It has been quite a while since I have had the pleasure of writing here in xangaland 2.0. The last time I was preparing for Christmas with my MidEGGO coming home. So much happened.

MidE came home and was greeted by cheers and a few celebratory dinners, outings and other such fun frivolities. We had a great time when BigE was home and not working. My parents were planning on coming down for a few days after and I was ok with that. But then E got in a minor fender bender and had to get the Horseless carriage fixed so it would operate properly. While it was out at the auto body shop, we rented a car. This was ok except one thing….the car reeked of cigarette smoke and was horrid to get into. Much to my delight E harassed the shop on a daily basis so they fixed it faster than they originally said they would and we had the car back in record time. Upon turning in the rental I made the comment that it smelled horridly of smoke. Because of this they gave us a 20% off of the next rental we could get.

This gave me an idea…..

Instead of my parents driving down, staying in a hotel at 100 a night, why don’t I drive up with the kids, stay at my parents and see all out friends we can. And the rental cost would be 50 a day so we could stay a bit longer.

I quickly called my parents, and tossed out this idea. They loved it. Especially my father. He loved it because he has a hard time getting around. One of his feet doesn’t work properly from all the brain surgeries he has had over the years and on top of that he has had a few TIA (mini strokes). So we got the car, drove the 5   hours and spend 4 nights with them. We were able to see a few of our friends that hadn’t left town for the holiday. IT was a whirlwind.

Day one, my brother T came up from LA, and my baby bro came over, we went out to eat and after see the new Hobbit Movie. (LOVED IT) I guess I would have loved it more if it had followed the story line a bit better. But I still love it. After movie my brother went home. We did a wee bit of shopping and then back to bed as we were gone that long.

Day two, woke up, played a few games, ate breakfast of seber cakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Cleaned up, chatted with my parents. Kids went to eat with B and B as this is Tradition (I guess). After they got back from lunch we drove over to see my sis and her family. Gma and Gpa P were there. I got to meet A’s husband, T’s wee little boy ERB and the kids got to see their cousins and hang out. BigE and MidE went with the older kids to play pool. THEY had loads of fun. Then FGF (Fairy God Father) called and wanted to meet us for some food. So off we went to hang out with him and chat a bit. I miss our conversations, how silly he is and how much fun the kids have with him.

He left as I needed to get the kids back and to bed.

Day 3 I got a notice from the people I rented the car from informing me that they needed the car back before noon on Tues because they were closing early for New Years Eve. This news was a bummer as I needed to cut our visit short. So instead of staying till Tues and getting the car back by 5 we had to leave Monday. Drove back early evening of the 3rd day.

Since getting back it has been a bunch of kids getting sick, trying to get the school stuff set up for the new semester, and having to send MidE back to his father.

It has been a good time.

Welcome to the New Year. I know this year is going to be a great one.