recapping Christmas--part III

When I got home from J's, I could have sworn Sasquatch had been in the eggnog. The first clue was that empty carton on the kitchen floor. How did she get the refrigerator open?? She's a dog of many talents...but still. The second clue was her general unkemptness...Sas is generally quite vain and always strives for good grooming and stylish accessories. But, is this the picture of a well turned out dog? And finally, the brandy bottle seemed, well, not as heavy as it had just the day before. But could she have gotten the top off, lacking opposable thumbs? Who knows what Sas is capable of...

No, she's decidedly unkempt in appearance and do you notice how she's listing to the right? She did that the rest of the night, even when she attempted to walk. I'm pretty sure Sas was soused...Well, she'd have a headache in the morning and it would serve her right.

Dinner at J's went pretty smoothly...except as you might have guessed from my previous entry, my jello salad that I had lovingly prepared earlier in the day was nowhere to be seen. And why? Well, I don't want to embarrass anyone, especially my sister...Another salad was mysteriously missing also. The cole slaw, which as far as I could tell was the only responsibility of G's sister in law, L, had been forgotten. (Thanks, L., thanks a lot. You know who you are and how you can live with yourself is beyond me.) So no healthy salads for us, and I really hope our general health doesn't suffer. We are, after all, not getting any younger.

Look at that poor little girl looking longingly at the empty cole slaw bowl, her Christmas dreams shattered. (I have no idea who she was. I think she came to the door, lost, and J graciously invited her in to have some dinner before trying to find her parents. I don't know if she was reunited with her family, but I hope so because she was a sweet little thing, even in her disappointment.) So after the various disappointments of dinner, we went on to presents! I won't bore you with who got what and what their reactions, because frankly, it was not that interesting. It was just a bunch of stupid gifts and you just knew everybody planned to take theirs back the next day...or they would try. From the looks of some of them, I suspect they were "regifts."

So, it was the usual family Christmas, no different from Christmas anywhere in America. In fact, if you'll think back to the heartwarming Christmas classic, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, you'll have a pretty clear picture of the whole freakin' day. However, no cats were electrocuted, as far as we know right now. Still, that beep had to indicate something...And a beep is never good.

This Christmas was different in one way. And that was the preponderance of dogs present. I am a dog lover. Who could question that after reading my entries here. But, I believe dogs have their place, and the middle of presents-opening is not it. All that butt sniffing and panting and drooling and begging and wandering around in circles and just generally being under foot. It is just unseemly and wrong.

So, Sas and I say good-bye to Christmas 2008, and we're not that sorry to see it go. Tonight we also say good-bye (and good riddance) to the whole freakin' year 2008. And we are delighted.

--Ina