Merry Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone and a year from now very few if any of the presents we just received will be remembered and hopefully most of them will still be functional. Another reminder to make sure we keep our focus on what Christmas is really all about!

On Christmas Eve we made the usual trek to participate in a Christmas gathering with Annette's mother's side of the family, the Tidwell side. We went to Mickie and Brendon's home in Chesterfield as has become the recent tradition. It was pouring rain and creeks and rivers were overflowing. All the while we were getting the rain, regions to our west were getting pounded with snow and family from Oklahoma City couldn't visit because of their "blizzard-like conditions" on Christmas Eve.

Once we got home on Christmas Eve we prepared everyone for bed and read our traditional Christmas story out of Luke chapter two, then read The Night Before Christmas. Then off to bed the kids went. Santa was generous because Christmas morning the kids found a Wii game system along with lots of games and accessories for it. They had been desperately asking for it and I continued to play up my "video games are bad for your brain" act to discourage their hopes in getting one so they'd be more excited. I think it worked.

A cold front moved through in the night and a dusting of snow had fallen overnight on top of very wet roads from the rain. That made for, you guessed it, bad driving conditions on Christmas day. We departed our house around 11 a.m. headed for my mom's and I found I-44 drivers going exceptionally slow for the limited amount of snow. But in the next 20 miles I probably saw at least a dozen cars in the ditch. And then there was the near miss. At Pacific I was driving in the left lane with a little red car in front of me. As we rounded a curve I saw two cars blocking the left lane that had previously collided. I immediately began to apply the brakes hard and yelled to the kids, "Hold on!" I thought we would hit them. I pumped the brakes and the anti-lock brakes were kicking on but we weren't stopping fast enough. The car in front of me tried to stop but slid sideways, then crashed into the already stalled cars. I held the left lane for several seconds, pumping the brakes. And at the last minute I drifted right into an opening other drivers had provided for me by shifting right themselves. I snaked my way right through that little trap and immediately uttered, "Thank you Lord."

We got to mom's no problem and exchanged gifts with my grandfather, mom, uncle, sisters, and their families. And while there the kids scored Guitar Hero or Band Hero (not sure which) for their new Wii system. We had a P.M. Christmas party scheduled with Annette's parents and brother that day but it was postponed due to the unusually slick nature of the roads. We got home that night and the kids did nothing but play with the Wii.

Yesterday was 12/26 and we had our previously postponed Christmas party with Annette's mother and brother and family. It was all about the Wii. I mostly cleaned my office and prepared to transfer my ever-growing library onto new bookshelves Annette got me for Christmas.

And so that's that. I'm off work all this week and I go back on 1/4. I'm looking forward to the time off and spending time with the family. I hope you had a Merry Christmas this year.

If you have been in the habit of receiving Christmas cards from us in the past you have probably noticed they're missing this year, as well as last year. We seem to be getting away from sending them. It's not to slight anyone! It's just one more thing to do in an already busy month that also includes a lot of birthdays. We're considering putting out a little letter in January to bring people up to date on some different things and just touch base through the regular mail. If you don't get one by 1/31 and want one, either I left you off by accident or maybe I have an old address. Feel free to drop me your current mailing address if you've moved recently and you haven't received any mail from the Furey's at your new address.

Have a safe New Year!