~Saturday, Christmas Day~ I was up at 8:00, and shortly after that Joe called to wish me a Merry Christmas and to let me know that his dad had passed away earlier in the morning. Condolences to my dear friend and his family this Christmas Day. Rest in peace, Mr. Chason.
I got on the road to Greenville at just before 9:00. It was an uneventful ride with few cars on the road. Closer to Greenville than Raleigh, I passed a stretch of about a mile, with a dead cat, dog, and deer on the side of the road. That made me wonder if someone from the DOT has duty to travel up and down roads or highways on some regulated interval to remove roadkill, or if they only do it if someone calls it in.
I arrived at Vivian and Jeff’s about 20 or 30 minutes before my parents did. It was just the five of us this year, as Robert had to work, but it was a nice little get-together with beautiful decorations and a delicious meal all with the touch of Vivian’s hand.
I swear there’s a little Martha Stewart in that one. I particularly loved her Christmas tree made out of homemade (both the cake and the frosting) red velvet with cream cheese icing cupcakes. Very festive.
A Red Velvet Cupcake Tree!
Ribbon Candy Candles
An All-Things-ECU Tree
Dining Room Table with Peppermint Theme
My Dinner
(Poor Quality Picture from my Phone)
Family Picture from Thanksgiving
(We looked pretty much the same today, except Robert wasn’t there as he had to work.)
As always a huge debt of gratitude to Vivian for making our Christmas special and memorable, and to both Vivian and Jeff for always preparing and opening up their home for our family on both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I left Greenville a little earlier than I normally do, as the weather was calling for snow to begin in the Raleigh area at about 4:00, and I wanted to at least be close to back in Raleigh by then. I was, and in fact, it was still 42° when I arrived back, which only further diluted what little faith I put in weather reports.
After catching up with Robert during a nice instant message chat and making some Scrabble moves, I took a 2.5-hour nap.
At about 10:30, I headed down to Flex, where it was “Underwear Night,” which I’m not going to comment about at all. There were only a couple of people I know out. I said hello to Patrick, who was there with his friend Mike, and I told Patrick about Joe’s dad’s passing. Same with a guy named David (of David and Jeff, but Jeff wasn’t out). And a guy named Chris talked with me for a little bit, as he’s prone to do.
I left after just about an hour and was home just before midnight. There were very few, but very large, snowflakes starting to fall at that time.
