Holidays

[muscadine]

So I never got around to writing about the holidays. We opened presents Christmas Eve here, got a Cat Owner's Manual from M. which was on my WishList. Kewl! She also gave usa collection of stories by gay southern authors, which should be interesting. I gave Allen some CDs, magazines to read on our travels, some candy, etc. My Christmas present is going to be a PS2...when my Winter Session monies come in. OH YEAH. We got up early Christmas morning, had a great breakfast at our neighbors' house. B&L cooked quiche, toast, eggs, chicken&apple sausage, etc and we had OJ. Two other neighbors joined us, it was great fun! B took us to the airport on his way to the hospital where he works. The flight was smooth and Tessa did great (as she did for the rest of our travels).

When we arrived in Memphis we were picked up by Allen's parents and we went right out to his aunt, uncle, and grandmother's house. Even though they were starting later than usual to accommodate our arrival we ended up being the first to arrive. The food was good, got to catch up with the fam, lots of presents for the kiddies, and grandma got all sorts of things to keep her warm (robe, outfit, slippers, blanket, etc) which was kinda funny. After the festivities we took S & her brother home. S got a digital camera, which we had bought and brought along with a carrying bag, and her brother got a gift certificate for a video game from Target. They stayed in the den/computer room and we took S's bed.

The next day we got up and picked up a rental car to travel up to see my parents and grandparents. We had reserved a compact but they only had a Dodge Charger with a HEMI engine--so we were given that instead for the same price. Score! Although it ended up costing a bit more gas...it was a nice surprise. The drive up was smooth. We had Christmas leftovers for lunch, then the grandparents went home to rest. We picked up Hunt Brothers Pizza for dinner which we took to the grandparents. Mom and Papa looked through his old knife collection while Charles, Granny, and the 2 of us played dominoes, Granny's favorite game. We stayed the night in the parents' new outbuilding "apartment" which has really shaped up nicely - it's B&B quality and we suggested they hang a shingle. Cinnamon buns for breakfast, a stop by to say goodbye to the grandparents (the 4 of them were going for Papa's first chemo that day) and we headed back towards Memphis...and passed right through.

We had lunch at my Aunt K's (her husband died with bone cancer earlier in the year) house in Independence, MS, with her granddaughter R (who is pregnant) and Aunt C. After spending a few hours visiting we headed down to Barr, MS to visit the Crocketts. My grandmother lost a sister over the Christmas weekend but she had been sick for a very long time so it was a release really. We visited for a while, had dinner, and they went to visitation. My aunt came over to visit for a while. We spent the night at my grandparents in their guest room. We left early Wednesday, hoping to be back later in the week but we didn't get the opportunity. We got back to Memphis and turned in the car. Then we took Allen's parents' van and picked up his Aunt L (who also lost a husband to cancer within a few days of Aunt K), and we went to the world-famous Corky's barbeque restaurant for lunch. We also went by the florist Allen used to work at which is right next door. After lunch we went back to Aunt L's house and chatted for a while. We went back home and took a nap, then later we went out on the town. There is a total lack of decent coffee shops in Memphis, but we visited one of the local coffee shops (Java Cabana) which is really unlike any we have here that I've been to (though we have several good options) - very quirky, artsy, community-minded, fair-trade conscious, etc.

Thursday was "shopping day." Allen's parents and S joined us and we went to the new Collierville Mall to the World Market (which is new to that area), then to Claire's for S to get a second ear piercing as part of her Christmas. Then we went home and prepared for a big homemade Southern dinner (well, Allen & his mom did most of that actually) of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc....YUM. I was starting to feel a bit feverish so I laid down and read one of the books I had brought.

Friday Aunt C came by and picked us up and took us downtown to see the new development her husband D and a partner have been working on. Downtown Memphis has really undergone a huge change in even the last 5 years, and grew by 10% last year (versus 1% growth citywide) - Tucson could learn some lessons I suspect. They bought the Claridge House, which was originally a famous hotel but in recent decades was apartments. They are converting the apartments to luxury condominiums with a retro feel (floorplans and models in link, very nice). Very nice. I could live there (though the condo fees are a bitch). Apparently they are pretty popular with young financial professionals working downtown, sometimes as a second "crash" residence (for after a long day I guess). Currently they are selling at 2x the pace anticipated in the business plan. Anyways, after being awed by the models and the stainless steel pool, we went to lunch at Stella a new upscale downtown restaurant. I had a grilled chicken panini and crawdad bisque, both were delish.

When we got home I rested again because I still wasn't feeling all that great. Saturday we headed back, again with a pretty smooth trip. M picked us up at the airport and we headed home. We went to get some dinner with plans to join the NYE celebration in the neighborhood afterwards. But, Allen was not feeling great and I was feeling progressively worse over the course of the evening. By midnight I was hanging my head over the toilet, and not for the usual reasons people are doing that on New Year's. :( We could hear the celebration in the common area, so that was kinda nice. I passed out shortly afterwards.

Felt weak the next few days, wasn't really back to 100% til Tues, though since then both Allen and I have been on-and-off sick with fevers, headaches, dizzyness, etc. Today I have a cough, actually. This winter is turning out to be a pain in the ass heathwise.