Christmas Family Time

So. Yesterday morning (Christmas Eve), bright and early, Terry and I fed the cats, packed the truck, clean the kitty litter boxes, checked their dry food and water dispensers, fed the cats (again) and hit the road.

First stop was McDonalds for breakfast and then up to the orthopedist in Corning to get my knees shot up with cortisone. PA Kimberly Ryan performed the voodoo that she do so damn well! A little freeze spray and...poke, poke, jab, jab...I had been injected! Ryan then informed me that cortisone could be given as often as every three months. (I had thought it was six and so limped and bitched since September about sore and achy knees!)

Pain removed, Terry and I hoped on Rt. 17 east to I-81 south, I-380 south-east, I-80 east and were New Jersey bound. (The only snow we say was in the first 13 miles from the Aerie to McDonalds in Mansfield. ALL of the other roads ran through towns, forests and fields that were brown or greenish brown and held virtually no snow. Nada. Nil. Zip. This despite the temperature reading exactly 32 degrees until we crossed the Delaware River. General Washington and his men would have died for this kind of weather! Both on their raid into Trenton and as they made camp in Jockey Hollow.)

We got to my sister's house around 2 PM for our annual Christmas Eve gathering with Ruthann, All, their daughters and their husbands, Al's sister, Nancy, and her husband and daughters and husband and a couple of grandkids (one for Al and Ruthann and one for Al's sister Nancy). We learned that next year there will be a couple more grandkids--one on each side.

There was plenty of food, lots of congratulations, and some pretty heavy present unwrapping by the two grandgirls--one 6 months and the other almost 2 years. (Okay, Sammi, the six-month old needed some assistance from Mom and Dad, but she showed talent.)

They were still going strong when Terry and I departed to go to Linden and spent the rest of the evening and Christmas Day with our daughter Jessica at Grandma's house. (She was working until after 5 PM so opted not to make the drive to her Aunt's house. Grandma is in California with her other daughter, her niece and nephews and their spouses and our son, Rick, and his spouse who drove down from Portland, OR.)

As we stepped outside of Ruthann and Al's we found that it was snowing pretty darn hard. All the grass was covered and there was some accumulation on the colder car surfaces but the paved road was just wet. Even so, I drove carefully as we headed over the mountains to I-287 south and then Rt. 24 east, I-76 east and the Garden State Parkway south. The temperature remained right at the 30-32 degree range and it was snowing the whole drive.

When we got to Linden, we unpacked our bags and settled down to watch the last half of the first showing of A Christmas Story...and then the entire thing again between 10PM and midnight. (As Jess said last night. "Why is it I have seen this movie like a million times, yet I still find it funny?" "That's the power of Jean Shepherd's use of the English language. Too bad you never got to hear him on the radio." It was then time to hit the sack.

This morning the temperatures are in the low 40s, the snow had changed to rain and everything is wet. The precipitation here has stopped. and it's looking like it will be a pretty nice day. Terry has gone off to mass, Jess is still sleeping and my knees are feeling great!

Merry Christmas to all.