Best....Chrstmas....Ever

 It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a Christmas like this.

I think the last time I enjoyed the holiday like this was when I got a Iwo Jima battle set in the 5th grade. the island, Mt. Suribachi, hand painted Marines, Japanese Naval Infantry....I'd kill to have that set back. ( Always loved history, even as a child)

But again, I digress. 

We rolled the dice even though we probably shouldn't have, packed up Grandma and went to College Station with the kids. 

And the kids killed the "Fatted Calf" ( Luke 15)....

For Christmas they had duck, Prime Rib Roast, Ham....I can't even tell you the veggies as I overloaded on duck. ( I love duck....Took Reid and April 2 days to fix. Reid slow cooked it at 255F for 8 hours, and every hour pierced the skin to let the fat out. He and I wanted to fry potatoes in the duck fat the next day, but our female relations were worried about our cholesterol level.)

The next day, April fixed a traditional Chinese " Hot Pot" in which you cook food in a grill and two pots of broth. Again, a salute to meat. Lamb, Pork, Beef, Fish, Sausage. Cabbage, Lotus Root, Chinese cabbage, potatoes, mushrooms and of course rice and noodles, it is a 3-4 hour meal. It was the first time my Mother( Grandma) has ever eaten anything Chinese. Seriously, my Mother has never been to a Chinese Buffet. Scared to go. She enjoyed herself, especially the lamb and pork....and surprisingly, she liked the Chinese mushrooms mixed with noodles.  ( This of course is REAL Chinese not the stuff you get at an American-Chinese buffet. )

We received a 50 cent tour of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas( That's what my Father-in-Law's diploma says he graduated in '60. He graduated when there were 900 students there..Of course Texas A&M for you uninitiated  )

And I have a question for those of you who graduated from huge universities like A&M, or UT-Austin, or  Louisiana State, etc.....How do you make classes? The school is so large, how do you make it from your history class to your biology class which is totally across campus? I had a 'The Reformation' class( history class) in the Maes Building and next period, a geography class in the Hayes Biology Building,( Why they put it there, we did not know, I think it had space available at that time) on literally the other side of the campus, and I made it there in the 15 minutes. ( It is a pretty good hump from Maes and Hayes.)

How do you change classes at large universities?

Reid's office is near the meteorological building. In the middle of corps dorms.

Anyway, among my gifts was an Alexa. I am going to set it up in the next couple of days and cuss at it until I either make it cry or cuss back at me. 

We had a good holiday.....Hope yours was as well.