Post-Holiday Ramblings

And Mister and I are back from our big car trip. Two full tanks of gas and four days later, we are back home. Thursday we drove out to Syracuse to see my dad. Saturday morning we drove to Albany to see my mom. And Sunday afternoon we came home. It was just about 700 miles round trip.

And to cap it all off, we're driving to Portland tonight to visit Mister's mom and sisters. What a good thing we bought their presents yesterday! ... yeah. That's how Mister does Christmas. :-P He knew what he was going to get them, he just also knew that he didn't need to rush to get them since we weren't sure when we were going to be seeing them.

But the trip went well. We also got the chance to see my aunt/uncle/cousins in their new house on Friday. Dinner was delicious, we got a popcorn maker to use during band practice, and Mister and I had a nice long chat with my aunt. It's funny, I think the relationship I have with my aunt is the one that I -could- have with my mother, once we get it figured out and she stops having 12-year-old-me reactions. Because that seems to be our problem, we'll be chatting, and then she just assume that I have no idea what I'm talking about and need guidance like a wayward sheep. [K, you are not allowed to mention this to mom as I'm merely musing and not actually trying to say something. If wayward sheep comes up in conversation, I'm cutting your hair again -- 'cause that is SUCH an effective threat... :-P] But yeah, my aunt and I are getting along pretty well now, and we never used to as she was always an authority figure. Growing up is WEIRD.

I don't know where I'm going with this post, other than to say: we're super tired! and that this was the most useful Christmas ever. We got a mixer (music), mic stands, popcorn maker, a new nightlight for the kitchen shaped like a duck, a duckie dish scrubber, pjs for Mister, cookbooks, a garlic thingie (it's a little plate with ridges that scrapes the garlic), etc. Lots of useful stuff. This was one of the first years that I didn't have to find places for STUFF. Everything has a natural home and use.

Oh and the verdict of how my stuff was received: my dad like the stool, my sister's screwdriver didn't light up (yes I still need to email them -- I'll bug Mister today), my mom liked her sweater and showergel, my aunt LOVED the fudge, my cousins liked their little hair flowers (A was like "omg I was LOOKING for something like this when I put my hair up today!"), my grandma really liked her ornament (my grandpa was fascinated by how it was made :-P) and pretzels, my grandpa was unsurprised by fruitcake, mom's bf was unsurprised by fruitcake, N&R liked their slippers and the ones I made for their son were too small, and we left before the last family opened their slippers. Also probably too small since I have no idea how big babies feet are. Oh, and the secret stocking for my dad went over well -- I dunno as he liked the stuff in it (it was just random stuff from CVS like a deck of cards and candy sticks), but it gave him something on Christmas day.