Happy Yuletide
26 December 2002 10:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmusserHope everyone enjoyed the solstice, or whatever holidays they celebrate.
The 21st is also my sister's birthday, so I'm usually celebrating that on the Solstice.
This year, we as a family, decided to try something new for the holidays - go on vacation.
We picked a place between where my Mom lives (Chicago) and my sister (Kansas City) and all met in St. Charles, Missouri.
St. Charles is lovely, founded in 1769. The downtown has been preserved to maintain an early 19th century look and feel, complete with folks in garb.
We did some shopping, and had yummy food. Also saw the sights in nearby St. Louis - the Arch, the Anheuser-Busch brewery (which was cooler than I expected - more nicely preserved 19th cent. stuff), and a Casino. Further west along the Missouri River, we stopped at several wineries and got more goodies for later. We celebrated birthday's on the 21st and Christmas on the 23rd. All in all had a lot of fun.
Spent Christmas Eve with my father back in Chicago and exchanged more presents and got to play a few games. He fed me Bailey's flavored cheesecake, which has to be one of the most sinfully delicious things I've ever eaten. His health seems to have stabilized and he's actually hoping to go back to work in January. For those that don't know, he's been extremely sick from Cirrhosis of the Liver for the last year and 1/2.
Had a yummy Christmas dinner with my step-mother's family and the fly back to DC last night.
Still on my plate - preparing for Evecon. Yay, Evecon. Hopefully I'll see a bunch of you there.
Also got a commission from Steve Jackson Games to do several maps for their GURPS India book, which is very cool. They want drafts by the end of next week and I'm struggling a bit to find time to work on them, probably tonight and over New Year's.
The 21st is also my sister's birthday, so I'm usually celebrating that on the Solstice.
This year, we as a family, decided to try something new for the holidays - go on vacation.
We picked a place between where my Mom lives (Chicago) and my sister (Kansas City) and all met in St. Charles, Missouri.
St. Charles is lovely, founded in 1769. The downtown has been preserved to maintain an early 19th century look and feel, complete with folks in garb.
We did some shopping, and had yummy food. Also saw the sights in nearby St. Louis - the Arch, the Anheuser-Busch brewery (which was cooler than I expected - more nicely preserved 19th cent. stuff), and a Casino
Spent Christmas Eve with my father back in Chicago and exchanged more presents and got to play a few games. He fed me Bailey's flavored cheesecake, which has to be one of the most sinfully delicious things I've ever eaten. His health seems to have stabilized and he's actually hoping to go back to work in January. For those that don't know, he's been extremely sick from Cirrhosis of the Liver for the last year and 1/2.
Had a yummy Christmas dinner with my step-mother's family and the fly back to DC last night.
Still on my plate - preparing for Evecon. Yay, Evecon. Hopefully I'll see a bunch of you there.
Also got a commission from Steve Jackson Games to do several maps for their GURPS India book, which is very cool. They want drafts by the end of next week and I'm struggling a bit to find time to work on them, probably tonight and over New Year's.