Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed the holidays. I spent a week in Lexington and got to spend a lot of time with my family (pictures, video) and even managed to visit with two friends from my undergraduate days. Unfortunately, we were unable to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family because my 90-year-old grandfather was hospitalized with pneumonia. We were able to visit him in the hospital on Christmas Day and the doctors are saying that he will be released today (12.30). Some of my aunts and cousins are celebrating New Year's in Sarasota, FL, so it looks like I will be driving down there tomorrow to celebrate with them.

Since my cats spent Christmas alone, I assuaged my guilt by buying them a climbing structure. So far they are enjoying it, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. For now, Cassie seems to prefer laying in the Christmas tree box. The woman who ran the store where I bought the structure said that one of her great-grandmothers was a Jarboe. Given that she is from central Indiana, we decided that we must be distant cousins. She said she didn't know much about this great-grandmother because nobody ever spoke about her; apparently the woman ran off when her children were very young. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any idea who this could be? She also said that one of her other relatives told her that Jarboes are known for having a mean streak. That's the first time I've heard anyone say that!

We tried to be adventurous this year and make some oven-roasted chestnuts. They were terrible! My sister said they taste like cat food smells, LOL. Has anyone eaten (and enjoyed?) chestnuts? If so, have did you prepare them?

The holiday party that I hosted for my labmates went very well, except for the fact that both cats bit someone. We played Cranium and had a great time. Hopefully we will have another get together soon. Albert, I wish you were here to explain how to play Catan.

Happy New Year to everyone!