Christmas, Texas-Style

Tomkin and I are back from warm, sunny Texas, back to the land of snow, snow, snow. We had a great trip! I got to Texas last Tuesday. Mom fixed my favorite dinner--potato pizza hotdish, orange jell-o with mandarin oranges, and Peppermint Bon Bon (aka mint chocolate chip) ice cream for dessert. De-lish! On Wednesday we headed to the mall, and I saved Mom all kinds of money. She got me four sweaters, three tops, a dress, and a skirt for $130! Love those sales at Macy's. We also did a little last-minute Christmas shopping, and we got to have lunch at Chick-fil-A, which they don't have up north here. Mmm, mmm!

Wednesday night, Mom, Dick, and I went over to Dick's daughter Lisa's house for my second Christmas celebration (of five). I hadn't seen her new place before--it's her dream "doctor" house (she's a doctor), and it was gorgeous. Her daughters, Linda and Chelsi, were there, along with Chesli's boyfriend, Ryan. We gorged ourselves on incredible appetizers (including homemade chocolate-stuffed monkey bread) and fabulous drinks (such as peppermint martinis), and then we had a huge, delicious dinner (including ham, cheesey hash brown casserole, and homemade butter pecan mousse for dessert). We were stuffed! Then we spent hours opening gifts. Everyone, including Lisa's dogs DD and Jasmine, had a great time.

Thursday morning Mom and I had breakfast at IHOP (the restaurant, not to be confused with the International House of Prayer), and then we did a big grocery shopping trip at H-E-B. I had to finish wrapping my Christmas gifts, since they won't let you take wrapped presents on the plane anymore. It was strange not to have Ellis around to get into everything! Mom and I had lunch at Ye Olde English Bakery, which was delicious. (Would you believe Mom was actually so full she didn't get dessert?) It's funny how many activities seem to revolve around food.... We stopped at Mom's new hospice office and chatted with some of her co-workers, and then we headed to the airport to pick up Tomkin. Yay! It was great to see him again and fun for him and Mom to finally meet. We had a low-key evening--Mom made a melt-in-your-mouth pot roast for dinner, and Tomkin and I took their dog, Bosley, for a walk.

Friday it was gorgeous and sunny out--the perfect day to go rambling around the little town of Salado. After doing some shopping, we asked around for a Mexican restaurant. The only one in town happened to be attached to a Texaco station. We were a little wary, but the food was delicious! We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, walking, and browsing, then headed back home. We stayed in and ordered pizza and had another nice, relaxing evening. Tomkin and I enjoyed taking Bosley for a walk every day.

Saturday morning Linda and Chelsi came over, and Mom fixed Grandma's pancakes. (Man, did I eat well on this trip!) We all played a game of Phase 10, and then Tomkin took a nap, and we girls played Scattergories. A little later, we all headed back to Lisa's house. Chelsi and Linda introduced me and Tomkin to Guitar Hero on the PlayStation--it was harder than I thought it would be! Who knew being a rock star was so much work? It was fun, though. We had another amazing dinner (macaroni & cheese casserole and pork chops), and then we all played Taboo. At some point, a tire on Mom's car went flat, so Linda and Chelsi drove us home.

Sunday morning, Mom and Tomkin and I went to the auto department at Wal-Mart (no other tire places were open!) and got a new tire. Then we headed back to Lisa's, and Tomkin (our hero!) changed the flat. Since Tomkin and I had to fly back on Christmas Day, we moved our celebrations up a day, so for us the 23rd was "Christmas Eve." Mom, Tomkin, and I went out for dinner at El Chico (our family tradition is either pizza or Mexican food on Christmas Eve), and then we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. Back at home, we each got to open one present, and then we all played a game of Facts in Five. Dick won, of course.

Monday was our Christmas. As soon as we got up, we all looked in our stockings to see what Santa had brought us, and then we unwrapped all our presents. Santa sure was good to us this year! Keesha (the cat) sat in her spot on Dick's ottoman the whole time, and Bosley (the dog) excitedly checked out the gifts people got. I got The Diana Chronicles, a book about Madagascar, the third season of Arrested Development on DVD, Amy Winehouse's Back to Black CD, Trivia by the Pound, earmuffs, and lots of other goodies. Mom fixed German Thumbprint Bread for breakfast, and Lisa and Linda stopped by so Linda could say good-bye before heading back to Oregon. Then Tomkin and I took a nap. (All that eating and present-opening was exhausting!) Later in the day, Lisa's ex Bob, came over and had dinner with me, Mom, Dick, Tomkin, Chelsi, and Lisa. Chelsi's boyfriend, Ryan, joined us when he was done with work. Mom made such a wonderful dinner--turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, jell-o, scalloped corn, salad, and rolls. Mmmm!!! For dessert we had three kinds of pie, plus Lisa brought over a fabulous cake she had baked. We played a game called Hit or Miss and then Who? What? Where?, both of which were really fun. And then our Christmas Day was over!

Tuesday morning Mom drove me and Tomkin to the airport. The weather was clear and sunny, and we figured that traveling on Christmas would be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, our first flight got canceled, and our connecting flight got delayed. So we got home about three hours later than we'd originally planned. But we had good stuff to read and food to eat, and we just enjoyed each other's company, so the day really wasn't bad at all. Tomkin went and picked up the dogs as soon as we got home. They'd been staying with Jim and Roxanne, who live nearby. They have a dog named Watson (who we're dog-sitting for a week starting today), so they're used to being around dogs. Unfortunately, our dogs were apparently pretty naughty while they were visiting. They continuously got into the garbage, one chewed up a phone book, and one even threw up. Plus they both insisted on sleeping in bed with them every night! Oh, and Scout celebrated his 8th birthday while we were away. The dogs have been very rebellious since they got home--so much for all that obedience training! It was great to see them again, though. Tomkin and I had a really wonderful time in Texas; getting to be with the dogs again made it easier to come home.