Tha L00t:

PotC DVD

John Lennon DVD (20 music videos, bio, etc)

A personally autographed book of Keith Carter photographs (EEEEEEEEEE &lt333333!!!11!)

Long-Sleeved Shirts (2 from thinkgeek.com, very proud of my dad), and a matching sweater/scarf/hat.

The new Monty Python Autobiography

Assorted knicknacks

All in all, I’m VERY pleased with The Haul, but I’m definitely wishing I’d been less subtle when dropping those hints regarding the FotR/TTT:EE or Firefly DVDs. Ah, well.

After Christmas lunch, my Uncle Lew and I persuaded the family to see RotK instead of Big Fish, as Lord of the Rings at Christmas has become a tri-annual Spencer Family Tradition. Mayhap we shall see Big Fish when Alicey and Maggie arrive, as Ewan McGregor + Tim Burton = most likely a fabulous movie.

I only mentioned it in passing, but this year, because my mom’s cousin recently died (I never knew him), my maternal grandparents stayed with us for Christmas. I knew my grandmother had Alzheimers, but because I haven’t seen her in years, I had no idea how bad it was. She’s still sprightly and alert and acts perfectly normal, but then she’ll ask you the same question four times and make the same comment about her lunch seven times. I counted.

I spent most of the day with her yesterday. We caught up on how everything was going, which was nice, but a little sad, as she just couldn’t remember things that had just been told to her. But then this morning, she remarked for the fifth time how tall I was, then asked “Now did I see you yesterday?”

She didn’t remember a thing.

At Christmas lunch, I sat as far away from her at the table as I could. I was very subtle about it. I doubt anyone in my family picked up on it, which will surely make it quite a surprise when they read about it here. But I couldn’t help it. Every time I thought about it, I wanted to be sick. Later, I realized that the weird feeling of magnified emotions and my slightly twitchy demeanor was a result of the car alarm fiasco last night. I’m still feeling slightly on edge. But the idea that I could spend a day with her and her not remember is rather disturbing. I’ll just have to get used to it. At least she recognizes me.

This post ends here, I guess. They’re back home now. The drive back to Abilene is about the same length of time as seeing “Return of the King,” so they probably got home a couple hours ago. And in two days, Alicey and Maggie will take their place in the guest house. And that’s that.