Crazy Crap Item #156: The part where I finally document the holidays

Here it is, more than halfway through January, and I'm finally taking time out of my busy schedule to document the Daly/Peterson yuletide.

Pleasant, it was. Low-key. Hence the lack of documentation. And yet, there are still details to record. To whit:

* Eamon and flew out of O'Hare and into Long Beach airport, just a stone's throw from my brother's house. It was thus that my brother had the enviable privilege of picking us up and transporting us to his house for the night. And thus he did.

* We overnighted at Mike's, where we indulged in a brownies and the ear-scratchings so desired by Mike's and Kathy's cats, and enjoyed a pleasant lounge before retiring.

* The following day, the eve of Christmas Eve, we arose in a leisurely fashion, and were treated to a sumptuous brunch at Hof's Hut, Mike's and Kathy's favorite diner. We've eaten there before, and delighted in its full menu complemented by a full bar.

* Mike graciously took us over to Mom and Dad's in glorious Banning, where we settled in for a five-day-long sleep-and-eat-athon. Things started auspiciously enough, as we grazed on See's candy (my most favorite of dipped chocolates. Suck it, Fanny May!) and sweet, sweet beer, straight from my dad's kegerator (located, as it is, in my dad's private, in-house pub. I am not kidding).

* I savored my mother's flair for holiday decor, which tends to involve a number of animal representations. Hence, my favorite Peterson household decoration, newly clad in yuletide splendor, and mom's artful enhancement of the dining-area chandelier. It as also an opportunity to walk down memory lane via some of our long-cherished decorations, including:
- Mike's proprietary ornament (Santa in his sleigh), a gift from him in his early years from our Aunt Doris. All through my childhood, it was made pressingly clear to me that this was MIKE'S ornament. Don't touch it. Don't even look at it.
- My favorite ornament. It was a retaliatory favorite. Mike gets an ornament? I get an ornament. So I took this one over. It's very fancy.
- Mike's reindeer. Virtually unidentifiable now, it was once a quite credible reindeer, with antlers and all. Mike made it in kindergarten. It has a certain understated poetry, I believe.

* The next day was Christmas eve, which we celebrated with much laying about, eating of aforementioned See's candy, sipping of aforementioned beer, and watching of holiday-themed television. I ventured out at one point for a refreshing walk, but was turned back by bone-chilling, gale-force winds. Thus it was that I was forced to lounge abed and acouch the whole day long.

* For our Christmas Eve supper, we were treated to my dad's homemade lasagna. The one bitter moment in an otherwise delightful evening was the sad loss of the garlic toast, which failed to emerge intact from the oven.

* Christmas Day. Mike and Kathy arrived mid-day for chit chat, merriment, and the joy of opening presents, presents and more presents. Then we tucked into a delightful honey-baked ham with all the trimmings, followed up by Dad's world-famous tortoni.

* The next high point came a few days after Christmas, when we headed over the home of my Aunt, Doris. She is the much vaunted matriarch of the now-famous Potts family. The occasion was Baby Rick's 50th birthday, compounded by general holiday merriment and a most rare chance for a quasi-family reunion. It was a grand opportunity to mix it up with cousins I seldom see, including the charming Fordham gals, Mountain-man Tom, Rick and his lovely wife Kryttre. Cousin Rick spoke of his work peddling rare jazz recordingas an L.A.-based vinyl superstore, and supplied me with some images of his artwork (described in an earlier post), which shall receive full treatment at a later date. Tom regaled us with tales of life in the wilds of Montana, including intriguing anecdotes about the goings-on at a local polygamous compound and an annual frisbee golf tournament. (I can only assume these two things are unconnected.) The Fordham ladies (chiefly Aunt Donna and Sue) compared notes about the various attributes and comparative odds at several local casinos. It was an entertaining and informative evening.

* At the end of the week, it was home again, home again, jiggedy jig. Against all odds, Eamon and I had a remarkably smooth trip home. All flights were delayed, which gave us the rare opportunity to hop on an earlier flight. We arrived home a full 4 hours earlier than scheduled, the perfect capper to a lovely holiday season!