A Christmas Recap in Bullets

Thursday, Dec 18th:

- Fell on my ass walking back from the bar. Mostly blame the ice. Partially blame the beer. Need to finish packing for flight tomorrow.

Friday, Dec 19th:

- Walk a mile+ on icy sidewalks with luggage to bus tunnel downtown to head to airport. City is shut down due to snow, and this wasn't even the worse they'd see.

- Get into Burbank about 90 minutes late after delay in Oakland. What a shitty airport. Both of them.

- Get my fill of potato balls at Cuban bakery in Burbank. Awesome as always.

Saturday, Dec 20th:

- Wake up early for trip to Disneyland with friends. First time there in almost 20 years. Wac is meeting me there; haven't seen her in almost a week.

- Get in most of the rides we wanted to, including Indiana Jones at the last moment. Star Tours is horribly outdated.

- Too tired to fall asleep, shoot the shit with Nick until 2am.

Sunday, Dec 21st:

- Head to sports bar with Nick to catch football games. Fantasy teams still not doing well. $120 down the drain this year.

- Buzzed enough to think surprising Kristin at work is funny. Probably just looked like a big dork.

- Domino's Pizza for dinner. Haven't had the D since diabetes diagnosis. Reminds me I'm not missing much.

Monday, Dec 22nd:

- Wake up at 10am, then again at 1pm. Different state, same sleep schedule

- Walk to In N Out for lunch. How I missed you, double-double.

- Get my first run in of the trip, a 4.2 miler. Much easier than anticipated.

Tuesday, Dec 23rd:

- Take the train from Burbank to LA, then to Ontario.

- Catch up with Wac again, try not to catch her cold.

- Fuddruckers is dinner for the first time in years. Hands down, still the best onion rings around.

Wednesday, Dec 24th:

- Get up early enough to make a couple batches of salsa for the dinner. Lots of pressure, making salsa for a Latino family.

- Finally dawns on me that Wac's dad is drunk. Was wondering why he was so funny all of a sudden.

- Time to open gifts. Many shirts from my parents, some slippers and a Best Buy gift card from Wac's parents. Secret Santa gift is a beanie with ear flaps.

Thursday, Dec 25th:

- Phone is dying, send out mass text messages to non-family. Hate to do it but best way of communicating considering phone.

- Call family for Christmas. Sorry Laurie, haven't entered your number yet & didn't show when you called since phone was turned off. I owe you a call.

- Watch a couple Holiday classics: Nacho Libre & There Will Be Blood.

- Head over to Wac's sister's place to stay. Take on her BIL at Guitar Hero. Last year he could beat me on Medium. This year, my Expert skills slay him. He is humbled.

Friday, Dec 26th:

- Take a shopping trip to Ontario Mills Mall. Stop by In N Out, Starbucks, and Best Buy on the way. We had gift cards for all these places but either forgot them or, in the case of Best Buy, didn't want to use them.

- Stop by Virgin Megastore's going out of business sale. 50%-70% off their outrageously high prices isn't much of a deal.

- Wac picks me up some sweet running shirts at Nike Outlet store. Thanks!

Saturday, Dec 27th:

- BIL's family shows up unexpectedly, for me at least. Awkward moment is diffused by focusing on Guitar Hero.

- Celebrate Wac's cousin's husband's birthday with dinner at Applebee's. A burger in a quesadilla is a ridiculous idea and only sort of tasty. Head to Best Buy again to buy nothing again.

Sunday, Dec 28th:

- Catch some football scores, enough to confirm that I sucked at Fantasy Football this year.

-Try to run 6.5 miles. Made it 4 miles on a pretty tough course before calling it quits due to toe injury. Toe still kinda hurts as I write this.

- Head to Wac's parents again for some tamales. Step away for a bit for more shopping. Noticing a pattern here yet?

- Dinner is Little Caesar's for the first time in eons. Crazy bread wasn't as good as I remembered but pizza was actually pretty awesome, especially for price.

Monday, Dec 29th:

- The long journey home. We say our goodbyes then head to Wac's parents for a ride to the airport. Get to the airport way too early, but a necessity as her parents are often slow getting ready. This time, they were ready.

- Didn't realize plane stopped in Vegas until we were at the gate. We seriously debated the option of just getting off in Vegas and catching another flight some other time. If we had more money we probably would have.

- Have to take a $40 cab ride from airport home. Our friends are great but understandably unwilling to pick us up on a Monday night at Midnight.

- Arrive home to find the apartment and cats in surprisingly good condition, aside from the fucking claw marks they put on my brand new poker table. Still totally usable but would've like to at least get one game in before they start to destroy it.

Happy New Year everyone.