Outer Space

I am in a blogging black hole. Sure, there are a bunch of things that I could write about (Christmas Eve, Christmas, the day after Christmas, two days after Christmas, etc) but nothing seems very exciting or particularly blog-worthy. Unless of course you consider my friend Jess, who had never before been to the Christmas Eve circus that is known as my family's get together, opening THE ONE present out of them all that is a gag. That's right . . . she got Nefertiti!* What are the odds?! (I guess they were about 1 in 20 considering that 20 people participated. Genius.) 

Much to Jess's dismay (I'm sure) someone actually STOLE Nefertiti from her! It was unprecedented but apparently the lure of a $20 coffee gift card was more than Sarah could handle and she sacrificed a little space in her house to a ceramic bust of a dead Egyptian Queen to satisfy her caffeine habit. We all have our weaknesses.

Early the next morning Craig and I got up to drive the 4 hours east to the ranch. The term 'early' should be used loosely here. Craig was rightfully eager and wanted to get up at 4 a.m. so that we'd be there around 9. I was onboard with his plan. Onboard until I heard Toby Keith belting out some horrific*** song from the other side of the room. He was so loud that I was sure he was sitting on the floor next to Craig's side of the bed strumming his guitar and singing like he was playing Madison Square Garden. I practically fell out of bed on my way to kick him but as it turns out he was just in the radio. I fumbled around for the OFF button to make the madness stop and then, with all of the intention in the world of getting back into bed and rousing a snoring Craig, I got back into bed and fell asleep. We got up at 5:15. I don't think Craig has forgiven me yet.

The two days spent at the ranch were great. Wide open space, peace and quiet, family from far away, and 50 degrees on Christmas Day.**** The girls went on a daily walk to the end of the driveway and back, helping Nada push Lindie up the last hill each time. It's a killer.

Since returning from over the mountains earlier in the week I've kept a pretty low profile, concentrating on relaxing, taking a daily nap, doing laundry, and organizing things around the house. Work shuts down for the week between Christmas and New Years and though I always think that I'm going to fill my time with social activities and projects like painting the spare room or cleaning out the garage . . . I always somehow choose to do nothing over anything and it's wonderful. No regrets. Besides, tomorrow is New Year's Eve and we're having a little shindig in our backyard. It's going to be exciting I'm sure, especially if my hunch is correct and the fire department shows up. Uninvited. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Well would you look at that . . . an entire post about nothing particularly 'blog-worthy'.

*For those unfamiliar with Nefertiti her story goes like this. She was born in 1370BC and died an Egyptian Queen in 1330BC. We pass around her mummy.**

**Not true. Well, her years are correct but what we pass around is a ceramic bust that my mother painted in the late 70's. We sold it in The Great Rummage Sale of '84 (where we also sold a car, an antique wheelchair, and my mom's prized pie tin among other items) to my cousin Paul. The grammar on that is wrong; Paul didn't buy the car, the wheelchair, the pie tin, and Nefertiti . . . just Nefertiti. He then donated it to his sister Camie's rummage sale in '99 or '00 where I rediscovered her and brought her home. With a little touch-up paint she became a gag gift for my dad's birthday one year and he returned the favor to the entire family about 7 years ago on Christmas Eve. She's now 'the traveling gift' and as you can see from the picture above, she sports eyelashes and glasses as well as the New York Yankees logo on top of her crown. There's something new every year.

***I don't find all of Toby Keith's songs horrific but I find any song horrific at 4 a.m.. It's not natural.

****That calls for an Amen!