Beth on a Stick

Alright, enough of this holiday hiatus. I have officially survived, relatively unscathed and only minimally frostbitten. Let me tell you though, Chicago and South Bend are cold. And at a high of 25 degrees, I heard from multiple northerners that it was "surprisingly warm."

...WTF? Note to self: never live north of the Mason-Dixon line.

All in all, I had two wonderful Christmases- a faux one and a real one. My family and I designated December 18th "Faux Christmas," with Santa obliging to make a visit early and us going through the usual Christmas morning routine. We woke up and Dad filmed me and Kate like he does every year when we come out to see what bounty Santa hath brought forth that year. (Our geek-out factor has only diminished slightly as the years have gone by- we still run out and squeal "Santa came! Santa came!" I don't know if I should be proud or disturbed by this.) Then we open gifts and go through stockings, which now always include scratch-off lottery tickets but absolutely does not mean we are hillbillies with a gambling problem. We just support education. I also am going to be a scratch-off katrillionaire.

We then flew out for the real Christmas with Mark's family, and by comparison to my usual Christmas celebrations it was fairly tame. The highlights included going ice skating (my butt and the ice got to be besties), going to Christmas Eve Catholic mass (I grew up Methodist. Catholicism vs. Methodism = similar cast, two totally different productions.), and several huge family dinner parties (I am such a charmer. They like me! They really like me!).

The sadness of being apart from my family really only hit me when we returned home the day after Christmas. Having to get back to work while they were just starting our normal trip sucked to say the least. However, to keep my spirits up, they created what we lovingly deemed Beth on a Stick. They basically took my pictures and taped it to one of the handheld fans we used as programs from the wedding. Kate periodically sent me text picture messages of all the fun things I was doing via Beth on a Stick. So rather than trying to describe it, I have decided to present some of the highlights. Enjoy.

Beth on a Stick : What I Did(ish) This Christmas

A Photo Essay.

...with lots of subtitles and punctuation in the title like real artists do!

On the car ride, gearing up
for the big trip.

Spending a little quality time with my cousins

Wouldn't be complete without
playing some cards

Ready to open some gifts!

My grandpa was highly amused
by my gift of a bathroom aid called
"Trap a Crap"

Got to add the last piece to
the jigsaw puzzle

Getting some wisdom from Grandpa

In Kentucky now with my
favorite rolls in the world

And the Beth was hung by the
stocking with care. Merry Christmas
to all, and to all a good night.