. Here's hoping it's a low-key, low-stress, relaxing week. We can have the blow-out behavior on New Year's Eve, sure ... but this week, I'm all about the chilling out.