hentzau

Well, so far my vacation has been OK. I haven't gotten a lot on my list accomplished, and I have played damn little Red Dead Redemption or DDO or Minecraft. However, we do have almost all of our Christmas errands/shopping done, and a start on the housecleaning, and I got through some of the backlog on my DVR'd shows. And I got an epic amount of banjo practicing in over the past 2 days. I still suck, but at least I'm sucking less than I sucked before. And some songs I don't think I will EVER get. Flop Eared Mule, I'm looking at you.

On the bad news front I got a call from my dad last night that my grandma passed away yesterday morning. I really do view this as a blessing, because ever since my grandpa died last year, she has just sat in the nursing home and waited to die. She had a stroke about 4-5 years ago, and went from an amazingly vital lady to a woman confined to a wheelchair. When my grandpa was still alive and taking care of her, he kept her engaged with the world, kept her mind active, made her live. But once he died, she just withdrew further and further into herself. When I went down to see her over Thanksgiving, I was there for about half an hour with her, and she said two words the whole time I was there. She was just done with this life, and it was time for her to go.

So now I have to pack up the family and make a trip downstate sometime this weekend for the funeral, then head back up here, have Christmas with my wife's family, and then on the 26th drive back downstate for Christmas with my family. I'm making a lot of trips up and down I-55 this winter...