Dispatches from the 'rents house vol 2.

So here are a few random photos from the trip thus far.

These bags are on the luggage carousels. I've never seen this before and I've flown into some rather large airports and checked luggage at them. I think it might be for the benefit of all the old people who live in Arizona.

Luminarias! My pops does them every year. I think it is a Mexican thing. He also has lights on the front of the house but for some reason he shuts them off when he lights the luminaria.

Christmas socks! They were given to me by a coworker. I have never worn 'toe' socks before. I will never again. My stubby fat little toes do not fit well into them. Oh and that's the same flooring we've had in the house since we moved in (hmm... I was about 5 so that's 26 years ago).

Black Forest Cherry Pie preparation. This is my favorite pie ever. Chocolate pudding, layer of dark cherries and then a layer of vanilla pudding on top. All of it is made from scratch, none of this jello crap here. This one is MY pie, designated as such because it is the only one of the 4 with a Gluten-Free crust. If you look very carefully at the bottom right hand corner you can see that same tile from the bedroom also in the kitchen. It was in all 4 bedrooms, the dining room and the kitchen when I was growing up. The parents have pulled it out of 3 of the 4 bedrooms and replaced the floor with hardwood. Currently the hall and the living room are cement subfloor as my pop has pulled up the carpet to replace the floors there. I won't tell you how long ago that was but suffice to say I lived here when he pulled up the hall carpet and the last time I lived here was in 1998. It is all very work in progress, especially as my mom keeps finding different projects for him to do, like redo the master bedroom closet etc but I totally digressed.

The finished product! It is ever so yummy. (Notice the olive drab countertops, that's the same counters they've had for the last 26 years also. At least at some point they got rid of the mustard yellow appliances.)

And finally because it just isn't the holidays without an argument about something pointless and stupid. I just totally caused a small one between my parents. I mentioned I wanted to stop by the grocery store for some food, and my mother asked me what I wanted. I said cheese for one thing since all they have is American (vomit) and mozzarella (not for what I want it for). She exclaims that they just bought cheese blah blah blah. So she stomps down to the kitchen and prowls through the fridge muttering to herself, 'if he's put it in the freezer I'll kill him.' You guessed it, he put it in the freezer. I'm sure my dad thought that since they have 2 other types of cheese out what more could we need so I think her reaction was a tiny bit over-reaction. But whatever. How many more days am I here?