Let the Marathon Begin

For some reason, xmas with my wife's family has somehow morphed into a two-day affair. This year it's because one of my s-i-l's wants to spend a good chunk of xmas day with her in-laws, which is fine. So, that means today all of us are getting together at 11 until god knows when, then again tomorrow around lunch for a few more hours (theoretically, but I'll get to that later).

Given how much I can't stand xmas, this is gonna suck.

The HB stayed at the nephew's last night, so at least the wife and I got to knock it out last night and sleep in this am (the NZS, like most teenagers, sleeps like the dead). After I got this post up, I'll start getting things together for lunch. We're going to do something we haven't done in a while: make pasta from scratch. Yes, it's a bunch of work, but it will keep me in occupied the kitchen and give the boys something to do in case they are getting squirly. I'll whip up a big, thick sauce as well.

I'm assuming that after lunch we'll dig into presents. This will be take for fucking ever because my m-i-l will want to tell a story about all of them and we'll have to constantly repeat what things are 'cuz she's so deaf or pass everything around. One good thing is that I'm sure my s-i-l will have plenty of booze around. If not, it will be early enough during xmas eve day that getting in and out of a market/liquor store will be no problem.

After things finally break up, we'll head home and get ready for our trip to Las Vegas! Woot! The NZS went on a great train tour of the US last summer, but they didn't make it to Vegas and he wants to check it out. I don't blame him, the HB hasn't been and we're always up for Vegas. We were also thinking of hitting the Grand Canyon, but it's going to be too cold there for the wife and the NZS. I'm not sure what shows etc we are going to see (my wife's theoretically been checking that out), but just checking everything out and playing some cards will be fun.

So, my wife keeps saying that we'll go back to her mom's around lunchtime on xmas day and leave for Vegas at around 4pm. I'm calling bullshit--the pull of the black jack tables will be too strong for her. But, we'll see.

I hope y'all enjoy the beginning of Santa's birthday tonight.