Christmas adventure, part III

I made it to Dallas for Boxing Day and a delayed Christmas. We managed to open half our presents before dinner, after which I conked out (I asked Mum why no one woke me up - we tried several times she countered) so we wound up Christmas am on the 27th. As the much-hyped "Christmas Nazi", I had always tried to ensure that recent Christmases weren't over in a frenzied flash of paper shredding, but even I would never have stretched it out that long. Alas the next day we had to say goodbye to Stephen, but it meant I was the only one left to spoil the rest of the week. Had a lovely time with Mum and Dad. I ate buffalo burgers and deep fried pickles and tons of delicious Mexican food, although I could have popped into old town McKinney's surely authentic English pub for some yummy grub from home. Dad and Mum have been slowly unpacking all the boxes from our house in Saudi Arabia. So there were pieces of my childhoold strewn about the place. In every room I encountered something else - family photographs, children's books, my great-grandfather's Chinese cabinet - that I hadn't seen in well over a decade. It's strange to be reunited with your past.

Am now in Atlanta for a week. Enjoying cuddles with Jacob and flirty smiles (but hands off!) from Andrew. One thing I miss in England is having someone to play games with. Since leaving Dave in NYC, I don't really have an outlet for my insanely competitive streak which has sadly lain dormant, so I took it out on Jonathan in a brutal round of junior monopoly. Play has been delayed due to lack of light, but tomorrow I'll finish him off. Or maybe I'll take pity and let him win. Yeah, not a chance.