I was up at about 8:30 this morning, and I finished wrapping the last of my gifts to take on the road today.
Irene checked in at a little after noon to announce that the plans have changed today, if I was at all able to accommodate them. Instead of going to Jacksonville when they arrive this afternoon, they wanted to go to Greenville.
This matters not to me. Greenville is a shorter drive, and I can as easily stay with my sister and her husband there, as I was going to stay with my parents in Jacksonville.
In fact, I like the plan better, as I can now return to Raleigh tomorrow night instead of Wednesday night.
Everything went smoothly with Irene and Katherine’s flight in terms of an on-time arrival.. We set off for Greenville directly.
We took an exit to grab a quick bite to eat at a Smithfield Bar-B-Que place, and after traveling the 2.7 miles to get to it, found it closed early for Christmas Eve.
We grabbed a quick something at a KFC/Taco Bell combo store, and then got back on the road.
After stopping at a Wachovia for an ATM withdrawal for Irene—which was unsuccessful, so she wrote me a check for a hundred bucks and I gave her cash—I dropped Irene and Katherine off at The Hope Lodge, where we were greeted by Irene’s brother Buck.
I spent the evening with Vivian and Jeff, and I helped a little by:
- Enjoying several cocktails
- Eating the veggies and dip, and meat, cheese, and crackers put out for a “nibbly dinner” 🙂
- Sliced and chopped some green peppers for the cheese ball
- Chopped some onions for the stuffing
- Stirred the pecan pie filling (centrifugal spin technique was employed)
- Stirred the stuffing mixture
- Mashed the egg yolks for the deviled eggs
We watched Wanda Sykes’ Sick & Tired before retiring.
I read a few chapters of The Turn of the Screw in bed.