2 orders of business

I have our hotel reservations. Tom, Angie, Scott and I will be staying at the Motel 6 in Edison drive. For those of you who need a reminder, Edison Drive is the road that the CMP offices are on. It's right on the outskirts of Augusta/Manchester, and within walking distance of Margarita's. *hic*

Now, on to the food. I will be preparing some casseroles that can be put in the freezer and brought with us on Thursday. Scott also LOVES to bake so there will be plenty of goodies if anyone needs some "energy" (Read: Sugar). We can get groceries at the Shoplift n' Save, which is very close to the hotel, so daily pilgrammages are possible if necessary.

As far as traditions go, let me tell you (or remind you) what usually happens. We usually have lasagna on Christmas eve. I have a great recipe for veggie lasagna that I usually make, it takes absolutely no time, and Heather will be eating (and loving) spinach without even knowing it. Also on Christmas eve, we bake decorated sugar cookies. This is a tradition Mom and Dad started when we were kids, Mom says to keep us calm and busy. I have encouraged (Read: Forced) Mom to comtinue the tradition, even though it is only for me. What can I say, I'm a traditionalist...

For dinner, we usually have ham. I think I can convince Mom I will be able to get the ham on the way - she LOVES sprial ham, but it is so expensive for just the two of us. I'll get the ham and bring it with us. (I need to get it because if she gets it, it will be small, and if I tell her to get a big one, she'll be suspicious. Perhaps I'll just tell her I won it at the Ham Beano.) Side dishes are riced potatoes, peas and crescent rolls. We also usually toast our good fortune with cranberry juice.

That's usually how it goes. Sants gets cookies and a beer when Dad was alive, now he gets Diet Coke.

Keep me updated and let me know if you guys think of anything I should plan for. I can do shopping here and bring groceries on the trip up.

Can you believe we'll be at Mom's in just 24 days?!?

Liar, liar, pants on FIRE!

Okay, Mom threw me for a loop last night. We were having pie and she said she thought I should stay in Boston for Christmas and celebrate it in January. It was hard for her to suggest this - we have spent Christmas together for many years. But, she thought I was unhappy last year so she suggested this. I feel bad that she thought I was unhappy - I was not. I love spending Christmas with Mom - we have a lot of fun and it broke my heart to think she thought I was miserable. Yes, I missed Scott, but who can blame me? It's hard to spend the holidays away from the people you love. And I would be miserable if I didn't spend Christmas with Mom. So what did I do? I panicked. Guys, I had to tell her. I'm so sorry.....

Psyche! NO, I didn't tell her! I told her I wanted to think about it. Then, on my way home from Mom's I called Tom. And together, we worked out a whopper of a lie! (See, Mom! I actually needed help with this one!) *hee*

So I'm going to tell Mom that I am going to come home on the 23rd, spend a few days with her and go back to Boston on the 26th. The first part is true, the last part, not so true. We'll be heading back on the 28th - I have to work on the 29th.

And I have to tell y'all this. Mom is no fool. She is aware there is something going on, she just does not know what. And Thanksgiving was tough this year! We were making dinner and she was talking about Amy, wondering if she would ever come back home to visit. I said I didn't know (and it was a good thing we were in different rooms, or she would have caught me for sure!) and then Mom said "I don't think she will, and it breaks my heart." And I said "Never say never, Mom."

I just hope Mom will forgive us for telling so many stories - I think it's worth fixing her "broken heart", yes?

Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and I'll talk about food another day. I'm still full from yesterday (Riced Potaotes! Ynah!)

Christmas Dinner

Hey guys, I got to thinking about Christmas dinner last night. I was trying to figure out how mom was going to know to have extra food on hand for dinner without telling her. Amy informed me that we were stopping to do some shopping on the way up. sounds good to me. Next question- what are we having? (one can never discuss food too soon)

neil

What are you thankful for?

Things I'm thankful for:
1. Amy. I don't have enough time (2 1/2 hours) to write out all the reasons I'm thankful for her; so I'll just say I'm thankful for her.
2. That Heather is a good kid. As much as she drives me crazy sometimes, she's a good kid and I'm very proud of her. Even if she does ship Harry/Draco (if you don't get it, don't ask- it's scary).
3. A job that I genuinely like. I probably should have gotten into gov't service years ago; it fits me better.
4. A good relator who was in the right place at the right time. Thanks, Julie.
5. That more people voted for Bush than Kerry.
6. That Dan Rather is leaving CBS. Maybe with a few more major cracks in the armor the major media will colapse in on itself and this nation will start thinking for itself again.

Neil