Christmas/Holiday Season 2024

And away we go ...

What are your plans? I had a funny photo here, but it turned out to be from a parody site, which took all the fun out of it.

Anyway, what are your plans? Going big or small this year?

 

When you do shared custody the big question becomes Before or After, as in do you get the kids before or after Christmas.

For the last several years, we had settled into a pattern where I got After. Actually we would meet up Christmas morning for the swap after my ex did their big blowout on 12-24. Once Santa was out of the picture this was the easiest way to do things and we were on our way to Tennessee.

This year I got asked to switch to Before, since their stepdad wasn’t able to get any time off ahead of the holiday this year and has to take it the last week of the year. We will have to leave out Christmas Eve morning and come back here. It stinks, but I benefitted from enough After years that I can’t say it is unfair.

Don’t know what I will do with myself alone on Christmas. It’s about a four-hour drive back to my parents so theoretically I could double dip up there. But I’ll have already logged a long weekend in Tennessee by that point and that’s probably the right amount before reaching diminishing returns on togetherness.

So I’ll hit the Waffle House and then … something.

 

"Christmas at the Waffle House" would be a good sequel song for Robert Earl Keen.

 

We’ll be at home in NOVA till the 27th, then we’re putting the kids on a plane to Birmingham, and hopping one to Boston. Once in Boston, we’ll head up to Portland for a couple of days, then back down to Boston for NYE.

 

Staying in Microville, as usual. Micro Jr. comes home from Denver on Christmas Eve for 4-5 days. We'll spend one day at the coast because Jr. likes it.

Before I was married, I used to travel back to WNY for Christmas, and it was a total hassle with the weather. No more. Have traveled at Christmas maybe four times in the last 40 years, and three of those trips were for bowl games when I was working.

 

Been there. Done that.

 

We spent most of Christmas week in New Orleans a few years ago, and headed home Christmas morning. A late breakfast that day was at Waffle House. We tipped really well since our waitress was working Christmas Day.

 

We go to a big oyster roast on Christmas Eve.
With any luck, the most exciting thing happening on Christmas Day is deciding whether or not to have a second Bloody Mary.

 

My sister and niece are coming to NYC for a week at Christmas. Looking forward to it.

Like a lot of New Yorkers, I really don’t go do the touristy stuff, since I’ve lived here for so long (did most of it as a visitor).

So I’m looking forward to a few of those things. Especially with my niece, who’s 15 and is in love with NYC from afar. And she’s never been here for the holidays.

 

Very excited to be attending my first "SantaCon" this Friday! I've wanted to do it for years, but was always working when it was held. As an added bonus, their is a "CiderCrawl" beginning at 4 p.m. so I can get my drinking legs under me before the main event.

 

Or John Prine.