Ho Ho Ho... It's the Holiday time of the year again. Just got home from my yearly pilgrimage down to my sisters in Vandalia. Everything is about the same there... Jo is moving out and on, Julie is doing good, her boyfriend Bruce is healthy and the animals are all Ok.
This was the first year that the Hopp family Christmas standard traditions have changed in 28 years for me. Normally what happens is we drive down on Christmas Eve, have dinner at Grandma Hopp's, then go to midnight mass either at Grandma Hopp's or Grandma Flemings church(it alternates every year). Go back to Charries sleep, wake up at 8am for quiche at Granda Hopp's.. Eat 'dinner' at 1pm, open presents as for the Hopp side and then pack up and head to Grandma Flemings. Open presents there, then eat, pack up and head back to Michigan to do our own imediate family Christmas.
Well last year we lost Grandma Fleming, so instead of going there we went to Aunt Karens, which was very nice and we had good food. It just felt very different, without Grandma Fleming pushing us all to be together as family the Fleming side of things don't feel as 'family' as they used to. The other part that changed was that I didn't go back to Michigan with the girls, and Jodie didn't even go to Aunt Karens. We (Julie, Jodie, and I) exchanged gifts that moring at the Hopp's side of things. I went back to Charrie's that night and left for home at 4am the morning of the 26th.
Stopped in Appleton on the way home, did a significant amount of shopping. Picked up things for the SASlings and for myself. Incase anybody didn't know they are re-releaseing some of the orignal transformer toys that I played with 20 years ago. I've bought all they have released, as well as some of the newer ones and now have I think 16 of them. They are also making at new live action Transformers movie that will come out on 7.4.2007. I'm pretty geeked about that.
It's late, and I've gotta work in the A.M. so I'm off to bed... Will try to post pictures/video from xmas as soon as I find a decent picture resizer for vista that can do multiple pictures at once.
- addios
