Christmas Season 2024/2025: Christmas Day - A Very Speedo Christmas (1st Day of Christmas)

Wednesday, December 25,  2024

What a gloriously lazy Christmas Day. 

Had an Arturo Fuente cigar lit up by 1:30. 

Didn't change out of my speedo all day. 

Wasn't sure what to expect for a Christmas with no cold or snow. 

Turns out I did just fine.

Countdown to Christmas: 2 Days

 Monday, December 23, 2024

Woke up this morning around 5:00. Last night was Dale’s first night away from staying with his parents this trip. So nice to have him here this morning. Hot tub with John about 7:00 am. Talked family, (my) work, and politics. 

Nice walk with Dale up to the sundial on a nearby trail. 

You stand on the month. . .

...and your shadow points to the hour. This photo was taken at 10:53 am. Pretty accurate. 

The trail ends with the sundial at the top of a hill. 

The views from up top are pretty nice. 

Dale and I took the same hike last time I was here in February. 

After our hike we went to lunch at IHOP.  Dale got breakfast and I got the shrimp platter.  The regular shrimp platter not the 55+ version. 

Dale needed some clothes so we did some shopping at Kohl’s. He got a pair of pants and some shirts. I ended up getting a couple of shirts as well.  Next off to the cigar store where I picked up a couple of cigars. Our final stop for errands was Safeway where I got some cereal   and some premade Old Fashioneds. Those should last me through Christmas. One would hope. 

At Safeway I also picked up an Archie Christmas Comics Digest. It’s a throwback to when Pete was born in late November back in the day. Mom was in the hospital for a few days which was how they did it back then. No get-‘em-in-and-get-‘em-out like they do now. They also didn’t let kids in to visit so Dad bought Sam and I comic books we could read in the waiting room. Archies were my favorite at the time and by that part of the year Christmas issues were out so he bought me a few. 

When we got home we were at the high for the day...

Was feeling a little sniffly so I decided to take a soak in the sun but not the water. 

I read a ghost story for Christmas from the Seth series titled Captain Dalgety Returns. I may  have to reread it as I found it tough to follow. 

Gathering at the home of Candace and Doug, John and Dianne's next door neighbors. They had a nice gathering of folks who live on the blockc and it was nice to meet so many of them. I met a woman named Nancy who is a retired primary teacher who left the profession around the time of Covid. We talked about the many joys of teaching but also about the joys of not doing it anymore. 

John and Dianne's other next door neighbor, Kirk, came to the party as well and is pictured here with us on the left.  The theme of the party was Mele Kelikimaka which is the reason for the leis. 

Dale and I back at John and Dianne's place after the party. 

Countdown to Christmas: 5 Days

 Friday, Deccember 20, 2024

What a LOOOONG week.  I have a very sweert.  class of first. graders this year. This last week of shool before a two week winter break was the loopiest I've. ever seen them. Nothing horrible but let's just. say they. were. there but they weren't there. Anyway,  one girl in particular has been driving me to the brink with her neediness. She's constantly looking to interact and receive reassurance. She gave me a jinglebell bracelet this past Tuesday. I thanked her and I put it in my track jacket. The bracelet stayed quiet in there until I  removed the garment when I got home. It jingled and it reminded me of the story The Polar Express. I was able to muster up quite a bit a patience to last me the rest of the week. 

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Left for Phoenix tonight. I was so Zen about figuring out the logistics for  everything to  happen for me to to be ready to leave for the airport. However,  actually getting myself to the airport and on the plane ended up being quite the shit-show. I drove to the wrong terminal and when I got to the right one it took the third of three attempts to get myself into the right parking ramp. After foolishly putting my credit. card on my lap instead. of back in my walletafter inserting it into the kiosk for the parking ramp I drove ahead to fing parking. After getting to the ticketing window to check a bag I realized my credit card was missing after trying to fish my ID out of my wallet. After. going. back to look. for it (and finding it on the floor of the car!) I realized I hadn't gotten a boarding [ass so I went back. in line to get one. Yikes. I was too tired to be traveling on a Friday after one of the most emotionally charged weeks of the school year. 

After a couple Bloody Marys on the plane I was just fine. My seatmate ordered a vodka Sprite. He was great as far as seatmates go. We exchanged some pleasantries but he slept most of the flight. 

John and Dianne know a guy named Dave who does airport runs to bring people to and from the airport. He picked me up after I retrieved my bag and it was about a 45 minute ride to John and Dianne's. It was nice chatting with Dave who's a very pleasant chap. 

Got to John and Dianne's quite late and let myself in as they were asleep. Took about and hour to fall asleep.

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