Grateful for another Thanksgiving at home. Brandi prepared a fantastic meal, which Nick is now old enough to appreciate for more than a few minutes. Grandpa joined us.
Nick was quoted in the St. Francis Knight Life magazine saying nice things about the school from his time there. He made the grade (enough) to end his first semester at IT. Now heading into a trigonometry class for his second semester, and says it's coming easy to him, so SFS prepared him well.
We had Christmas at home, with a beautiful tree that brings us joy, dammit (Brandi had to completely re-string the lights.) After a couple days at home resting, I took two quick trips (Nick didn't want to travel this year.) First trip was to DC to see the Wings v Capitals with Brad for a weekend, brunch at Clyde's and the other usual stops, that was a road trip. Second trip was a quick flight to Clearwater to spend a weekend on the beach, stayed at the new Hiatus hotel. Donny and I did our usual long brunch... 14 hours from drinks until late night Mexican food. Then I drove into Sebring to visit the crew, of which Miranda and Sue had just returned from the Rose Bowl Parade. Miranda and I took a day at Universal Studios. It was my first time on a roller coaster in thirty years, and the body held up well, those that we rode were fantastic (upside-down over the lake Velocicoaster is amazing!) A two-park hopping pass was $200 per person, which is nuts, but we managed to cram in two parks across ten hours of walking and riding, before dinner and a late trip home. I continued on to St. Pete Beach for two nights before flying home.
Happy to see 2025 come to a close. It seemed so far away when Nick was born, but 19 years later, here we are.
