The Christmas that just keeps giving

Merry Christmas, everyone, and best wishes for a Happy New Year, too.

Andy and I spent the last week in Georgia celebrating Christmas with my family. We left Saturday mid-afternoon and arrived at my parents' house somewhere around 1 in the morning. The drive went about as smoothly as it could have and the trip was off to a great start.

On Sunday we slept in a bit, took Layla for a nice long walk, and then headed out to finish up some last-minute Christmas shopping. On the way home, we drove down Bells Ferry Road and got a look at the damage the drought has done. We drove by Lake Allatoona, which is where we used to fish and swim and take the boat out when I was kid. This is Lake Allatoona like I remember it.

Here's a few pictures I took the other day.


Those are house boats that used to actually float on the water.


A closer look at the house boats.


This whole area used to be under water.


On the upside, I did make a friend while I was there.

After our tour of the lake, we got home around dinner time and were greeted with chicken and dumplings, one of our favorites. My mom makes real dumplings -- the biscuity kind -- not those noodle "dumplings" like some restaurants make. Good stuff!

That night the trip took a turn when Layla had an "accident" in the house. I use the quotes because it wasn't so much an accident as it was a territorial thing. She was marking her territory in a place where my parents' dog, Lucy, spends a lot of time. I won't go into any more detail, but needless to say, we were completely shocked. She's never done anything like that before and has been known to hold it for more than 14 hours to avoid an accident in the house. Thankfully, she was an absolute angel for the rest of the trip and had a great time there playing with all the people (especially my nephew, who actually has more energy than Layla).

On Christmas Eve, Andy and I drove downtown to Atlanta to try out Fat Matt's, a barbecue place we always meant to try when we lived there. It's a popular rib joint that has live Blues music every night. Of course, being Christmas Eve and all, it was closed.

Disappointed, we decided we'd go to my favorite Sushi place instead and swing by Lenox Square Mall to see the Great Tree at Macy's first. Going to the tree lighting was sort of an annual tradition for us, but we missed it this year so we wanted to drive by and see it. Here's a video clip of the lighting I found on YouTube. It will give you a better idea of how pretty it is since my picture kind of stinks.



Anyway, we pull up to the tree and I roll my window down to get a nice shot of it with the downtown Atlanta skyline in the background. I can't seem to get it right so I decide to just get a nice shot of it once we park. Then, when I go to roll my window back up, I hear a terrible crunching sound and it won't budge. And our luck continues ...

We pull over, find a place to park and try to figure out what happened. When we open the door, it sounds like shattered glass inside it. Great. I call the Ford dealer where I bought my car and they recommend a mobile glass company that comes out and fixes windows. I call the company. The woman who answers informs me that they're closed till Wednesday and she can't even take down my information because she had her calls forwarded home and is in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner. Can I call back first thing Wednesday morning to set everything up? Turns out I had to because I tried a few other options and got pretty much the same story.

Needless to say, we didn't stop for the sushi either. And it was a long, cold drive home from Atlanta with the window down. We finally got home and parked the car in the garage for a couple days.

Here's the most expensive picture I've ever taken of a Christmas tree.


Yes, the tree is there. Look closely.

The saga continues in my next blog ... but don't worry, this one will be the fun, happy stuff.