Christmas Day 2007

Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007 - 1:19 a.m.

This print ad campaign is one of this year's Clio Award Winners.

I strongly suggest a clear head and an empty digestive system as mandatory conditions prior to reading it.

---

Okay. Here's how our Christmas Day went.

We got on the road about an hour earlier than we usually do; John's dad Joe is perpetually grunching at us about our late starts and how we should get there earlier and spend the entire day there as opposed to from mid-afternoon on.

When we arrived in Livermore, we pulled over about a block away from our destination and called. Nadine answered and John said "We're playing a joke on Dad, can you go get him, please? We're a half a block away and we're gonna tell him we just rolled out of bed!" Nadine laughed and put the phone down and found Joe.

"Oh geez, Dad, we just got on the road!" said John. "We'll get there as soon as we can!"

John says that Dad muttered something along the lines of Yeah Yeah You'll Be Late, You're Always Late. Whinge Groan. Et Cetera.

Then John hung up, restarted the car and punched it, which meant we got there in about fifteen seconds. We screeched to a stop, shut the car off, got out, hugged cousin Mark, who was standing out in the driveway consuming his fumar, and dashed up the drive to the door and burst in. "Fast enough for ya?"

John says the look on Joe's face was priceless. "Oh, you shit," he said, as he hugged John.

---

There are at least three traditions in the Espinosa household that were worth capturing on film, and I managed to do that very thing.

First, the tree. It's always full of the ornaments that the family has received throughout the years, and this was no exception.

Here are Dad and John, admiring the tree:

Next, at least one member of the family has to sleep on one of the two sofas nearest the tree.

This year, it was Joey's turn. Joey is John's youngest brother:

Joey can only kill me once, so I'm taking a chance here and I figure he's saving it for something far worse than me posting a picture of him dinked out on the short sofa.

Finally, Joey and cousin Mark both have birthdays that fall on or near Christmas.

For as long as I've been attending the Christmas dinner, the dessert has always been a shared birthday cake.

Mark is now in his mid twenties, and Joey is now forty.

Here they both are, with a bottle obscuring Joey a little, as they decide who gets which of the cute little plastic toys that were on top of the cake:

In that picture, they both looked to me like a couple of little kids.

May we all be fortunate enough to never lose touch with that ourselves.

---

As usual, it was an excellent visit. The drive home was fairly decent, and the lady who took our toll money at the Bay Bridge was the spitting image of Edie McClurg.

When we got upstairs, I opened one of the presents we'd received; a bag of chocolate covered espresso beans.

Everything that's come out of me since then has made me smell like a Mister Coffee machine.

---

Anyway, that was pretty much what happened to John and to me on Christmas Day.

I hope you had a good one as well.

---

Okay, there you go. Have a good Thursday.

---

what you missed - what's next - leave a note
first post - cast page - diaryrings - top ten

THE LEGAL STUFF: All content on this site that was created by me is copyright 2003-infinity by Brin Marie McLaughlin. Steal my stuff and I'll squash you like a bug. All incoming email or any other form of communication with me is subject to publication or other distribution by me in whole or in part at my sole discretion. This diary features the sole opinions and experiences of one person, namely me, the person who is paying for this space. In the interest of safety and accountability, no anonymous input will ever be allowed here, ever, for any reason in the entire history of ever. Whenever there is a comments section appearing in this diary, it's to be considered part of my paid presence on the web, and shall be used by my readership to supplement the things I have written here with relevant information in a polite manner. Comments that do not fall in that category are subject to deletion at my whim. Your visit to my diary along with your use of my comments section constitutes the understanding of this statement. Anything else on these pages including any comments belongs to whoever created it. All external links are current as of the date of the entry in which they are first featured, but at no other time. News excerpts used here are for educational purposes and are permitted under the Fair Use Doctrine. Hold hands when you cross the street, and play nice.