January 07, 2004 - 10:55 a.m.

Christmas Recap

I am finally getting around to filling you all in on how I spent my holiday. I spent about five days in Tennessee with my family - my parents live there as do my younger brother and his wife, and my older brother and I both flew down for Christmas. It was great hanging out with everyone, since I don't see my family nearly often enough. I also got to play with the various pets. Between my parents' and brother's households there are three cats, three dogs, six birds, and a hamster, so there was always some animal eager for attention. It was fun to play with all the critters, but it's also kind of nice to be back home with my quiet hedgehog and the family's affectionate, though crotchety cat.

Christmas Eve was taken up primarily with disastrous cookie decorating. My mom makes loads of Christmas cookies every year, but this year we had all sorts of problems. Mom's cookie press broke less than halfway through making spritz cookies, and one tray of the finished ones got dropped on the floor. The sugar cookies were the biggest problem though. We had to deal with pastry bags that literally oozed icing through their fabric and icing that looked like the perfect consistency but once in the bags required Popeye-like forearms to squeeze out. By the time we finished decorating the dozens of cookies, we were cranky and exhausted. Luckily the mood didn't last long, and we managed to cheer up before midnight mass.

Christmas Day was spent opening gifts, cooking and eating, and going bowling. I got a ton of stuff from my family members, including a mandoline (the fancy kitchen slicing gadget not the instrument), a mini blow torch (for making things like creme brulee), a cushy new bathrobe, a couple of Trading Spaces books, a 30 Minute Meals cookbook, a couple CDs, Zoo Tycoon (basically Sim Zoo for those not in the know), and some other random little stocking stuffer type items. The biggest surprise was a complete set of white gold and sapphire (my birthstone) jewelry from my parents, necklace, earrings, and ring. These were not on my Christmas list, but I have been wanting them for ages. Sapphires tend to be expensive, though, so I didn't expect to get them as a gift or for myself any time soon.

After dinner we all went bowling. As I think I have mentioned before, I love bowling even though I stink at it. Before our Christmas outing I had never bowled a game even close to a score of 100. My first game I scored 95 and was very pleased. Then the insane luck began. In the second game I got three strikes in a row and ended with a score of 131, beating the rest of the family! I was quite excited and astonished, but wasn't able to repeat the feat a few days later when we went bowling again. *sigh*

We spent the next few days chilling out, seeing Return of the King (for the second time for the younger generation), and visiting my hometown's beautifully refurbished zoo. I volunteered at the zoo in high school, so it was really great to see how much improved it is. There are more animals, but mostly the exhibits are more natural, bigger, and generally much nicer for the animals.

I think that's enough catching up for today. I have to go pack a lunch for B, since I have to take him to his ice skating lesson right after school. I am toying with the idea of bringing my laptop with me so that I can play Zoo Tycoon while he's skating... I am really glad I got the game, since I am really enjoying it. It's the first computer game I have really gotten into, since Sim Life, and I wasn't particularly successful with that one! :)

today's project: a full day of classes and lessons for the kids - skating for B, gymnastics and piano for the girls

musing about: how I good I feel about going to the gym and getting in a good workout today

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