Well it’s that time of year again! Merry Christmas! I have been back home in St. Louis now for a week and it has been wonderful. It’s nice to see the fam again and the pets. Man each time I come home the animals are older and stiffer. One day I’ll come home and they’ll be dead . That is sad to think about it however inevitable it is.

Well, this week has been mostly staying up late and sleeping in late. It has been so nice to be able to do that without worrying about missing class or work. Happily this entry should be short simply because the week has been relatively uneventful. I’ve needed an uneventful week after this past semester; 18 credit hours, 1 full time job and 2 part time jobs.

The first half of this week has been sitting around and sleeping. Playing games with the family and eating good food here at home. On Tuesday, however, I went to have lunch with my co-workers here in town. I work as a contract web-developer for a company here in St. Louis and they gave me equipment to work from Salt Lake, so whenever I’m in town here I have to go to the office and hang out. Well, the IT dept is full of nut jobs just as ridiculous as me. Sufficeth to say, I fit in well. Now, they love to play pranks on each other and in the 4 years I’ve worked with them, I’ve never been pranked. I was feeling that something was coming but then I got a call from Mike and he told me all about their plans. He’s the most picked on (and he loves it) and so any chance to get them back he jumps on. Well, they were going to ambush me in the parking deck with airsoft guns and water baloons (mind you its like 30 degrees outside). Well I hit up the walmart and bought myself an arsenal and signed my brother up to help out. We go to lunch at Bandana’s BBQ, oh man I love that place. So Mike, my brother and I all ride back together and the others took off together to get back to the office before us. We pull in and I see heads peeking and then hiding from behind a truck a few rows down. So I open the door and take off running. Now, I should mention that I parked my dad’s car next to this truck and left all my gear in the trunk so that I could get to it easily. As I’m running I start getting pelted and then here comes a water balloon. My boss Jim made a perfect leading toss that hits my right in the shoulder and neck. Lucky for me it bounced off, hit the cement and just bounced away; it never exploded. So then I run over hitting the trunk button and it pops revealing the arsenal. I grab the shotgun and my brother grabs the hand guns. They immediately knew who betrayed them and the battle ensues as other workers in our office and the other offices in the building are driving through the parking deck and staring at us. As it ends we gather around laughing to discuss what just transpired. While we are talking, my brother decides he’s gonna break one of the impossible to break balloons over my head. Before I know what’s happening I’m drenched all down my back and all over my head. It was great. They had someone video taping the entire event so as soon as they send me the video I’ll post it.
On Christmas Eve, we played a lot of card and board games as a family and listened to way too much Christmas music. Christmas day was great, as always. Woke up early (9 am) and gathered around the Christmas tree with the fam and called my brother David, who is on a mission in Berlin, Germany. It was really good to talk to him. It was 4 pm there and so we had 2 hours before he had to get back to work. He seems to be doing very well and loving his time and service in Germany. Afterwards, we ate breakfast; southwest style quiche, bacon, eggs, toast, OJ, etc. Then around 1 pm we started opening gifts. My brother will made everyone different pieces of pottery from an art class he took this past semester. He made me a Ramen bowl. It looks like he bought the thing its so perfect. I always knew he was an amazing artist when it came to drawing but I had no idea he was so good with clay. Each piece was amazing. Of course there was the stocking full of candy and a little cash as well as a small RC car. This will prove to be my favorite gift! It is awesome. Mainly because after putting batteries in it and turning it on, the dog went nuts and chased it around the house for the next half-hour. Every time he caught it he’d try to pick it up in his mouth but when I ran the motor he’d freak and let it go and continue the chase. If he knocked it on its back or side, he’d wimper and try to nudge it back onto its wheels with his head so he could chase it again. I love Samson. So then it was back to the presents. Every year we get T-Shirts from my mother with funny sayings that match our personalities. Mine says, “I did not escape… they gave me a day pass.”! We all laughed so hard. At the moment I can’t remember the other ones but with each one we would all laugh until we almost collectively peed our pants. The two other gifts from the parents were to come today and Sunday.
That brings me to today, Saturday. I was woken up around 11 am and told that there was a masseuse waiting for me in the back room. I walked straight back and for the next hour I was in heaven. Oh man, she was great. She pushed so hard on some of my knots that the pain made me nauseous. That’s how you know its good. It hurt so bad. Once it was over, I went straight away and got into the hot tub for an hour while snow flurries came and went. I took a video of the tub that I’ll post. Then I took a shower and went back to sleep for 2 hours. I was again woken up for an event that has become a tradition in our family now I guess. It seems that the weekend after Christmas is always our families assigned day to help clean the church building. My guess is that they figured out that that is the only time all 5 of us boys are home again. It only takes an hour with all of us and it is kind of fun to horse around with my brothers while we do it. Afterward, we went clothes shopping to cash in on the after-Christmas deals and we struck gold, I just don’t know how I’m going to get everything back to Utah with me. I kinda forgot to bring enough luggage with room to take back more than I came with. Woops.

Now the other part of the gift is tickets to see A White Christmas tonight (Sunday) at the Fox Theatre, row 5 center. I love The Fox. Such a beautiful and ornate theatre. That will be great seeing as how after 9 am church I have to catch up on two assignments I have to finish and turn in for a class I was lucky enough to get an incomplete in rather than an F. Oh and the masseuse is coming back on Monday for another installment. Then Tuesday I get to relax and then fly home on Wednesday night. On the 31st I am going to this New Years Eve rave with a bunch of friends I haven’t been able to see much of this past semester. It is going to be killer! I’m so excited for it. But then on New Years Day its back to work on Pioneer Theatre’s production of Touch(ed).

And there you have it. The Christmas update.

I hope that all you out there had a wonderful Christmas or whatever you celebrate or are still celebrating. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone!