Christmas in the East

Missy tells me I should make a pre-New Years resolution and write a Christmas blog entry before the clock ticks midnight. Since we're heading out the door to Mezza Madness at Lebanese Taverna in less than ten minutes, here goes. We spent Christmas with my family this year in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Since I took the Thanksgiving week off work to travel to Idaho this year, I got stuck with the Christmas shift this year. So, we left the Wednesday before Christmas to make the 7-hour drive west across I-68, by far my favorite national highway. My parents packed an action pack 5 days for us, including a trip to the Longaberger basket factory (where Missy won a free basket and we both tried our hand at crafting our own), to Malabar Farms -- the home of famous author Louis Bromfield and the wedding site of Humphrey Bogart to his third wife, Lauren Baccall. One evening we traveled up the dark country road to Nashville, OH to take in the most auspicious house lights you can possibly imagine (signs of snoopy and Bart Simpson put most of us over the edge), ending with a drive-by live Nativity scene. The weather unfortunately was mostly grey and wet -- the snow seems to have located itself all in Denver this year. On Saturday, we visited some old college friends of mine, Jason and Erin Moorman (and daughter Grace, a loquacious 3 year old, especially with Missy), and Chris and Buffy Fleece and kids. Missy also attended her first Christmas Eve candlelight service. Christmas day was filled with turkey, gift-opening hilarity, and the traditional viewing of the classic film, Independence Day. Much more to say, but it'll have to wait until 2007. Happy New Year!