Life coming at me

So, since it’s been a while since I’ve updated (and I have several different things I want to blog about), I’m just going to do several entries to get caught up! I’m starting about where I left off and hopefully will be current by the time it’s said and done.

Christmas home with the fam was nice. Bobby and I drove down together on Dec. 23, and he and Ranger dropped me at my parents’ house late that evening. We spent Christmas Eve with his family – his parents; his sister Darlene and her husband Mike; their grandson, Seth; and his brother John and his wife Wanda.

I actually like Bobby’s family a lot. In some ways they remind me of my own, and in others they are refreshingly different. I always have a good time with them. We swapped all our gifts and ate lots of food, then Bobby and I went and looked at some Christmas lights around town, which is always a favorite activity of mine. I think this probably will be an annual tradition for us – this is the second year we’ve done that after his family’s Christmas.

Christmas day was spent with my family. Once Amy, Stanley and the kids had opened all the presents from Santa, they headed on over to my parents’ house, where we ate a massive lunch and then opened presents. It was a bit different this year, because my parents mostly gave us all gift cards (which I didn’t mind at all – I racked up with a $50 gift card to Longhorn/Olive Garden, a $50 card to Gap/Old Navy and a $100 Dillard’s gift card), and rather than everyone buying for everyone else, we drew names for the first time.

The whole drawing names things was somewhat a point of contention in the family. It certainly made it easier for me and Bobby, since it vastly lowered the amount of presents we had to haul down. We decided to push forward with drawing names again for next year in similar fashion. I’m happy with it.

It really was nice having the whole family together for a day. Kristy and I also took our niece and nephews to see a movie the day after Christmas as our Christmas present to them (and, really, to Amy, too). Found out beforehand that my mom actually thought I would be able to handle them fine, but that she was a little worried about Kristy. I will admit, it was pretty funny at first watching Kristy (and I know you’re reading this, but it was funny!) being a little freaked out by them. But after a while, I think she got the hang of it, realized they weren’t going to break or throw up or run out into traffic and it was all smooth sailing from there. We did McDonald’s (complete with playground), watched The Tale of Despereaux (which was a reasonably cute movie … appropriate for the kids, anyway) and stopped for ice cream on the way home.

Kristy also informed me that I have good mommy instincts. That freaks me out a little, but I also think it’s a good thing – I do want to have kids one day. Just not any time soon!

Friday night I drove to Enterprise to help Bobby load up the rest of his belongings (which had been in storage for about a year, I guess) into a U-Haul to bring to Tuscaloosa. Two of his old school buddies, Bobby and Chris, came and helped out, and we went to Logan’s afterwards. We had a good time. I love seeing him with them, because he’s obviously so comfortable, and they have so much history together. And I like hearing stories about all the goofy stuff he did when he was younger.

So that was that. It was a nice trip home, if a little on the short side. I’m looking forward to Christmas again!