Christmas at Home

I got to go home from 20 Dec - 30 Dec 2007. It was really nice to get to see my parents and the rest of my family - my mom's cousins and my grandpa. It was actually relatively warm for the first couple of days of my stay.

Here is a picture of my dad and I on Christmas morning:



And here is my dad practicing on his harpsichord. He actually built the thing from a kit when he was in Panama (according to the stories they tell me.) My mom finally relented and moved the mail inbox from the top of the thing so he could open it up and let it resonate.

Here is a picture of my dad and me on Christmas eve, after we got back from playing at the mass. It was nice to get to play with him, and I was lucky and got to sit between him and the principal violinist of the local symphony, who happens to be the husband of the church organist. I'm not religious, but it was nice to be there and provide music for an appreciative audience.

I had planned to wear a pink button down shirt, but he said the dress was black and white, so I borrowed a white silk shirt from my mom. Ah well.

Here is a picture of my mom and me on Xmas morning :-)

And here I am puttin' some love on the dog, Pia:

My sister showed up the day after Christmas (well, we picked her up at the Houston airport), and we began our shopping orgy. My parents told us that their gift to us would be to take us shopping, and we cleaned them out - perhaps a bit too much. I feel a little guilty, but at least they can take comfort in that they don't have to support any of us kids anymore. :-D Heck, I got some nice stuff:

- a new red wool Calvin Klein peacoat

- a nice cabled Calvin Klein sweater

- some nice workout clothes, a couple of fleeces

- two dresses (one was 50 cents at the thrift store)

- a pair of pants and a pair of jeans

- new socks

I was very pleased. And we got most of the haul on fat sale at Ross / Marshalls type stores. The CK sweater was the only thing I bought in a retail store - and it was half off.