A Belated Christmas Story

We keep saying that time seems to go faster and faster as we age and I do think it's true.  Then why does it seem like it has been eons since I promised to show pictures of my Christmas trip to California?  My excuse is that there was so much to do when I returned that I didn't have time to devote to writing a lengthy post.  Then other things intervened like the tragic shooting of our Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords (who is progressing beyond the doctor's expectations, thank goodness) that needed to be covered.   

Well, a promise is a promise and I am going to keep mine no matter how tardy I am.  

Christmas with my family is always so much nicer than being alone and I really enjoyed the visit.  It was rather a strange Christmas because it was the girl's dad's turn to have them for the holiday.  They were at Gail's Christmas Eve and we all opened our presents Christmas morning.  Then they left to have dinner at their father's house. 


Gail and I decided that it was rather dumb to cook a big feast just for the two of us and so we waited until New Years to celebrate.  My son, Mark and his wife, Karen drove up from Van Nuys New Year's Eve to be part of Gail's annual fondue party.  Unfortunately, Mark was sick and after helping Gail with preparations he went to bed while the rest of us dipped all sorts of goodies in the hot fondue oil.  There was also the traditional Swiss fondue with the appropriate cheese for dipping chunks of good bread.  The part the children loved was the chocolate fondue with fresh fruit and marshmallows for dipping.  I'm just a kid at times like that so I did my share of savoring the chocolate.  You know me; the chocoholic.

Lynne drove down New Years Day from Napa and it was just super having all three of my children together again.  

 We just sipped wine and chatted the rest of the time.  We didn't even drive out to see the Christmas lights so I didn't get the anticipated pictures of the displays to show you.  

I didn't want to take my good camera and heavy lens with me so I bought a little point and shoot Nikon.  The pictures are disappointing as a result.  They don't enlarge as well.  For what it's worth I am posting a few of them here.  Left click to enlarge. 





Other than going to the Mall twice we didn't do much else.

The pictures are of Gail (top) with her friend, Kelli (bottom), Rachel (now a blond) and her boyfriend, Danny, Sarah and her friend, Miranda,  The Mall decorations and a yard across the street from Gail's.  I leave it to you to sort them out.  


I got patted down at the airport because, now that I am a bionic woman, I set the alarm off when I walk through the device.   The only difference was that the patting down went up a little higher this time. ~ :-o. 

I had a non-stop return flight scheduled for all the good it did me.  There was some malfunction in the plane from Oakland to L. A. and we were all taken off the plane to wait two hours to leave for Tucson on a different one.  Both going and coming my planes were two hours late in arriving. Considering the time of year and the problems that the East Coast was having with canceled flights and crowded terminals I considered myself to be very lucky.  


All in all it was a wonderful trip to be stored in my memory.  I hope I haven't bored you with my flashback.  I did tell you I would report, didn't I?