YAY! NAY!

Before I get to complaining, I'll tell you all the good things about yesterday. It was the best . I LOVE the age of the kids. They are precious and excited and thankful and expressive and it was fantastic fun. I had happy tears 3 times, watching them open gifts and listen to the exclamations. Beautiful!
I got a nook, which I love so far. I'm not a gadget person, and I hope he isn't disappointed if I'm not attached to it. I just laughed at me because he thinks it's disgusting how people have to stay so connected to Other People instead of focusing on their families, so it was silly of me to worry that I'll put it down and he'd feel bad. It's a sweet deal- I can borrow books to and from friends with a nook, as well as check out books at the library and they will download right to my nook. I've already bought a book, and I LOVE that it can go anywhere with me.. Pretty fun. I'll have good reading on the airplane!
Then we went to Cullen's mom's- who, first of all MADE IT. She somehow made it through the crazy night that Christmas Eve was--GOD there were a lot of people in her house, it was a million degrees and she'd felt poorly all day. She looked bad when we got there and just sweat and sweat, and finally went and laid down in the middle of the party for a little while. I don't know how she got back up, but she did! So it was a relief that she felt better for Christmas day. I missed our normal Christmas there but it's okay- we were staggered all day, so not many people were there at any one point. We got their first, which I loved. We ate caramel rolls and hung out. Then Shawn and the kids showed up and we left. We gave her the book before we went. She was SO cute. She called me every couple of hours as she would read a few more, to tell me again how much she was loving the book. I almost stopped having a complex about it. (more on that later. Now my complex is even worse than it was)
Then my mom's which was great. Great food, and it's like being at home, so what's not to like. I snoozed and we came home.
Then.
Then Cullen invited Rick and Tina over.
Do you remember the problem there? The problem that Cullen has when Rick is around? The problem that he can't stop himself from drinking until he is drunk, and how disgusting he is when he's drunk? He's loud, obnoxious, interrupts, told me to fuck off and shut up over and over when I would try to quiet him down...it's ugly and gross and I dislike him today. He's still sleeping, of course. I went to bed at 1:30 and he stayed up, and I wished he just would have slept out here. The Book came up while they were here, and Tina is my polar opposite on just about everything. I love her DEARLY, it's just that she's very conservative and mouthy about issues, where I don't like talking about politics, she's extremely private, and I am (no pun intended) an open book. She's in disbelief that we read the letters people wrote (many people asked me to to see if it was what I was looking for, and I also decorated each page. Yeah, I read them. All of them.). She feels like those are private things not to be shared and she was slightly horrifed that the book was just laying out there on the table for everyone to read and see. I tried explaining that it was for everyone, now and later after she passes and that if Jane feels it's private, she'll put it away, and I don't know why I even bothered. She's STRONG about her feelings, so talking about anything she disagrees with is pointless, and she loves LOVES to argue.
At some point Rick stopped drinking so she could get drunk (these people are GROWN UPS!!!)...Cullen couldn't stop rehashing Travis's bachelor party, where they were loaded and the stupid things they did. I guess I am still grossed out by adults who still act like they are in their 20's. Guess what? We're going over there for New Years Eve. Fantastic. It's sad that we don't hang out with them so much, but now I remember why. My husband has no control over himself. It's disgusting. I'm just thankful it's been months since the last Rick Encounter That Went South. Gross.
So...I'm going Biggest Loser on myself. I have 9 days (just to get to Florida, plenty of time after that) to knock off the madness of what has become my eating habits. :) Ready, set, GO! You watch me shake off these 5 lbs in a few days.