Christmas Eve

Just hanging around, talking with the in-laws and playing a little guitar. Justin and Bill have started jamming with the guitar and drums so I’ve found a quiet place to sit and write. I just got a note from my parents about their Christmas plans. I’ve inserted it below. Sounds like their day will be unique.

(E-MAIL FROM MOM) – We will probably have a quiet Christmas day. We;re doing Christmas dinner on the 26. On the 25th we are doing a hay ride with the neighbors and their family and having a cook-out with a camp fire up in the woods. We have a tree decorated up there and Scott King will bring up his generator for lights, music, etc. The weather is supposed to be clear and temp in the mid-30’s. Unlike what you guys are having out there!!!! Should be a lot of fun and a change for everyone. We’re doing hot dogs and Smore’s and wine with crackers and cheese. We have a fire pit up there where we do this sometimes and we have benches so it should be cosy. We will take pictures. Everyone is complaining about the lack of snow but we are enjoying the weather while we can. Getting in a lot of walking and working in the yard or whatever. We have our tree in and the house decorated so it seems like Christmas. On New Years eve we go to the twins birthday party in the PM and out to dinner in the evening. Wish you could all be able to join us!!!
I’ll write more later and send pictures.

For my own vacation – Last night was a real trip. Bill and I took the kids to the stores and then into Boston to see Erica’s dorm. We grabbed a sandwich nearby. When we got back Brenda was on being nasty and had been drinking all afternoon. She was upset that we were gone all afternoon and concerned that dinner plans might not happen. She kept going on and on and would not let it drop. One of the things I’ve noticed about her is that she tends to get very mean when she’s drinking. Not all the time but things set her off more easily. I won’t get into all the things she was saying but Bill was the one she was directing it all toward. He handled it quite well and just removed himself from the situation. For the rest of us it was very uncomfortable. It was clear that Brenda was not looking for any solution to the dinner reservation problem. She was just venting and it was clear that she had been getting herself worked up for quite a while. Diane handled it very well by repeated pointing out that these things were in the past and asking her what she wanted. Finally we just made reservations at the Chinese place and went out. Everything was fine for the rest of the night. It was as if nothing had happened. I’m not used to irrational screaming and yelling. And there was no getting away from it.
Anyway, today is another day. Things are going well. Brenda is only on her 2nd beer (I think) and it’s about 3:00. Yesterday she was drinking by 11:00am.
Well, enough rest. Time to rejoin the group.