Boxing Day

It's Boxing Day!  Or as we say here in the United States of America, December 26th.  Christmas Day is over and done for another year, and truthfully, this one was kind of rough.   Cody had messaged me last week and told me they were planning on spending Christmas Eve with Brennan's family, then would come here and spend Christmas Day with me.  

I was hoping they'd come pretty early, and we could actually, you know, spend Christmas together, but they didn't show up until after 3:00.  If I'm being completely honest, I was very hurt that they could be so inconsiderate, but Cody told me they didn't get away as early as he had intended. 

You know, I hate being ugly, but I feel like there was some tension there, because I get the impression Brennan's family thinks they should have a monopoly on her time.  That's why I said we'd do our Thanksgiving a week early, so they wouldn't have that conflict.  But still, they need to realize that Cody has family too, and he might just want to spend the occasional holiday with his mother.  

Anyway, after I'd done all that cooking and put everything out for us to have a Christmas brunch while the gumbo was cooking, neither of them really ate anything.  "We had a big dinner before we came," they said.  Sigh....

I'm going to stay out of it, but if Cody wants to spend any of the holidays with me, he's going to have to be the one to stand up to them.  As for me, I had to repent because I had some very unkind thoughts as I was sitting there...alone....all day....waiting for them,  but they finally showed up and the festivities began.  

I didn't take a lot of photos this time around, but I made them pose for at least one.  

Their big present was one of those raised planters like I have, but I had that one shipped directly to their house because of how big it is.  Brennan had mentioned wanting one a few months ago, but kind of wilted when I told her how much those had cost.  I decided right then and there to get them one for Christmas, and that's just what I did.  

Their other big gift was one of those counter top ice makers like I have, only it was a bit fancier than mine.  Brennan was thrilled with it, because she said when they want ice, they have to go buy bags of it.  Why they don't just buy ice trays is beyond me, but they don't have any. They'll have to use bottled water for it, because Jackson water tastes like dirt, but it'll go well with the Soda stream Brennan's parents gave them.  

I got them a few other smaller gifts, including one of those digital tire inflators for Cody.  I hope it works the way the ads show -- all you have to do is program in the pressure you want, and it's supposed to inflate to that pressure. Oh and I got Cody one of the mini greenhouses like I have, the one with the heat mat and grow lights.  He wants to start some ghost peppers in it. 

Then we laid out all our gifts for a photo, as is our custom.  

My younger brother got me these LED candles, and guess what?  They're remote controlled!

I don't have to pick each one up and switch it on manually.  Best of all, I can set them on a timer for how long I want them on, and I can adjust the brightness and whether the light is steady or flickers like an actual flame.  He also got me season four of Downton Abbey on DVD. 

My sister sent me this nifty little organizer for my coffee pods, and it was so nice to get up this morning and simply select the flavor I wanted to drink without having to dig through those boxes.  

These are the rest of my gifts.  

The stationery is from Brennan, the Texas Night Before Christmas is from Cody -- and it completes my collection, since I already have the traditional version and the Cajun version.  The DVD, as I mentioned, is from my younger brother, the new house shoes and the drill are from my sister and her family.  The Texas shaped baking dish is from my good friend Jessica, whom I've known since 6th grade.  

The first thing I'm going to write on my new stationery is a thank you letter to her for being such a good friend. 

So, this morning I got up and drove out to the lake with the intention of walking the Lake Circle Pokémon Go route, but once I got there, I changed my mind and drove to Lee Tartt and walked the Rover Loop instead.   It wasn't that cold, but the wind was blowing and I thought the trees would offer a bit more protection on that one.  I want to make the Bottomland trail a route, but I have to gain a few more levels to submit the sign as a Pokestop before I can do that. 

I'd intended to walk it three times, but after the second trip, I wasn't sure my bladder would hold up to another round, so I went to Walmart instead.  Yeah, crazy, I know.  But if you stayed out of the clearance aisles, it wasn't that bad.  I didn't pick much up, just a few disposable pans, 

and some wax melts, but that's it.  

I might go back tomorrow, once the madhouse settles down and see what else they might have.  I don't know.  I still have plenty of  Christmas cards and wrapping paper, but there might be some decorations I can pick up.  Not that I need more, but you never know. 

Imagine my surprise when I got home and found two, yes two Christmas cards in my mailbox!  

 I can't fault the senders, because they were mailed December 18th and December 20th.   They should have gotten here in plenty of time, but thanks to our wonderfully efficient USPS,  they were late.  ANd here I was thinking I'd been forgotten.  

Maybe there will be a few more wandering around in the void that will arrive in the next few days.  Even so, I think I'm going to pare my list down a bit some -- mainly because postage has gotten so high.  Oh, family and close friends will still be getting cards, but people I don't really know that I added from Facebook groups will probably be scratched.  

And finally, I watched Twisters tonight, the new one.  It was OK, but lacked the depth and ...well, the realism of the first movie.  All the storm chasers I follow say they loved it, but for a nerd like me, that's a lot of disbelief to suspend.  I mean seriously, severe weather doesn't sneak up on anyone.  You're not going to schedule your kid's little league game when storms are expected.  

But whatever makes for good theater, I guess. 

By the way, we're expecting severe weather tonight and into the weekend, but the worst of it is supposed to pass to the south of where I am.  

And that's my cue to go see what Ryan Hall has to say about it all. 

Laters.