Christmas 2016
by Scott Hardie on December 30, 2016
After a hectic househunt and move, it was nice to have a family vacation to take a break from everything. The whole visit had already been planned back in the summer, and we had spent six months saving up plenty of money to pay for it, so all we had to do was relax and enjoy it. Kelly's father Russ and brother Andy, and Andy's boyfriend Joe flew in for a week.
Among the highlights: Breaking in our (very cold) new swimming pool. Watching an alligator show and chimpanzee show and big cat show. Zipping through clusters of mangrove trees in an airboat. Watching a fire dancer at a Hawaiian dinner show. Taking flight in a hang-gliding simulator. Eating Amish food and Mongolian food and German food and Polynesian food and fancy custom-made donuts.
My favorite part had to be Christmas dinner. We invited over Joe's father and stepmother and her mother, as well as my mother and her partner. Luckily, our new dining set easily sat ten people at the very busy table. Growing up, my family's Christmases were fairly quiet and sedate and formal, so having a big family Christmas with plenty of food and noise and laughter among strangers was a delight. We also took a page from Kelly's family traditions and stuffed a stocking for each guest with treats and small gifts, and I was in heaven getting so many smiles from people as they discovered what I had tucked away just for them.
I am so incredibly lucky! So many people are suffering these days (one of Andy's friends passed away while Andy was here), ill or miserable or fearful of the future. I don't know what I did to deserve this bounty of good fortune in my life lately, but I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. Bad luck has been around before and could return at any time.
I hope that everyone else in my life had a good holiday season and will enjoy a happy, prosperous, and safe new year.
Three Replies to Christmas 2016
Matthew Preston | January 3, 2017
Very nice! It looks like it was great holiday spent with family. Much like you I am extremely grateful for my good fortune of late and haven't taken any of it for granted. Here's to a prosperous 2017!
Lori Lancaster | January 19, 2017
[hidden by author request]
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Mile-High Hypocrisy
The homeowners' association in a Denver suburb is furious that one of its residents has dared to put up a Christmas wreath in the shape of the peace symbol. (link) Yeah. Keep reading till the end. Go »Feeling Lucky
Yesterday was my 13th anniversary of dating Kelly. We've been through many ups and downs together, and those downs have to do with why we're not married yet, but I love her as much now as I ever have. Here are 13 things that have been a part my life for less time than we've been dating: - The Internet. Go »Thoughts from Barnes & Noble
- Aren't all of these books in the clearance aisles the same ones I saw while Christmas shopping? - Sarasota must be really obsessed with astrology, Barack Obama, pet psychology, and Eastern cooking. Or the whole country is. Go »Going Green
This thing might turn out to be as short-lived as my other two attempts at a personal blog, but damn it if I haven't craved having such an outlet for the better part of a year now. It seems like a week doesn't go by that I don't have some little adventure to turn into an anecdote or a frustration to rant about. My idle thoughts are as pointless as anybody else's, I realize, but that's what the Internet is for (besides porn). Go »Hey Saoirse Ronan, What's Over There?
Go »
Scott Hardie | January 2, 2017
I have edited the above to add links to photographs.