Christmas Day in San Diego

Christmas morning, I had to borrow insulin from Dad, because I brought the almost empty vial instead of the full one. I have to bring a LOT with me, so it's understandable, plus this is the first trip I've been on since starting on the pump. I knew he had all the same stuff, so it would be ok if I forgot something, but it was still amusing.

Ant opened his presents early so we could get him to the train. We were just leaving the neighborhood as the caravan pulled in (they were trying to get 8 people up, out of the house and on the road for a 45 minute drive in time to see Ant off), so Rob hopped out and dug through the stockings (actually big overstuffed gift bags) for Ant's, everyone called their love and well wishes and we headed out.

When we returned, we ate quiche and opened presents for the next few hours, then everyone pulled up a corner of a couch or the floor and took a nap.

I got really spoiled. In addition to my immediate family's generosity, Kate drew my name and did some really nice things for me, and those stockings were insane.

Dad had an injection in his hand to break up the collagen buildup that was curling his fingers in. After 24 hours, he went back in and the doctor manipulated his hand. It was gross to watch, but his hand is straight again.

I got the dough rolled out, cut and baked during the Christmas movie- I squeezed in after the pies and before the ham. Holy shit- ham, turkey, homemade mac and cheese, broccoli cheese casserole, roasted carrots and cauliflower. We were all so stuffed that half of us took another walk. I started icing the gingerbread too late for much participation, so Dad and Rich helped. Emily and Kyle want to help decorate, so I'll do the rest today. Right now I've got to get ready to join Dad at yoga so we can eat fried chicken and waffles tonight. Good grief. I may have to take up running just to keep up with all this food.

Christmas Eve in San Diego

We took Ant to a skate park in the morning while running some last minute errands. It was kind of a sad skate park, but Ant tried out both his board and his internal shock absorption system- both are working well. He hasn't skated in a couple months, and the pressure was on with the audience present. Dad and I stayed off the concrete, but Richard went right for the action shots.

It's been very hard to get into the kitchen. With 16 people for dinner on Christmas Eve, there was a lot of prep work, noshing, and drink refilling. I had to keep my eyes peeled for an opening, so all I got done on Thursday was the dough. Note: it was a terrible idea to do all this here.

Dinner was fantastic: two prime ribs, twice-baked potatoes, carrots, green beans with slivered almonds, crescent rolls and/or French bread, and miscellaneous baked goodies for dessert.

Ant sat next to me and had some very lively conversations. He loved the dinner (that was so delicious, thanks to Kate's efforts and hours, assisted by her daughters) so much that all he could say sometimes was "sooo gooood." Dana (a massage therapist) got a hold of Ant and worked on some of his skateboarding strains and taught him some stretches, but it was fun to watch his eyes roll back in his head while she was working on his neck.

He was happy and full of hugs for everyone, and late that night he came to talk to me about plans for the next morning and we ended up talking about all kinds of things that are going on in his world right now, more shit that was going on in the past that I didn't know about, and plans, ideas, and thoughts about the future. It was one of the best conversations I think we've ever had, and it was nice to talk outside of school, work, and the daily grind. Life is rarely ideal and usually different than expectations, and Ant can be happy and get along in any situation, but this was so much better than that. Things were not perfect or anything, but so good, and he was so much happier than just getting along and having a good time. He was warm and loving and good-natured and hovered at that almost-being-silly level of happy. It was fantastic to see. Kyle and Emily said last night that they, along with Cody, had been looking forward to hanging out with Ant more, and were sad when they learned he'd gone on to the next family gathering. We all were.

Wednesday in San Diego

Yesterday we went to two surf/skate shops and Ant picked out every component for his new board. He got the trucks and deck at one store; the wheels, bearings, grip tape and hardware at the other. The employee offered to put it together, but Ant ended up taking over. The finished board looks really good, and he says it rides really smooth. It's neat to see him so excited, and he's really earned this. The grip tape doesn't normally have artwork on it, so that's cool, and he ended up matching the hardware up to the colors on the grip tape. I'm not sure how that worked out so well, but it looks awesome. The underside looks awesome too with the wood pattern and red. It's well put together and uniquely Ant. We went to a skate park this morning to let him really try it out, and he went exploring around Dad's.

Tuesday to San Diego

The drive to San Diego was pretty good. There was no snow over Donner Pass- it was just rainy and foggy, but somebody still spun out just ahead of us. There was definitely some sketchy sections, but I had some good tires and we went carefully.

Riley's tranquilizer didn't kick in until about 6 o'clock that night, so that sucked.

Ant was my navigator, and watched the roads with me. We had a nice time talking and some good conversation, sprinkled with me occasionally yelling at traffic.

Jenny: "FUCK YOU OREGON, WHERE'D YOU LEARN TO DRIVE!?!?!"

Ant: "Oregon?"

I gave Ant some headphones to drown me out with, but he's only got a few songs on his phone, so once we got into L.A., he was able to download Pandora and we listened to the Cypress Hill station.

I'll try to keep you posted this time.