Updated- Christmas was spent at my parents’ new home. They moved in about a month ago.  It was my first trip to their new digs and I really like the house. Everything is all on one level and very bright/open.

I had a really good holiday, I think I drank one cocktail too many (I was feeling a little bit “delicate” this morning).  My dad is NOT light-handed when it comes to pouring the vodka into cocktails... plus, I don’t normally have mixed-drinks and wine, but heck, it WAS Christmas!

Ugh, I really did feel crappy this morning.  We had quite a nice little party though, I believe a good time was had by all.  My uncle made a surprise appearance during my trip, so everyone was jazzed to see him.  Too bad he left in the middle of the night without saying anything! He drove-up, which means he had a 9 hour trip back home, so I don’t fault him for bailing.

The weather started out really cold and snowy when I arrived, but then it warmed-up to the 50’s, so it got to be really nice. Btw- if you ever see a restaurant chain called “Steak Shake” (I think), go in and get a double dark chocolate shake, they’re amazing! I’m not even a fan of shakes!! My dad made a point to ask for them to be extra chocolatey, and they were!  They kind of reminded me of the shakes we used to get at “Bob’s Big Boy” when I was a kid, more like ice cream than a drink. So good!

This is the longest number of days I’ve been away without someone checking-in on my cat, so I’m looking forward to heading home.  Plus, I got a sweet countertop Kitchen Aid convection oven for Christmas and I’m excited to get home to try and use it. 😝

I guess that’s it for now, I’ll try to add more later.

Okay, adding more!

Apparently, I asked my mom’s friend for a recipe on Christmas. I got an email from her and mentioned it to my mom that I wasn’t sure why. She replied “you asked her for it”. I said “really? Weird. I was drunk, so I don’t remember. What else did I ask for?”.  I also drunk texted CBLMW a Merry Christmas, but I knew I was doing that.  It was at cocktail number 3 when I wrote to him, lol.  Did he text me back? No, but that’s okay.

It’s weird to me that I drank that much, it’s been forever since I’ve been drunk. At. All.   I don’t plan on doing THAT again for a while.

I finally got a piece of pie from Christmas last night, yay! Delicious lemon meringue pie (that I peeled the meringue off of). I was too busy doing dishes on Christmas to have any (plus, I was really full!).

Going through the airport this morning (the departure part), I’d decided to check my bag and only take a small carry on. Smooth sailing, right? Not totally.  I got pulled aside at security because, apparently, the x-ray machines can’t see through delicious Trader Joe’s Trail Mix.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy they’re checking stuff, but it makes me laugh that it was trail mix that triggered my extra exam. Luckily, I got there a little before 6:30am for my 8am flight, so I had time to wait while security went through the backlog of waiting bags.

I got home a few hours ago and I’m glad to be back in my own place, albeit with an angry cat.  I took a hotel shuttle from the airport and then booked my first ever Lyft home. I got a really good fare, so I’m happy. It’s kinda far from the airport to my house, so I expected to pay more.

Now it’s time to relax. I have work tomorrow, but it will hopefully be quiet. Fingers-crossed!  I have lunch with my supervisor and Samantha scheduled, so I’m looking forward to that!

Now, what should I cook for dinner? All I’ve had today is super-safe TSA checked trail mix...

Wow, we're nearing the end of the year already!

Things have been busy, in a good way though. I'm forcing myself to keep busy!

Thanksgiving was okay. I went down to Orange County but got home early (work the next day). My boss was cool again this year and gave me a ham (instead of a turkey like everyone else). I love ham, but turkey, not so much. It's nice he remembers that stuff.

I bit the bullet and bought a 7-foot pre-lit Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago. It's going to be the first time I've had a tree this big in my place. I want to set it up this weekend (even though the weather is supposed to be in the 80's), the trick will be finding a good place for it. I wonder if Gotham is going to try and climb it?

My Christmas "To Do" list is still as long as ever! Hopefully, I'll get a chunk of it taken care of this weekend. I need to form a game plan though.....

Our work Christmas party is next week, I still don't know what to wear or how long I'm going to stay. I carpool in each day, so that complicates things. My friend may want to stay longer than I do. I guess she can catch the train if I decide to bail early. That's what we do with our normal days. I pick her up each morning at the train station (they have free parking) and drop her off there in the afternoon, unless one of us has to leave early, then she takes the train home. Hey, it works for us.

It really doesn't feel like the holidays yet.

There are some crazy fires out there right now. If you live in their vicinity, let me know you're okay.