purplerabbit

Christmas day with the McKee clan went pretty well. We had a good time and got along fine with everyone. It was fun to see so many of

fairieboy's cousins. Two of them are as much if not more muscial than he is. The brother and sister played a duet on piano and guitar of a song they wrote. (They are teens.) We got some nice presents too.

airshipjones's parents gave us a beautiful outdoor fireplace (which will be perfect for fire circles). They also gave

fairieboy the money to buy the fencing sword he needs. His aunt gave him an amazing book on "Draconology." And his uncle gave him a remote controlled flying saucer. Add those to the cool Yule gifts from family and friends and we are truly amazed by the gifts we received. The best being two wonderful holidays with people we love.

fairieboy has to return to Iowa in the morning (Monday). His flight leaves Oakland at 10:55 AM to we must leave here by 9:30. He is not happy about leaving. He never is. And we will miss him a lot. The good news is that he comes back on March 11th.

The three of us are trying to figure out what we want to do for New Year's Eve. Suggestions are welcome. We had thought about doing "First Night Celebrations" in Santa Cruz, but apparently lack of funding cancelled that event.

I am still very sick. The cold has now migrated to my chest and so the asthma has kicked in. Usually I need to get prednizone from the doctor to kick it at this point. So I may have to make an appointment tomorrow. My mom and I also wanted to hit some after Christmas sales. Our local Goodwill store folks said to check them out on the 26th.