Holiday "Fun," Part I

The shizzle:
We spent the first week back to the U.S. in Winona, at Tahra's parents' house. It was good to see her family again (both of her sisters were also in town, which hasn't happened for several years), but extreme favoritism reared its ugly head when one sister's large dogs were given free run of the house while the cats (Tahra's and her mom's) were locked in bedrooms for the week.
Kasha got out at one point, and was prepared to ignore the dogs -- until they saw her and decided it was a hunt to the death. Once Kasha was safely returned to the prison, she was so terrified she spent more than 24 hours straight on top of the bookcase.
None of that was terribly surprising, I suppose, but the apathy shown toward Tahra and Kasha was appalling. I really wanted to test certain family members' feelings by letting the other cat be chased by the dogs -- but I wasn't sure that tubby feline would manage to avoid the snapping jaws.

The fizzle:
Then we spent a few days at my parents' place. It was good to see them, too, especially my sister, whom I hadn't seen for almost 3 years. I even managed to get in some quality old-school 8-bit Nintendo time in.
This may sound weird coming from me, but I was actually a bit dismayed at how much Star Wars stuff I got -- ornaments, calendars, Pez dispensers, and tins filled with popcorn and candy. Yes, I still dig Star Wars, but there is a limit to my fanaticism -- especially when these "surprise" items took the place of things that could have come from my want list (which people had demanded for gift ideas).

The bizzle:
And now we're in temporary quarters at Shane and Melissa's house (thanks so much for letting us use your place!). The snowblower is cooling as I write this. We were going to do some significant shopping yesterday, but the attempt to get new cell phone service took over two hours. Apparently, if you live overseas for two years you need to provide your SSN card, passport, birth certificate, or recent utility bill to get cell phone service. Needless to say, we had none of those on us, and the process was incredibly painful. Liz at the Edina Best Buy was very helpful and patient, and made it much more bearable.

So, we're still shopping-spree free, and have to go back to Winona on Monday to return Tahra's dad's van and collect our luggage for Mexico. But fear not, faithful Twin Cities readers -- we will be back to Minneapolis later next week, in plenty of time for parties and board games.

Until next time...