A Full Week of Family

Christmas is over and we're just hours away from the start of 2006. Our family saw a few major changes in 2005 and, as a result, this holiday season has been different but somehow the same. As December 25th approached, I started to feel the stress of the holiday season. I think I peaked too soon with my holiday spirit and it started to wane just as I needed it most. Everything worked out in the end, though, and I've had a marvelous holiday.

Christmas eve is my Father in law's birthday. You may remember that he passed away in February. My wife and I have a timeshare condo in Kissimmee, FL (just outside of Orlando) so the thought was to get my Mother in law away from home and all of those memories for a few days and spend some time with family. She agreed that would be a good idea and we booked the condo for Dec. 24-Dec. 31. We also decided that the whole family could use the break and planned on my mother in law, my wife and I, my brother in law, his wife and the three grandchildren. Eight people would surely have a wonderful vacation in central Florida.

There was a catch...

The grandchildren were not doing too well in school. The deal was that they would have to at least maintain their grades in order to be rewarded with a trip to Florida. That didn't happen. Much discussion ensued as to who would be going - if anyone - as well as when we would leave, when we would return, and our mode of transportation. Here's what finally happened.

Last Saturday, Dec. 24, my wife and I loaded up presents for her side of the family and headed for Oklahoma City. There, we spent a fine afternoon with some family friends talking, eating cake and playing pinochle. After the gathering of friends, my wife and I made a quick stop by Wal Mart for some flowers then went to visit her father's grave and wish him a happy birthday. The rest of the family - and the friends we had just visited - were gathering for dinner so we joined them at Olive Garden for a traditional Italian Christmas Eve feast... okay, there's no traditional Italian Christmas Eve feast but we had fun. After dinner, we retired to "Grandma's House" to exchange gifts.

In case you're wondering, among my favorite gifts were the Firefly complete series, a special edition boxed set of Star Wars Pez dispensers, and the $150.00 Best Buy gift card I mentioned in my last post (the inner artist won, by the way, but the inner child is still pouting).

On Sunday, Dec. 25, we went back to my mother in law's house with the intention of dropping off a couple of items then hitting the road. As it happened, we played with my brother in law's paintball gun for a while, too. My mother in law was meeting a friend to see a movie so she went on her merry (Christmas) way. We thought that might be a good idea, too, so we followed shortly after and went to see King Kong - I recommend it but don't get the bladder buster drink (you've been warned). As our movie ended, we received a phone call and met my mother in law for a relaxing dinner and conversation at the international House of Pancakes.

We spent the night in our own bed and on Monday, Dec. 26, my mother in law drove from Oklahoma City to our house in Stillwater, OK where the three of us set off for fours days of relaxation, shopping, and family in Kansas City. We booked rooms at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center. (Side note - four-star facility, 2.5 star service but that's another story) We checked in Monday evening and made an early night of it.

Tuesday morning, we slept in then paid a surprise visit to my parents. We got lucky in that the grandkids had not gone back to their mother yet so we were able to exchange gifts with them that evening. (Favorite gifts there were a DVD of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a Calphalon chili pot, and a Snoopy doll that has sentimental significance) When we went back to the hotel, my wife was hungry so, for the first time in my life, we ordered room service for a late (late) dinner - a burger that we split, fries, two glasses of milk and two fudge brownies.

On Wednesday, we went shopping (and had buttered scones for tea! - don't worry if you don't get that). We went to Crown Center in the late morning and had lunch. The previous day's room service wasn't sitting well so I headed back to the hotel and took a nap while my wife and her mother explored. After a couple hours sleep, I awoke refreshed and we left the Hotel for more shopping. We stopped at K-Mart, Micro Center, Michael's, Best Buy (the first trip), and finally Denny's for dinner.

On Thursday, I left relatively early to see my dad and work on his computer (yet another "another story"). The ladies told me to take the car and elected to visit Crown Center again. Dad's computer took a little longer than I anticipated and during my repairs, I received a call from my wife. Question number one was, "Would you be interested in an HP LaserJet 1100?" Apparently, one of the stores was closing and, on this last day, they were taking any offers for remaining stock, fixtures and equipment. One of the ladies working there had offered $20 so, after conferring with me, my wife offered $25. The lady upped the bid to $30 and finally let us have it for $32... including an extra toner cartridge. It works great, by the way. The second question was whether my parent's would like to join us at the American Heartland Theatre to see "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" that evening. The answer was an unhesitating yes and the five of us enjoyed listening to performances of Buddy Holly's music in the context of a play about his life. One reviewer called the show "hokey as a sock hop" but that's not why we were there.

Friday morning we packed the car. This was a feat unto itself. Our paraphernalia included four large suitcases, a small overnight bag, a laptop, a camera bag, assorted Christmas gifts, purchases that would not fit into the suitcases (two of which were purchases themselves) and the aforementioned printer. The trunk of my Honda Accord was packed full as well as half of the back seat. We impressed the bell hop at the hotel by managing to fit the entire puzzleworks together and still have room for three adults to comfortably travel five hours to Oklahoma. Who needs a truck?

All-in-all it was a nice, relaxing week. We did not make any solid plans so we weren't rushing to be anywhere at any time. The phone calls from my office didn't even bother me since I knew I wouldn't have to fix whatever was going wrong (next week will be busy, though).

So, renewed and relaxed, I lift my glass to you and say, Happy New Year.