Merry Christmas

Every Christmas I leave Atlanta and travel up I-75 with my family to visit my old Kentucky home. We stay with my grandparents in Richmond in the house they've lived in since the 1940s. My mom grew up in this house that has 2 bedrooms downstairs, a den with a foldout couch-bed (where I sleep with Zabba) and a loft upstairs that has 4 single beds. Oh yeah, and the house has a bathroom. Yes, one bathroom. My mom has 6 brothers and sisters... I can't imagine the chaos.

The house is small and familiar, but as the years have gone on my grandparents have accumulated more stuff. Aunts and uncles give them books and knick-knacks as gifts every year, and they could fill a library. Instead, they're filling every open space in the house. The den, where I'm staying, is a room that is about 10x25, but with the bed rolled out and all of the toys, magazines, books and other random items, there is only about 10-15 square feet of walking space out of the 250 square feet in the room.

Most holidays I spend here, I escape off to Lexington to spend a night or two with my friend Matt, whom I've known since 3rd grade. Yesterday he volunteered to pick my brother and I up, so we spent most of the afternoon catching up and relaxing in a house that didn't feel like the walls were closing in. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time at my grandparents house. Some of my earliest memories are of this place. I just want to do some kind of home makeover to give us all more room while we are here.

The first day we spent in Kentucky was a noteworthy one because I went to my first UK home basketball game since I graduated in 2004. We played Long Beach State, which should have been a pushover. After a bit of sweating, we pulled it out in the end. It'll probably be another long period before I'm able to see another game at home, so I'm glad I could go.

Christmas day was fairly typical. We got together at my aunt's house here in Richmond with most of the cousins, aunts and uncles. We're even to the point where some of my cousins are marriend and have kids. They're all younger than me. Scary. I did get to model a leopard print Snuggie, which was fun. My 12 year old cousin (the Snuggie owner) wasn't too happy of the mockery, though.

Tomorrow we're going to Elizabethtown to spend some time with my dad's brother, my cousin and her daughter. I haven't seen them all in a while so I'm looking forward to it. They came down for Thanksgiving in Atlanta this year, but I was out of the country (see my Thanksgiving post).

Merry Christmas to all!