I'm not dead.....yet. Just busy.

It's been a loooong holiday season ya'll.

I managed to survive a trip to Cali with holiday travel, barely. I managed to get through a visit with my folks without political upheaval, almost. I got back to winter and was relieved, sort of.

No more Xmas travel for us. I put my size 12 stompers down. It's the most expensive and probably the worst time to travel. Why do we do it then? I told my family that we would rather put in a couple long weekend trips that weren't during holidays, then try to swim up stream through the crush.

They weren't happy, but they get it.

What we would really like to do, and haven't been able to do for 12 years, is wake up at home on Xmas morning. I think we will try to make that happen for 2010. Put that at the top of the bucket list!

Now come the bills' YIKES! Another facet of traveling at Xmas is that after you spend all the dough to travel and buy gifts, you basically spend MORE money to "vacation" during the holidays.

For instance; we went to Disneyland. I love me some Disneyland! $74 per ticket, folks. OUCH! Then you get in the park and you have to eat...a LOT. Then there are the trinkets you want to bring home.

I don't even want to know how much I spent there. Thank Oprah I don't balance my checkbook. Ignorance is bliss.

Now we wait...for the bills. Ho Ho Ho Humbug!

Oh....and that dude decided to light us undies on fire right before we were flying home! Great timing right? I had to buy nice underwear before we flew, just in case I had a strip search on the way home.

Holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family, unless you're 3000 miles away. Maybe folks want to come to NY for 2010, I'm gonna say this year's Xmas theme is "Home sweet home".