‘Tis the Season
I am so looking forward to this holiday – family squabbles notwithstanding. It’s nice to be able to break the budget on what we’re spending and not feel completely guilty. It’s fun to make cookies and other treats to give out to neighbors, friends and family. It’s been fun to joke with my wife and son about what they think they are getting, what they assume they are getting and what they actually are getting (coal and socks, respectively, by the way). Seriously, I’ve never seen my wife this way – actually trying to figure out what is in the boxes. Usually, that’s me.
Last weekend, I got to see my old friend Chris and a large portion of his family. He, his wife, his sister and sister-in-law all met Shari and I down at Ludwig’s Garten in Philly. I forgot how much I liked that place, but quickly remembered with a flight of Belgian ales and a second flight of holiday beers (including a very strong Samichlaus and a delicious Delerium Noel. The jaegerschnitzel was delicious, although I think that their prices have gone up significantly since the last time that I ate there. But aside from the food and the beer, it was great to see Chris and his clan again – they are great people and it was nice to see Chris home safely from the war.
But back to Christmas – I’m looking so forward to Xmas morning: our new puppy having his first Xmas (and first pig’s ears). The look on my wife’s face when she finally figures out how right or wrong she was about those gifts (hint: it’s not a blender). The fact that I got at least one good gadget off of my tech geek list (when I thought about it, my ‘wishlist’ was an iPod, a 17″ LCD monitor, TiVO, a PDA and a new Wacom pad – how geek can you get?). The fire in the background as we slowly wake up with hot cider. Too bad we aren’t going to have snow, although I have thought about grinding up some ice to put on the sill of the front bay window for effect…
Meanwhile, there’s baking to be done, a few gifts to be wrapped and I’m loving every minute of it. And that’s what Xmas is about, right?
