Christmas hangover

Not literally - I didn't have anything to drink, and wasn't too tired to drive home. B. had some eggnog which I believe was spiked, but that's OK as she wasn't driving.

We were at the coastside home of our nephew and niece who moved out here a couple years ago, where we'd been just once before for a housewarming. But they wanted to host Christmas this year in place of our usual venue, his sister's house, so they did it. It's a bit of a drive, and it's located alarmingly on a steep hillside, but it's a large enough comfy house, so we managed it.

We were the only guests of the older generation, as B's sister and her husband, parents of the above-mentioned siblings, were out with RSV, though they did Zoom in. Also present were sister and family (including the only representatives of the next generation, sons aged about 20), third of fourth sibling + spouse, the household cats (an essential feature), and the hostess's two brothers, both of whom I'd met before but not at once, at least not since the wedding quite a while back. They look very much alike despite entirely different hairstyles but do not look so much like her.

I mention all this personnel mostly to underline that this is one of the few large-scale social events we've been to this year. Thanksgiving with an overlapping cast and a few book-discussion club meetings, that's about it. I don't expect much more next year except Mythcon.

Anyway: good time, good meal. White Elephant gift exchange, involving explaining to out-of-town brother the differing social expectations attached to local chocolatiers Ghirardelli and See's. Fourth sibling on Zoom and watching his kids open Christmas presents. Football game on large-screen tv (the players have to work on Christmas? Ugh!), which I watched long enough to observe a drive down the field fueled far more by penalties against the defense than by the offense's own paltry efforts. I don't watch such events except opportunistically at others' houses, and a good thing too: more like that would have made me feel ill.

Home rather late. Our cats wanted food! and attention.