The other night we were driving to my sister’s house, where we stayed this weekend.

As Anna was going into the left of the left turn lane, she suddenly switched to the right left turn lane. I asked why she did this and she said tha tthe car way up ahead had it’s emergency flashers on and sure enough it did.

As we were slowing a Porsche was passing us in the lane we just changed from. For some reason he really wanted to hurry up and wait. I told Anna to leave slowly when we get the left turn arrow, because I wanted to see if the guy would honk at the car with the emergency flashers on.

The light turned green, we barely move and “honk……HONK…. HONK“. Sure enough, the guy was not paying attention to the fact that the car had its flashers on and that no one was in it. Oh it was a funny thing to witness.

Christmas just keeps on going.

My sister showed up and had more gifts (aka more stuff to try to pack LOL)

Well, she nailed it. Anna got a silly gift and a very nice fancy keychain. “VERY” nice.

As for me, well I got a gift that jumped up in rank to about the 3rd best gift of the day. A guinness hat, WITH A BOTTLE OPENER ON THE BILL!

I now have the following types of bottle openers…..

• belt buckle
• Park Tool opener (bike tool manufacturer)
• bike chain and sprocket bottle opener
• spatula with opener
• snowboard bindings
• standard wall mount opener
• Tiki handle
• flip flops
• and finally the Guinness hat

Merry Christmas from California. I am writing this from my parents house while sipping a cool refreshing beveredge.

We’ve been in Cali since Friday and are having a good time.

However I only brought one pair of shorts, so I’ve had to wash them every day. Why? BECAUSE IT’S FREAKIN 80 DEGREES! That’s why. Somehow it’s just not christmasy when you see Santa surfing in H.B. (Huntington Beach). And then you see all the people trying to look cold. I must laugh at the girls wearing their Ugg boots and short skirts. I also snicker at those people wearing long pants and sweatshirts with the hoods over their heads. Oh and a beanie under the hood. Come on, it’s not cold. It’s been in the mid to upper 70’s.

We did the present thing, this morning. It was hilarious. Almost like watching Ralphie and Randy from A Christmas Story. Ganoosh was constantly exclaiming “That’s mine….. that’s mine….”. I was waiting for the “OH WOW! A ZEPPLIN!” But since we didn’t buy her one, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t say it.

Liana ended up with a pony this year. This is that pony you may have seen at Target. If you haven’t, it may have been due to all the kids that were playing with it. You can feed it, pet it, groom it and even “ride” it.  It’s interesting, all the sensors that are in it and how it responds to a myriad of stimuli. (yes I did write that, remember I am enjoying beveredges). Now the issue is trying to fit it and everything else into the family truckster.

Oh and this family truckster is Anna’s present. The 2008 Toyota Sienna. Just shy of fully loaded. It is a great travelling vehicle. Plenty of room, DVD player, GPS navigation, 15 cup holders (still not enough) and heated windshiled wipers. It drives so sweet and we love it.

Everyone made out like bandits for Christmas. I got to see my family, Anna got to get out of town, the kids got more stuff than they realize and my parents got to see their grandkids.

This year I think more people were in the Christmas spirit. I say this because even at the liberals “Mecca” (aka Starbucks, a place I try to avoid however they have taken over all the good coffee shops in So. Cal) I was wished a “Merry Christmas”. WHAT?! Merry Christmas from the place that has these little quotes on their cups that sometimes say things just shy of ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses’. I was in shock. However I smiled and said it right back and as I left I turned and said “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” loud enough for all to hear. I wonder how many thought I was about to blow the place up?

We will be making our return trip tonight. We have realized that even though we have a DVD player to keep the kids entertained, SLEEP is much better at keeping the children quiet.

In closing, I want to wish all of you, who read this, a Merry Christmas!!!! I hope you have a great day and reflect on what this holiday is about. The joy, the happiness, the politeness and the Christmas spirit does not have to end tonight. 

Peace, Love and Joy from the Lord Jesus the Christ to you and yours. May God Bless.

WOW! What a surprise today.

UPS showed up and dropped off an envelope to me. I open it and there is a gift certificate! Needless to say, but I’ll still say it, I was surprised.

I could not figure out what it was for and I called and asked people at work but no one knew. As time went on I was really starting to wonder if it was meant for me. Then I get a call from corporate….

“Hi Todd? Did you get a gift card today?”

NOOOO!!!!!!! THEY’RE GOING TO TAKE IT AWAY!

“Yes I did.”

“Congratulations, you won it for making the most telemarketing calls one week during the contest”

Well, I thought someone else did. As it turns out, the person that was announced as the winner, really wasn’t. They miscounted and I actually won.

I am really stoked about this, especially since it will be a big chunk towards the new camera that I want.

That’s right, I said it. HO HO HO Are you offended? Why not? Maybe because it’s NOT OFFENSIVE!

My niece brought this to my attention and I thought it was an urban legend. But it turns out to be true. Santa’s in Australia (this is the only place I’ve seen it happen) are being told to not say “HO HO HO” because it can be offensive to women. They are being told to say “Ha Ha Ha” instead.

This is a prime example of how the PC police have taken over. This word was NEVER offensive until some stupid unintelligible rapper said “ho” instead of “whore”.  In fact, they didn’t even take the word “ho” from Santa, they just shortened the word whore. So how can you even equate it to Santa’s laugh?

I guess we need to recap what the PC police have done to Christmas. I’m sorry, X-mas…. oops I mean the holiday.

•  Christmas tree. It is now a Holiday tree
• Merry Christmas. It is now “Happy Holidays”
• Christmas carols. Nope, holiday songs (even though they are about Christmas)
• Manger scene. Wouldn’t want people to know what Christmas is about or anything.
• We now have scientists going around telling kids that it is impossible for Santa  to deliver  all the gifts in one night, because he would catch on fire due to friction. (Ya and maybe because he’s not real”

• And finally Ho Ho Ho. Because it might offend someone. Well, if you’re not a ‘ho’ and Santa is not calling you one, then how can it be offensive?

At the risk of offending people that read this, I will not wish you a Happy HOliday.

Merry Christmas.  That is, if you want one. I’m not trying to tell you what to do.