Soon I’ll be off to K Falls for a week of holiday fun with the family. Although I dread the trip in the little prop planes, I can’t wait to arrive. I’m really looking forward to talking with my mom and aunt over coffee in the mornings, spending time with my sisters (including step-sis, Lisa), decorating cookies for our annual contest, curling up by the fire in the cozy living room with a good book & hot cider, going to movies, playing no rules racquetball with mom, shopping, sleeping in, having DDR dance offs, kissing Travie’s chunbby little face, eating lots of yummy, calorie-packed foods, and playing games in front of the gorgeous Christmas tree.

Of course, the downsides of a week of concentrated family time, and therefore lack of usual personal space, are the inevitable squabbles (or scufuffles as we call them) with the girls and the tensions that arise when everyone gets tired and cranky. Depending on how things go, I may not have much of a chance to blog at all, or sometimes I'll end up hiding in a corner huffily typing away on my laptop. I guess we’ll see by the frequency and subject matter of my posts. Think I may need to pick up some Malibu rum when I get there, so I can sip on White Trash cocktails (Malibu & coke), as Em and I call it, when things get dicey.

Even though Klamath is a sleepy little town, I’m warming up to spending time there. It’s beautiful in the winter, and I love the fact that it snows a lot. I really, really hope it does this trip, because I'm ready to go out and play. Let me clarify. I really, really hope it snows any other day but next Saturday. If a blizzard leaves me stranded with no flight out, I will be forced to spend New Year's eve at the Klamath Falls New Year’s Ball, which I can say with near certainty is not going to be my scene.

I think I'd rather have a repeat of last year's less than thrilling outing that ended with a somewhat scary bus ride home with Em at 2am. At a stop, the seemingly normal guy sitting in front of us went totally ballistic on this drunk couple who were holding up our progress home, because they couldn't figure out whether or not they actually wanted to get on the bus. The crazy man charged down the aisle and leapt off to shove and threaten the drunk guy by yelling "What's up motherf*cker!?!" Surprisingly, the driver let him back on, while the couple opted to wait it out, and he returned to his seat to calmly explain to us stunned girls that he was "just helping them make a decision." Uh huh. Crazy Town. I don't think I'll find that kind of entertainment at the K Falls Ball.

Song I'm loving now: Wordless Chorus by My Morning Jacket.

Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone!