The Christmas who says Ni

Posted by Gypsy on Dec 28, 2009

Christmas tends to be the same thing for me every year: dealing with airport security, making sure my bags aren’t overweight, waiting out ridiculous delays, happy hellos and tearful goodbyes, and lots of alcohol to make me a little more relaxed for take off. Sure, there is time spent with family, too, but often that gets overwhelmed by the stress of holiday travel. So it was with that in mind that I decided this year I was having Christmas in my own home. If family wanted to spend it with us, they would have to do the traveling for once. And because they are so awesome, my family was up for the challenge.

To kick off the visit right, before my parents and sister arrived we picked up a tree so it would be ready for decorating on the first day. It was then we realized we were sadly lacking in an angel or star for the top of the tree. So we improvised and used something that was a little more our style: a Knight Who Says Ni.

Of course, to match his herring, we decorated the rest of the tree in blue and silver. This part was done once my family arrived and was conducting as usual: with everyone helping at first and by the end only my mom working on it. Personally, I love the look of a tree but hate the actually work of it. Someone needs to start a service that does all that for people who are lazy like me. Until then, I just need to keep my mom around for the holidays.

Most of the trip was spent doing what most people do around the holidays: eating and last-minute Christmas shopping. And really, why not? Everyone was on vacation and needed to relax. Since they were here for a full week, though, there were a few things we made sure we did. Most importantly was the required trip to In N Out. I would’ve taken photos to commemorate my parents first trip to the SoCal jewel, but honestly I was too busy digging into my own double double with just cheese and spread to pay attention to anyone else.

We also took a trip downtown to explore the USS Midway. The Midway is a decommissioned Navy aircraft carrier that has since been turned into a museum. As I had already visited the Midway once before, it wasn’t new for me, but I did get to see a few things I missed out on the first time around, including the ship’s brig and the bridge, where the navigator makes the decisions. I have to say the view from up there is positively amazing and it must be ridiculous impressive to sit up there when the ship is out to sea and all you can see for miles is ocean.

However, no trip to California in winter is complete without a visit to the beach. Since it’s December, it’s still a little too chilly for swimming, but it’s not too bad for a walk. The beach we ended up at was just south of Oceanside as we had gone up there to grab a bite at a Chinese place I love. Luckily for us, it was a perfectly sunny day, which kept it from feeling too chilly and offered some great photo opportunities.

However, the real fun was hosting my very first Christmas. I really dropped the ball on taking photos of this, but picture, if you will, a perfectly roasted tenderloin, creamy mashed potatoes and amazing buttermilk biscuits. Add in some gravy, veggies and apple pie and it was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever cooked. At least somewhere in the top 10.

Alas, all vacations must come to an end. The day after Christmas, after a week here, my parents and sister had to fly back to freezing cold New York. It was really awesome to have them come visit and I had a really great Christmas with them here.

Now it’s time for a nap. I’m still recovering from all that laziness.