Reggie and I will be leaving here very shortly. It’s about 7:45, and my goal was an 8:00 departure, meaning I’d be lucky if I got out the door by 10:00.

The SUV has been picked up AND packed. I’m driving a white Jeep Liberty. It’s not a bad ride, especially for driving 560 miles in one day. It’ll certainly be better than taking my little Civic.  One thing I don’t like about this vehicle is the lack of satelite radio. I had to get the dock out of my car and will be taking my Sirius with me. The blanket is down on the passenger’s seat for Reggie, my copilot. And more importantly, Reggie got a big bite of cheese this morning. What he doesn’t know is that the cheese was covering a dose of benedryl, which will calm him down on the drive.

This will be our route, give or take a few detours and potty stops.

I’m just resting up a bit before we head out. But I think it’s time to go soon.

Every year, my niece throws us a curveball at Christmas, and she has no idea that she’s doing it.

Sarah comes up with this one gift that she absolutely must have. It’s usually the hottest toy of the season, too. (That’s my sister’s fault for letting Sarah watch too much TV.) And Sarah doesn’t tell her mom that she wants it. Sarah waits to tell Santa. By the time my sister finds out what Sarah has told Santa, this toy is the hot item that is sold out. My sister calls me in a panic and has me hitting every Target, Walmart, and toy store in my area because she can’t find it.

We do this every year. One would think we’d get better at pre-empting Sarah with this. But no…. So what was the gift that had me scrambling all over Salem to find? (I was waiting for Reggie at PetSmart in Salem when the phone call came.) This year’s gift was moon sand.  That’s right. We went into a panic over a $6 toy.

In the not so distant future, we’ll tell Sarah all of these stories and hope we all get a good laugh out of them.

I just booked my rental car to go home for Christmas. Actually, I booked an SUV. It ended up being the same price as a compact car. You’ve got to love Priceline.

I’m going to burn some karma points here…

When we were younger, my sister had this teddy bear named Edgar. Edgar was small and plush. My sister was quite fond of him. Being the evil big brother I was am, if I wanted to make my sister cry, all I had to do was give Edgar to Domino, our dalmatian. She’d rough him up a bit, and my sister would get upset and cry. Every time. It never failed. My sister kept that stupid bear hidden from me for years.

Fast forward fifteen years or so. My sister has a daughter and I have Reggie. We were at my sister’s house over Thanksgiving. I heard Sarah yell and start to cry. Reggie had run into Sarah’s bedroom, jumped up on the bed and grabbed Edgar, who is now one of Sarah’s favorite stuffed animals. I swear, I had absolutely nothing to do with that. I helped Sarah rescue that stupid bear from Reggie’s clutches.

You know something? It’s still funny to see a dog attack that stupid bear.

When I was home for Thanksgiving, I got to see my cousin Lori. I hadn’t seen Lori in several years. It had been even longer since I’d seen any of her kids. The last time I saw Ben, he couldn’t have been more then ten. He’s about to turn eighteen. Ben’s a good kid, wicked smart, and funny. While we were talking at my parents’ house, I was telling the story of keeping the spare purple toys for Reggie in the closet. Lori started to laugh, saying that it sounded familiar. That’s when it hit me. I knew the story wasn’t new. The poor kid started turning red.

When Ben was a baby, his favorite toy was a purple Puffalump.  If “Purple” was in the wash or got destroyed, Lori had a crisis on her hands. She’d have to go out and get a new one.  One day, she found out that Fisher Price was no longer making these things, and she went on a search to find as many as she could. In her closet, she had twelve of them. I think the last one finally died when Ben was about six.

My story about Reggie’s purple toy isn’t all that original, it seems.

I reminded Ben that it was okay. First, we’re all family. Second, everyone in that room (except perhaps my dad) had changed his diaper at least once.

Good god, I’m getting old.

Here are a few pictures that didn’t make the cut when we were trying for the Christmas card pictures.

This is the picture that will go in with the select few hand-made cards I’m sending this year.

I’m sitting in the den at my parents’ house, snarfing my dad’s cable modem connection. Reggie is curled up on the floor next to me. He’s having a great time here.

This morning, I left Reggie at the house and went to my mom’s flower shop before heading to the grocery store. Well, they got swamped at the flower shop, and my mom put me to work. It appears that two people died right before Thanksgiving. That’s terribly inconvenient. I’ll have to make sure I don’t die before a major holiday when my time comes. Anyway, “the truck” had just come with boxes of flowers that needed to be put into water and have their ends snipped off. That’s what I did for an hour or so, restocking the cooler with freshly cut flowers.

Then I went to the grocery store. Surprisingly, it wasn’t busy. But this is also a little grocery store in a little town. Most of the people would be going to the big Giant Eagle or Walmart Super Center in Butler. (Giant Eagle is the Pittsburgh’s answer to Stop & Shop or Shaws.) I picked up a few necessities, including some plain yogurt for Reggie’s kibble and a bag of frozen blueberries. My mom needed a few things and so did Donna, her business partner.

Next, I went back to the flower shop and we had lunch. Now I’m back at my parents’ house. I’ll be starting dinner here shortly. My mom put in some chicken breats last night, and they’ve been stewing in the crock pot ever since. I’ll make some gravy and biscuits.

Well, the surprise didn’t go quite as planned. We most certainly surprised my parents. My dad was keeping Sarah and Darcie walked into her house with Reggie and surprised my dad. I heard him yell “Fleabag!” That’s what he calls Reggie. Then we went to my parents house and dad opened the door to let Reggie run into greet my mom. She shreiked in surprise.

Yup. We got her. And we got her good! Neither of my parents had a clue we were coming.

Reggie has done the full-on Pugtona through their house. He’s happy to be here, too.

Reggie and I are leaving shortly. We’re off to PA for almost a week. Our flight gets in Monday afternoon. The thing is… my parents have no idea we’re coming. I’ve been saying for months that I wouldn’t be able to make it because I’d have to work. My mom has not been pleased about this and has been giving me a hard time about it. Well, my work plans changed, and we’re going home to surprise her.

My big concern is flying with Reggie. I really have no idea what to expect with him.