Holidays in Houston

It's no secret that Christmas just isn't my thing. Terrible music. Evergreen allergies. Travel stresses (ALWAYS travel stresses). And presents.Here's the deal with presents: I'm just not very good with them.I'm not good at receiving them: I never give a good reaction to surprises, even if it's something I like, and I can't hide my disdain if it's something I don't like. I'm a HUGE disappointment to gift givers.I'm also terrible at gift giving. I mean, have you seen what I wear? I'm a terrible shopper. I can't even shop for myself.All-in-all, stress.That said, I was looking forward to spending the holidays time in Houston. Forget the holiday circus. I just wanted to be out on the deck with the family, drink in hand. Sure enough, I was out in the yard with cousin Nick and a few beers by 11:00am on Christmas day.Something about this holiday made it one of the nicest ones yet. Everything felt a bit more relaxed. Maybe we as a family finally learned how to prioritize the stresses. Or maybe we just finally learned how to get along.Christmas Eve was spent with the Preston family. And Bret. And Bret's references to "chiefing the bowl." It was an entertaining evening.Christmas Day was spent with the Rutherford's. Big dog Jim administered communion the evening before. Thankfully his pours were a little more generous this time around.When the holiday spirit wasn't coursing through us, I was holed up in my closet, going through boxes that still hadn't been unpacked following any of the most recent moves. There must have been ten bags delivered to Goodwill by the end of the week. Evenings were spent with food and family and drink and friends. It wasn't nearly as relaxed as I would have like it, but the time was short unfortunately, as it always is.Just five days after arriving in Houston, I was already headed to the airport. Mom and Dad treated me to ribs at Pizzitola's. I treated them to a day-beer at Onion Creek. We relaxed and chatted and were entertained by Mike Hinton. Dad mentioned that it was good to see my smiling again. It felt good to smile again. :)