It’s been a crazy & busy week around here. On Monday morning, at around 9 or so, Erin called me to tell me he didn’t think he’d be able to hop a train in time to get home for Christmas, so I asked him if there was a Greyhound station nearby, found out where it was & told him to call me back later & we’d see what we could do.

Troy & I both started looking into tickets and all of that & then we realized that there was a problem with him taking the bus because he doesn’t have an ID & wouldn’t be able to bring his dog, which I knew he wouldn’t leave behind.

We borrowed some money from my parents & decided to go and get him. We left before he ever called us back, but I knew he’d stay where he was until he called us back, and by then we’d probably be pretty close. We didn’t count on getting stuck in one of those infamous middle-of-nowhere-traffic-jams for 2 1/2 hours or getting lost within miles of where we were actually going, but we found him, picked him & Bella up & headed home.

Garrett & his fiancée also got married that afternoon & called me while we were stuck in traffic with no signal to let us know they were official now.

Then last night, I had agreed to go to the program they were having at my parents’ church, so they picked me up at 6pm. The only real problem with this was that we had planned to have our Christmas dinner & open gifts here at home, since Troy was working yesterday & today, so I needed to be able to cook dinner, too. Rhi put the ham in the oven for me (and in turn ate none of it, in spite of claiming that was what she wanted for dinner), and as soon as I got home, Troy & Erin ran out to buy soda & I started the mashed potatoes and veggies. So, we had that & then we opened our gifts.

The kids seemed pleased with what they got, and I know Troy & I were, since we planned out what we wanted & ordered it months ago. We both got our own Dell netbooks, his with a TV received, mine with a cool graphic on the case & a Zune with a car kit & a leather case. I’m thrilled with both of my gifts and am letting my netbook charge right now. I’ll check it before I leave for my folks’ house here in a bit & unplug it & put it away.

I’m excited to spend time with the family, and even though we exchange gifts, they could give me a cardboard display and it wouldn’t matter, because it’s more about the family & the food to us. I really need to go & start getting ready to go, though, since my hair looks weird today!