Christmas this year seemed to mimic last year’s stuck-in-a-blizzard-while-driving-to-west-Texas (the stories I could have told if I had my blog back then) theme of awfulness as far as the transportation aspect of it all was concerned. I got home at 12:30am on Christmas morning from the second of two Christmas Eve services and was up until about 2:00 finishing up packing and wrapping presents. Awake at 5:00 and off by 5:45, thinking: “Allright! I’ve got my coffee, I’ve made some CD’s for the trip, and the General is runnin’ great!!!”
Cut to about three and a half hours later when the old warhorse gets wounded in battle and the transmission blows in Ennis, TX. Luckily dad came to the rescue (as dad’s so often tend to do) and picked me up so I could make the festivities at Matt and Joanie’s!!
We were all lucky enough to be joined by my aunt Brynda, uncle John, cousins John and Katy, as well as my granddaddy Dan for the holiday.
Me looking on from the peanut gallery as Joanie put it
Even Daisy got to come up and celebrate… much to Scout’s chagrin.
“I promise I’ll behave!” “Heh heh heh”
One of the joys of going up to Richardson was getting to spend time with my nephew, Luke. Not that everyone else wasn’t interesting, but there was really no competing with the most adorable 2 year old EVAR.
As I mentioned previously, I got him a couple of books (Even Monsters Need Haircuts and a German-language version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar I got while on tour this last summer) as well as a giant, stuffed Memo Nemo. I think it was a hit!!
My meager attempt at artistry! Also, the reason I was up until 2:00am
Daisy looking on and mother apparently floating whispily about
It’s exhaaaaauuuuusting opening all those presents
One of the biggest hits of the weekend was the Play-Doh set up in the play room. There were many hours spent molding animals on those tiny tiny tiiiiiny chairs.
Joanie, who is about a week away from welcoming Mr. Roberts No. 2; Luke, our master sculptor; and myself
I LOVE this picture!!!! Playin’ it cool with a snake right in front of him
When talking about Play-Doh creations I can’t help but think about one that my friends Jeremy, Chris and I made one weekend out of boredom in Ann Arbor. This time it isn’t so much of a snake as it is a worm taking a vacation at the beach with a cocktail, paisley umbrella, bow tie and sunglasses. Forgive the poor picture quality, it’s from my old phone.
That would be a box of orange tic-tacs on the right hand side, in case anyone was interested. WE COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES!
Monday, Matt was nice enough to drive me back to Ennis to get my car checked out at the local Ford dealership where we met a gentleman in the service department with a certain penchant for abbreviations. “Okay gents, gimme just a second and we’ll get a diag started and see if we can figure out what’s wrong with your tranny,” which quickly prompted this text conversation with my friend, Will:
Me: Looks like I’m going to have to get a new “tranny” as the Ford guy puts it.
Will: So what’s a new tranny cost these days?
Me: I dunno, about $2,700 and a new tube of lipstick?
I ended up just driving back to Crockett at 35mph (those cars behind me were NOT having it) so that I could get it checked with someone we actually knew. Unfortunately the General did end up having to get an organ transmission transplant but some very generous family friends of ours were kind enough to loan me a car, of which I have decided to temporarily name the Colonel, so that I could get back to Houston and, more importantly, back to work.
Even with all of the travel travesties I am so thankful for such a wonderful group of family and friends. The holidays can be a stressful and even sad time for everyone involved, but at the end of the day all you can do is value the time you have together.
So thanks to everyone for the presents and the food and the festivities and the roadside assistance!!!
Artist: The Temptations / Album: The Temptation Collection
