Well I made the drive without too many problems. It normally should take 9 hours but this time it took me 12. This is after making great time all the way to Indianapolis. From there to Cincinnati it was like driving on a 100 mile long driveway. I don’t think I went above 35 or 40 mph the whole way. Most of the time I was going about 20 or 25. I was stuck in non moving traffic for an hour and a half at one point, but I made it. I immediately met up with a few of my high school buddies and enjoyed a night out with them. My buddy Bill was back in town from California, so it was a blast hanging out with him again, as well as Ken and Jon.

The next morning I woke up early to get out to my parents place. I picked Kim up and we were on our way. My dad wanted to be sure to give a new digital camera to my mom so she could use it at the Christmas party later in the night. We decided to just open all of our presents at that time though. I showed everyone the brand new tires on the car, and still got a few more things to open up! :) We all stopped at the Hais house for a little while and then it was off to my aunt and uncle’s place (the other Paffs). We had a gift exchange there, and I got a shot glass checkers set. It will make checkers more exciting when Kim beats me the next time. We also had a stop over at Kim’s grandparents house for yet another party. After that it was back to the Hais’ where we opened even more gifts. I eventually fell asleep in the middle of all of this and was left on the couch for the night. What a long day!

The next day we did a little sledding with Kim’s brothers. Later on it was time for my grandparents Christmas party. Yet another gift exchange. This time I got Chipotle gift cards that my brother brought, and Kim took the Cheesecake Factory cards that I brought. We love food! The night ended with a game of Texas Hold’em that involved 14 of my cousins, uncles, etc. I made it to the final table but was one of the first out from there. I can’t compete with the pros…

Sunday I met up with my buddies once again to pregame for the Bengals game. Can you believe it, a week ago I had never been to an NFL game and now I was going to my second one. Ken had a free ticket for me to use, so I couldn’t pass it up. We all had a great time down at the game, besides the fact that most of our toes froze. The Bengals pulled out a victory too! I’ve been to two great games! Afterward I was picked up and we were off to Kim’s aunts house for the last of our Christmas parties. Yet another gift exchange, and this time around I ended with some Panera gift cards. Kim got a bottle of Baileys and some lottery scratch offs (we won $22)!

Yesterday we drove back home under much better driving conditions, and here I am back at work. It’s only a 3 day week though!