Howdy!

Long time no talk! My vacation with various 'hot' female cousins has been going swimmingly so far. Only downside so far: unable to keep up with you, my faithful reader. Oh well: I've been kickin it, old skool, by writing down my thoughts on (gasp!) PAPER, whenever i've had a chance. We may keep this up in the future, depending upon positive response; just let me know if you like this feature, and I'll take it into consideration.

So, what have I been up to? The weekend before Christmas, had a ball at a White Elephant Gift Exchange at K.'s house. She throws a mean party, going to depths that I wouldn't have considered. Homemade eggnog, cheesy Christmas specials from the early 80's (complete with wonderfully TERRIBLE commercials for Sears and Strawberry Shortcake), and a green/red Christmas food motif should give you an idea as to how much thought she puts into these things.

But the real fun arose with the Gift Exchange. We go the "Most Useless Thing Ever" route for our gifts. Last year's highlights were a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence, and my favorite, a picture frame with 4(!) high school photos of the giver. {Hah!} That nearly made me wet myself, let me tell you.

MP3 update: Hey Little Man, Eddie from Ohio.

Anyhoo: this year, I brought two gifts. Number 1: one of those sample of countertop material that you might get when you update your house. Sorta like paint swatches... but a) Formica(Tm), and b) something that you would use if you were a company. Red's friend V. ended up with that, and, interestingly, she both knew the technical name for these thingys, *and* could use them in her job. It was a 'luck of the draw' thing.

The second thing I brought was something that I had ALWAYS wanted to buy at Costco or Sam's. Well, if not always, at least for about 15 years, which is as close to always as I get. Unlike many of the oversized snak packs I've ended up with over the years (such as the 12 pack of Vienna Weiner cans I bought one day while shopping hungry), I could never convince myself in my wildest dreams that I would be able to use it. Therefore, the White Elephant gift exchange was my best friend, *finally* coming up with a reason for purchase. What was this paragon of uselessness, you ask?

A 4 lb can of tuna.

Charley was indeed sorry. {grin}

I then went to Houston, to visit my paternal cousins, many of whom I had only seen 4-5 times in the past decade. I had a great time, and merely wanted to mention a couple of things, to get your interest piqued for future updates.

-Confetti in bellybutton
-Liza "Cutest thing"
-The Handsomes at Christmas
-Missed Whattaburger
-Cuz G. very successful with laydeez
-Narced on T.
-(Chose not to get high, not to get high, not to get high.)
-Holly = Brigid
-Everbabe call = highlight of day
-Uncle - PO'ed at gas station
-Better names lead to better hair?!?
-Finally, I'm now on a quest to find other, more distantly related cousins, reconnect. (Starting with K?)

I mean, seriously... if, after leaving a 9 year relationship isn't the time to reflect and reconnect with your history, I really don't know when is!

That's all for now... I leave you, invisible audience, with the request that you take it easy tonight.... we need you back after the New Year!