Why, oh, why, can I no longer sleep in?

Once again, I was up by 9 a.m. Since returning from that other time zone on the opposite end of the ocean, it seems I will forever be denied the pleasures of sleeping until noon.

Welcome to sunny Florida!

The drive was wholly uneventful. We made awful time, it seems like no one wanted to FLY to Florida this year so the traffic was backed up from South Carolina to West Palm Beach (where are they all going? There isn't much of Florida left by the time you get this far south!). And, Aunt Diane's snoring made wonderful driving company. When we stopped in Cocoa Beach, she finally woke, and said "Oh, great, we're in Boca" (no, we had 3 hours to go.. but that's details).

We stopped at Ron Jon's surf shop in Cocoa Beach - my favorite tacky tourist mecca and also only blocks away from where I lived when I worked at KSC. I walked away with a new swim suit. This is important because my holiday plans include mucho time spent at either the beach or the pool.

And the highlight of the homecoming was...

Seeing mom, grandmother and granddad.. and, of course, grandmother's new car. Being from what I like to term a "Mercedes family" (we have more of this brand of car than we know what to do with), I thouhgt I could picture Grandmother's new car.. I was wrong. When I saw the convertable roof fold down, it looked like a TRANSFORMER! I was ready to name the car "Optimus Prime" or something like that. Then, Granddad demonstrated the voice activation system - radio, cell phone, all responding to voice commands. The car is definitely KnightRider, now...

Cody (my 12 year old cousin)'s purchase at Ron Jon's was a very cool pair of blue jeans. My mom tried them on, and announced "I like them, I'm going to keep them." I am not going to comment on the humor of my mother FITTING a pair of blue jeans that also fits a lanky 12 year old boy. Anyway, it was very funny, as my mom announced her intention of keeping the jeans to hear Cody wail pitifully "But, they're my pants..." over and over. He tried to unload his less-liked pants on her in exchange for getting his "cool" jeans back.

And the Christmas spirit is alive in Chez Cutri

After several years as a scrooge, my mom has decided to go full force opposite of that, making our house EXTREMELY festive. Included in the decorations: new bedlinens with holly on them; shower curtains; mistle toe over the kitchen hallway; a clock that chimes Christmas carols on the hour; a lit up wreath on the front of her car bumper; icycle lights and bush lights; a HUGE tree; and, of course, to top that all off, moving, headbobbing, lit up reindeer father and child gretting anyone who walks by the front patio.