Surprise, Surprise....

...I'm in beautiful and warm California! I flew in on Christmas day to Ontario, where Danielle and Luthor picked me up. They promptly dropped me off at my brother's house for Christmas brunch, where I thought we were going to have to mop my mother off the floor. "You're here! You're real!" She kept pinching me to make sure I was really here, until I reminded her that she was supposed to pinch herself to wake up from a dream. Dad had happy tears all over the place. There was just a lot of general excitement, since I hadn't told any of the rest of my extended family, except my brother and sister-in-love. I'm here for a while (until January 13th), but even a long time like that doesn't mean I can meet with each person I'd like to see for a personal lunch. Make sure to give me a holler if you're interested in getting together - maybe a group of us can meet!

So far, I've enjoyed the sun, the blue sky, the mountains, the warmth, a wedding (where I enjoyed the fact that I was outside without a coat on, and silently laughed at all the people huddled around the outdoor heaters), my mom preaching (yay, Mom!), meeting the new "niece dog", a Mary Kay party, Mexican food and In-N-Out. I plan on repeating several of them as often as possible while I'm here! Tonight I'll get pure girl time with Jenn and Danielle, and then tomorrow, I'm off to Wes and Nancy's for "friend family" time. Whew!

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year!