Another Christmas Come and Gone

 Well, somehow we made it through another Christmas. I have to admit, this one wasn't too painful. The kids did a lot of the work as far as cooking and whatnot. My oldest daughter Jen and her youngest daughter Kaylahni came up. They were supposed to be arriving within a few hours of each other at the Anchorage airport, but Kaylahni,s plane was delayed due to weather, so she didn't come in until the next day. Fortunately we didn't have to make a second trip to the airport. When we were going there to pick up Jen, we were amazed at how poorly the streets were cleared of snow in Anchorage. Several times we were traveling in the far right lane of the three lane street when the lane just about disappeared because they didn't remove the snow. I was watching people walking on the sidewalks, but the sidewalks hadn't been shoveled, even at the crosswalks. It was pretty pathetic. I think though, that it's become indicative of what is happening in this country now. Too many people don't want to work and apparently don't have to because they seem to be getting by without working. Consequently businesses can't hire anyone.  How scary. Well done Joe.

We enjoyed a tradition that we hadn't celebrated since we left Hoonah. For a number of years Jennifer has hosted the family and a few friends on Christmas Eve with shoebox dinners. She wraps shoe boxes with Christmas wrapping paper and then fills them with a small bag of chips, a few mandarin oranges, some candy and a soda as well as a small gift. Usually we have crab melts or tuna melts, but this year, since Jen was here, she made halibut eggrolls. They are sooooo.. good This year I got a cup that says, If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me. My kids know me very well. While I like the cup a lot, I think the saying that takes the cake was the plaque that one of the girls gave their sister that says -Sprinkles are for cupcakes not toilet seats. Words of wisdom. I recall seeing several signs some years back in various bathrooms. One said- Be like dad and not like sis, lift the lid before you piss. Another had said - Ladies, please remain seated during the whole performance. When it comes to signs in bathrooms though, the best one is still the hand drawn instructions at the Juneau Airport in the men's room that had an arrow pointing down to the paper toilet seat covers that said -Free cowboy hats.   I wonder if I could get away with putting a feather on some of those seat covers and passing them out at Christmas. I'll have to give that some consideration before next year. Actually, if inflation keeps up like it is, it might be the only gifts I can afford. I could probably decorate them with pictures of horses and cows and ropes and  pictures of the state of Texas. I'll dig around in the desk drawer and see if I can find some old crayons or magic markers that aren't all dried up.

We had a wind storm that almost rivaled what we got last New Years day. The winds were blowing hard all night and all day, and I couldn't get the garage door open until I got it shoveled out. We didn't get any more snow, but the snow we had was blown into drifts about four feet high, and it got packed down. Fortunately Jen and Autumn came over the afternoon of 24th so we could clear the driveway and get the car out. It was a lot of work. Because the snow was packed, we had to break down the crust on top first before the snow blower could work. Believe me, more than once I've weighed the pros and cons of being down south in the winter. I suppose I'll probably be 80 years old and have to go shovel the driveway. Something to look forward to. 

In any event, I hope that you got a chance to enjoy the holiday with family and friends. I know that I did. Next Saturday we'll do it all again with eating and drinking too much. At least no one is expecting presents. Thank goodness for that.