Ah, Christmas vacation. My mom came to down to Milwaukee to pick me up on the 23rd. Jocelyn went to Illinois to spend the holidays with her family and since she took the car I had to get a ride. On the way home we stopped by my Aunt Linda’s to drop off an iPod I had to pick up for her. We were there for a couple hours and sampled some of the holiday food that she was making. After that I dropped my mom off and headed to Falls. I stopped by Randy before going out to drop off all the Christmas presents. I got a hold of Marti and met him and Pyrek and their significant others at The Other Place. We were there for a drink and then we headed back over to the O. I spent the rest of the night there. I ran in to Kotnik who I hadn’t seen in a while so I talk to him for the remainder of the night.

Christmas Eve day was on the couch by Rich’s. About five I was finally able to pry myself off the couch and get ready. It was the usual Christmas Eve routine this year. We headed over to my uncle Jimmy’s for a little Christmas Eve festivities. My godmother Terri gave me my usual gift of Bloody Mary mix. I used to love drinking the stuff as a kid, and I still do, so Terri makes sure I get my yearly fix. She also bought me a very nice baseball display case for the foul balls that I caught. The rack is huge though so I’m going to need to get about fifteen more balls somehow. I guess I’ll have to go to forty Brewers games this year. After watching some Christmas Story, eating some dips and meatballs it was time for midnight mass. Mass was nice as usual and it really gets you in the spirit of the holidays. After church my mom dropped me off at Rich’s and I got to bed immediately so Santa would come and visit.

I didn’t do much on Christmas day. I had Randy pick me up at about three for our family gathering. I must have been a bad boy this year because I got a lump of coal in the form of an awful Green Bay Packer team losing yet another game. After the bitter loss I washed the taste away with some Christmas wine. Dinner was very good. We had prime rib and a whole bunch of other side dishes. After that we exchanged gifts. It was the normal craziness of paper flying everywhere and toys being strewn all over the living room. After the gifts we headed home. It was pretty early, about ten, but I needed some sleep so I decided to just call it a night instead of find something to do.

The day after Christmas I had some work to do so I had to get back to Milwaukee. My mom, Randy and nephew brought me back. We stopped by Kopp’s on the way down so I added to my holiday weight gain with a burger and some ice cream. Once I arrived home I did my work so I wouldn’t have to worry about it the rest of the week. Adam and Stacey didn’t have to work the next day so they called and asked if I was up to anything. The came over and we watched the tube and had a couple beers. Jocelyn got home about nine but because she had to work she really just wanted to relax. So Adam and I got out of her hair and headed to Flannery’s. Stacey didn’t want to go so it was just the two of us. We sat there for a bit and they headed over to My Office to close out the night.

It ended up being a big mistake going out because some mongrel gave me the nasty cold bug that has been going around. I could’ve gotten it at Kopp’s or at home and it was just incubating but either way I was now sick for my week off. I planned on doing a whole bunch of stuff but Tuesday through Friday I didn’t do anything. My week off was super boring because I couldn’t do anything. I ran a couple errands to get some fresh air but for the most part I just kept my butt planted on the couch. I watched about two movies a day because daytime TV is so awful. All these channels and there is not one thing on that I would even think of watching. So, boring week off, and a wasted week off.