Overheard at dinner

Person #1: You sure are getting gray.

Person #2: You sure are getting blonde. At least my gray is natural.

Overheard at dinner

Person 1: Whose birthday are we celebrating?

Person 2: Jesus's birthday.

Person 1: Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that.

Buon Natale!

Joyeux Noel!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Feliz Natal!

Srecan bozic!

Seun-tan chu-ka-hae-yo!

God Jul!

Meri Kurisumasu!

Selamat Natal!

Vesele Vanoce!

Miilaad Majiid!

Feliz Navidad!

Wesolych Swiat!

Merry Christmas y'all!

The Calvinator and I left The Bayou City yesterday afternoon and headed for Cowtown. It was one of the easiest drives we have had to Cowtown in a long time.

30 miles into the drive I started getting sleepy. You see...I didn't sleep well on Saturday evening. I had a good workout at LeFittes on Sunday morning. It all sorta started catching up with me on the drive. Amazing what a Rock Star and a Cherry Limeade from Sonic will do for you.

I have an eclectic selection of music in the cd player: Camp (soundtrack); Patti LaBelle Miss Patti's Christmas; Pet Shop Boys Disco 4; Linda Eder Christmas Stays The Same; Queen Latifah Trav'lin' Light; and Probe 20th Anniversary. I forgot that Camp has three great songs on it: Century Plant; The Ladies Who Lunch and Turkey Lurkey Time. The Calvinator fell asleep listening to Linda Eder and Queen Latifah.

Right now Calvin is looking out the window looking for Santa Claus. In Cowtown his sleigh is pulled by horses.

I'm still doing my observing and evaluating about the family situation. I guess my friends and I are at the age where our parents are aging and are not what they physically used to be.

This morning when I was wrapping some presents I heard a noise outside. I looked and it was an ambulance. One of my parents' neighbors was taken to the hospital. I found out today that another friend's mother is in the hospital. She had a double amputation and then had some kidney problems and she isn't doing too good.

I did get to see my Godparents at their restaurant. Nothing like homemade tamales. :-) And tonight we will be having some of my homemade lasagna. Andre, if you are reading this, it is my Americanized version of the dish. I'll come to Torino one day to get the real stuff.

The day you knew would arrive is here

Yesterday I met up with Margo late in the afternoon. She was at an establishment that serves adult beverages so I joined her and some of her chums for a couple of beverages. When I got home, I took The Calvinator out for a walk. I didn't have my phone with me so three hours later I noticed my sister had called and left a quasi-urgent message.

I called her back and let's just say I'm gonna have some family stuff to deal with when I go and visit.

The title for this post is from Hello & Goodbye from Evita. There is a day that I have been dreading and it arrived yesterday. I've seen it on the horizon.

What's difficult is that I am 270 miles from my family which I guess isn't that far. However, it's difficult for me to put things in perspective and realize that after my visit for the holidays, my brother and sister will be the ones to deal with this situation on a daily basis. I can't blow into town and tell everybody this is what needs to be done and then leave.

I didn't sleep well last night. I'm sorta not looking forward to going home for the holidays.

In other news...

This weather is freaky. I ran 10 miles this morning in high humidity and then it rained so I stopped after 10 miles. Now it is getting cold outside.

Jumbo Jack with cheese no tomato

I'm willing to bet that Ryan Barry doesn't go through the drive-thru at Jack-In-The-Box after a night of over indulging in adult libations.

Seriously though. I can't even imagine how much work it takes to look get his body in shape. Yes, he is a model so his livelihood depends on having an awesome body. And yes, genetics plays a part in this.

I have to wonder though...does he ever allow himself to go to Cyclone Anaya's and have a frozen Margarita swirled with frozen Sangria, a basket of chips with queso, some enchiladas, a taco, a tamale, rice & beans? Looking at those abs, I think not.

In other news...
My penance continued today. I met runnerOne this morning at 545A for a quick jaunt around the park. It was perky nipple weather this morning but it was a good run.

Penance

OK. Because last night I over indulged on adult beverages.

And because last night I over indulged on delicious nibbly things.

And because last night on my way home from the Christmas Party with a detour to Mo Mong I stopped at Jack-In-The-Box and ordered a Jumbo Jack with cheese (no tomato), large order of curly fries with a large Diet Coke.

Today around noon I went to the park and ran 4.1 miles and then later in the day I went to the gym and did a weight workout.

Today all I have had to drink is an Iced Grande Sugar-free Gingerbread non-fat Latte and a bunch of water.