Christmas passed with minimal family feuding, much eating and napping. The kids got a ton of books and toys and my mom was so genuinely thrilled with what we got her she forgot to say "You shouldn't have".
~~~
Did I mention the eating? Good god.
~~~
S. and I were looking at rings tonight. Among the more distressing inscriptions we saw was the following: "Good Luck". Not such a bad thing to wish someone but somehow ominous when etched on a wedding band, if you ask me. This set off an exchange of possible inscriptions including "I love you long time" and a plan for matching rings that say "Bling". In the go-go 80's I had some hipster friends whose wedding was presided over by a locally renowned performance artist. There was much mockery of marriage throughout the ceremony and the message on their wedding matches was "You only get married for the first time once." (They're still married.) Unrelated but funny side note: The mother of the groom is an actress who appeared in one of those "America's Most Wanted" re-creations as a foster mother killed by her teenaged son. The night this episode aired, she held a cocktail party in her very posh Michigan Avenue penthouse and we all gathered around and watched as she was stabbed to death. And then we clapped. Very surreal.
~~~
The packing is well underway and we have recruited my slightly hard-to-deal-with younger bro. to ride shotgun on the drive down. He volunteered, actually, which says more about his desperation for any kind of vacation than a real desire to be helpful. Whatever. Having him along will give us more flexibility and will shorten the trip.
~~~
I'm listening to Voz Latina and they are currently playing a merengue version of "I Will Survive". I'm not sure how I feel about it...
~~~
And so, to eat and then to pack and finally, to bed.
~~~