Christmas Vacation

I must be doing something wrong. If I do everything that needs doing prior to going away, why do I always come back to days and days of things that need doing when I return? Two days ago we returned from spending Christmas down at my folks' house in Arkansas and I'm still trying to catch up. I think I'm beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, though.

It takes about 12 hours to make the drive down there, which I don't mind at all. I'm forced to relax. Nothing for me to do, no housework, no catching up of any kind, just hour after hour of watching the different landscapes go by. Some of it is not too thrilling, particularly the northeast corner of Arkansas — mud flats as far as the eye can see. Others are rather "interesting"... like some of the "arkitecture" frequently found in areas outside Arkansas' cities. And many areas are quite beautiful.

We had a great time seeing my folks and my three brothers and their families. Unfortunuately our oldest daughter and my sister and her family weren't able to make it last minute, which was a disappointment to all. Per our usual tradition, we had our 'Junk Food Extravaganza' on Christmas Eve at my folks' house. And I must say, I think it was the best spread of food to date. Christmas Day was spent at my oldest brother's house, where his wife prepared an excellent Christmas Day meal of Petit Jean ham with all the fixings. Of course the usual run of sickness (fever and flu?) made its way from kid to kid while we were there. Why does that always happen? So far no one in our immediate family has gotten whatever it was, though. Mom taught my daughter how to knit a scarf during the down times. She's even working on a new one with some fancy yarn that was given to her. It's coming along quite nicely — only one hole so far. :) I even learned something new this trip; my middle brother informed us that he is "a very important man." Who knew?! Ha!

All in all a great trip. Thanks, guys.