Texas Christmas 2004

This post will most likely be terribly boring. It is shorter than vacation videos, though, and I promise not to insert every detail.

Saturday, 12-25-04
We left for Lubbock around 8:30 A.M. The drive was not as bad as usual because I had my I-Pod with me; I basically had every good CD I own to listen to, as well as about 50 hours of old radio shows. Also, my Dad brought his laptop along, and we spent the last hour of the trip watching Seinfeld. We eventually made it to Lubbock, rested awhile at my Granddad’s house, ate dinner at my uncle Chuck’s house, then returned to my Granddad’s for the night.

Sunday, 12-26
I woke up late and wasted a few hours waiting for my good ol’ pal Jared to arrive. We went to Barnes & Noble and browsed their extensive collection of sci-fi and fantasy novels, as well as drama, philosophy etc. (a long-held tradition of ours).


Jared reads his favorite LeTourneau quotes

We met Joe and Jared’s brother Brett there, then Jared and I went to Hastings while Joe and Brett went to the theater to buy movie tickets for us. When we arrived at the theater, we saw four fire trucks and a mob of people standing out front. We called Brett’s cell phone from a nearby payphone and found out that the theater had just had some sort of electrical fire. We went to another theater and saw Meet the Fockers, then we returned to my Granddad’s house and ate a excellent dinner (i.e. mostly meat). We played poker and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dead Like Me, and Undergrads.


Joe, a.k.a. "Big Chips"

Poker made us all hungry, so around midnight we drove to McDonald’s. On the way there, Jared almost hit a dead German shepherd in the street. He seemed casual about the incident, but it really startled me (I was half-asleep after all). We watched a few more hours of TV shows then went to sleep.



Monday, 12-27
I started packing so that we could leave for Abilene to visit my Dad’s parents. I had a very difficult time waking Jared: I spent a few minutes calling his name and kicking his legs until I gave up and told Brett to wake him. Brett threw DVD cases at him then sat on his stomach . . . a cruel method, but Jared’s used to it (and much worse). The drive to Abilene wasn’t too bad: I took a nap for awhile then listened to radio shows on my I-Pod. We arrived, greeted my grandparents, ate a traditional Christmas meal, then opened presents (I received a nice wallet).


My granddad and my Dad try to fold a "Quillow," a crazy Amish invention

I’ve never liked going to Abilene, mainly because there’s absolutely nothing to do. I normally spend my time there watching TV and trying not to get irritated when my grandmother chastises me over using too many cups or wasting part of my meal. In the evening my Dad stayed to chat with my grandparents and the rest of us went to the world-famous Abilene mall. Joe and I looked around in a music store and a bookstore, and my mom and sister shopped for shoes. On the way back we grabbed some food from Wienerschnitzel (I had never eaten there before, but it wasn’t too bad for fast food). We parked in front of my grandparent’s house and ate in the van. My granddad is a health nut and he has gotten mad at us in the past for eating fast food. We threw our trash into a dumpster in front of the house so he wouldn’t get suspicious. As far as my granddad knows, no one in my family has touched fast food in ten years.

Tuesday, 12-28
I spent the day being bored, bored, bored, ad infinitum. I was so bored that I didn’t even feel like reading or listening to music. Joe languished in bed for a large portion of the day, until finally my Grandmother asked: “Joseph, have you been eating too much candy?” He got the message and got up to watch TV.


Making beds helps pass the time



I counted the hours until it was time to return to Lubbock. At least the drive back was nice and quick.

Wednesday, 12-29
Jared arrived around noon, and we drove to Rosa’s Café and brought back food for everyone. We later dropped a few suitcases off at his grandparent’s house and went to Best Buy. Brett met us there and we browsed the store for awhile. Jared drove his truck and Brett drove his 4-door Chevy back and for some reason they decided to race. Brett, of course, started it. In his desperation to beat Brett, Jared ran a red light. The light had been red for a good fifteen seconds or so, but Jared didn’t even see the light until we were almost through it (in his defense, it was a very strange intersection. I’m just glad we’re not dead). We went to Barnes & Noble again and spent a long time there: I used my gift card on books, and Jared bought a board game called “Dirty Minds.”



Joe and Brett played with us when we returned to my granddad’s, and we all had a great, if somewhat nasty, time. The gameplay mechanics aren’t very good: you have to answer questions and collect cards to spell the word “dirty.”


Brett, dirtiest of all minds

Jared won after about five minutes of play and proceeded to spell “dirty” four times before I had even spelled it once. It’s entertaining because the questions are so ridiculous; they all sound perverted but the real answers are commonplace items or professions, such as a light-bulb, manicurist, etc. Here’s a sample question:

- I try to do it with sheep.
- I try all night to get the right position.
- I only sleep in snatches.

Answer: insomniac
This is one of the more innocuous questions (some sound so dirty that I’d never willingly repeat them. Blame Jared).


Dirty, dirty

After dinner we all went to uncle Chuck’s for poker. It was awesome because my uncle had a real poker table and high-quality chips. My cousin Megan invited four of her high school friends over to play with us, much to my displeasure. At first I was extremely annoyed; the whole reason I had suggested a poker night in the first place was so that I could spend time with my uncle, my granddad, and Jared, but we had so many people that we split up into two tables.


Granddad and Joe, poker faces

Brett, my uncle, Megan, and I played against two highschool sophomore guys. My uncle lost all his money first, and I followed soon after. We were only playing for $5 each, so it wasn’t a big deal. I wandered over to the other table and watched everyone else for awhile. Joe lost all his money, then Jared. They both played well, but those friggin' highschoolers knew what they were doing. We left, and I later learned that one of the highschool guys came in first place. I can’t believe I lost my money to some kid I’ll never see again. How demoralizing.


The kid who took our money

Once back at my granddad’s house, I found a bottle of peach Schnapps in his pantry and poured myself half a glass. It tasted like cough syrup. As I tightened the cap back on the bottle, the plastic cracked. I wanted to simply place the bottle back on the shelf and pretend that nothing had happened, but Joe told me that I should confess. Over the summer Joe swiped a few cans of beer from my Granddad, and he didn’t want him to think that he was an alcoholic, hence his urging me to turn myself in so the blame didn’t fall on him. When my Granddad returned from the poker game, I told him about breaking the cap and he started laughing: he said that that bottle had been in his pantry for fifteen years! He hoped that I wouldn’t get sick from it. At least I wasn’t in trouble. We watched some of Amadeus, then Garden State, and finished up the evening with another episode of Dead Like Me.

Thursday, 12-30
I woke up early, packed, got Brett to wake Jared, then we drove home. It’s good to be back home!