(Yes, I intended to write an entry for every day. Alas, my parents� net access died the day I got there, and thus I�m posting the paper journal entries I wrote instead a few weeks late. Sorry �bout that.)

Written 12/23:

I bet you�ll be surprised to hear this, but the visit actually went okay. No enforced anything beyond a "did you kiss Granddaddy goodbye" at the end- I pleaded my cold and blew him one instead. I even managed slight chitchat about candy (he got a TON). Otherwise we sat around, Aunt Susie giving me job advice. Then we went out to dinner, then back home.

You know what was nice about this? I didn�t have my usual weirdedoutness that I usually have about being around Granddaddy- and Dad. I didn�t feel weird about trying to talk to Dad for a change, or touching him. It was great.

Well, turns out there was no need for me to worry about missing out on decorating this year- Mom still hasn�t gotten to it yet. She�s always busy. We still don�t have a tree up, and I don�t know when we�ll get to it. At least presents are almost done, though I found out Dad already has one of the gifts I got him. Drat. I�m begging Mom to take me out for a gift swap tomorrow, but I�m not thinking it�ll happen.

Remember how they told me they had broadband working? Well, it�s not, or at least it�s not any more. (Obvious to you now, since you�re reading this in January.) Mom�s been on the phone/on hold for hours and hours. Now she finally understands why I refuse to call tech support for help. AT&T is worse than Pacbell tech support, can you believe that? Mom was so pleased when she finally found a guy who would talk to her (even if he couldn�t fix the problem), she says she has a crush on him. Jeff, the 20-year-old in Vancouver, my mom�s willing to offer you her firstborn now.

My cousin Tammy and cousin-in-law Les came over today- Les was helping fix the spa. I�d just like to say that when I talk about my dad�s side of the family generally being jerky, Tammy, Les and their son Justin are exceptions. They are the cool relatives. Tammy is doing well, pregnant-wise. No gestational diabetes this time, wow! The baby (C-section scheduled for Jan. 30. Yikes, we�re adding an Aquarius to the family) will be either Jesse or Jessica. I�m hoping it�s a girl, as Justin and Jesse sound like the next James brothers or Butch and Sundance. They�re destined to be Western hick gunslingers or something. Asking for trouble, you know? Given the run of boys in Les�s family, it�s probably a boy though.

I was amazed at how alike Tammy and I were. Both of us make fun of stuff in the same style, and like me, she was going on about how she would go nuts staying home with babies. Sometimes you don�t realize how alike you can be with your relatives, you know?

They refrained from asking me personal details, thank the gods. They filled us in on the latest family stuff, and we found out that Mom should NEVER let Auntie Dolores clean her house because she will bitch about what she found to everyone else in the family. (T&L get fed up with their crap too.)

On Thursday, Ron and Laurie and kids were supposed to come over to do dinner and presents with D&B, but R&L had a big fight on the way over and Ron ended up arriving alone. Laurie had to be talked into returning for dinner and presents, then left on her own. Man, when are they going to get divorced already? It gets uglier all the time. Tammy and Mom don�t even bother inviting them to family gatherings any more.

Back before T&L moved to another nearby town, D&B used to have everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner and presents. They�ve discontinued the tradition in the last few years, to my relief (they can�t get any of their kids to come because they�re busy with their own kids), but alas, they want to do it again tomorrow night. Dinner out, then presents before D&B go to church. Sigh. The horror, the horror. Can�t say no to that, though.

Mom just came in to tell me how badly I was doing and how it�s not Dad�s fault he�s changed (but according to her, he hasn�t at all), and he�s trying so very hard to be his old self, and how I�m just so cold and stiff to him. In other words, same old, same old, I suck. I�m sorry, but regardless of it not being his fault, he has changed.

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