Lots of good presents, weather that wasn't freezing (no snow either, tho), yummy food, especially the pork tenderloin that Ashley made, piles of good loot and a Spurs win over the Phoenix Suns (for the 287th time), topped off with a lovely dinner of fried shrimp with a side of okra and crescent rolls!

Here's an itemized list of the loot, in case you care to know:

I. From Ashley- Adidas t-shirt and jogging pants (known as "swishy pants" around our household)
- Book about the history of Chicago skyscrapers
- Mario Kart for Wii, complete with steering wheel
- A Spurs ornament
- Various candies and gum. . . lots of gum
- A tasty dinner with sparkling grape juice and romantic candlelight ;)

II. From Ashley's immediate family- Adidas hoodie, completing my transformation into walking shoe company advertisement
- Two long-sleeve shirts
- Shooter DVD
- Boxed set of Peanuts holiday specials (Great Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, and A C.B. Christmas)
- A stocking full of more candies and gum. . . not as much gum, but still a net total of lots of gum

III. From Ashley's extended family- Star Wars: Force Unleashed for Wii
- Leatherman multi-tool
- Some nifty towels
- A long-sleeve shirt
- No gum, thankfully


And on top of that, we're heading to San Antonio Monday for our anniversary and to see my folks, whereupon we're sure to get even more loot! Woo-hoo!


So, how was your Christmas? We were talking this morning about when we stopped believing in Santa Claus. I couldn't recall when I stopped believing, I think it was around age six or seven when I realized all those presents that said "To David From Santa" were in a woman's handwriting. Yeah, I should've been a forensic analyst or something.

When did you become a Santagnostic? Or are you still a still a closet believer, and are you now possibly projecting those beliefs onto the incoming President??

(OK OK, I promised no more politics)


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

So by this point Kansas City has just about become my second hometown, after San Antonio. And despite the fact that the two cities are in different regions of the U.S., have different climates, economies, and demographics, I'm learning that they have quite a bit in common.

For instance, both have:

- Metropolitan populations that are within 5,000 people of each other.

- Assembly plants that build full-size pickups.

- A zoo in a park.

- A riverwalk.

- A flagship state university and a state capitol that are within an hour's drive.

- Iconic skyscrapers that were built around the time of the Great Depression and that have similar sounding names: Tower Life Building/Power and Light Building.

- Pro sports stadiums on the east side, and a stadium downtown that was built to attract a pro team that will probably never come.

- Interstate 35 running southwest to northeast through them.

- No IKEA.

- A downtown loop.

- Tallest buildings that are within 15 feet of each other.

- Farmland within the city limits.

- A certain type of food which they claim to make better than anybody else, along with a certain type of music that they take credit for helping to create.

- A large concentration of government employees.

- A large corporation with a giant suburban campus that is more impenetrable than the Fortress of Solitude (which, if you've seen Superman 2, you know isn't that impenetrable).

- Hills, even though most out-of-towners assume its going to be flat.


So which is better? Hard to say, as San Antonio has SeaWorld, the Spurs, the original Riverwalk, a better zoo, Taco Cabana, and is close to the beach, whereas Kansas City has a much more urban feel, more interesting architecture, more sports, Winstead's, and more direct flights thanks to it being more centrally located.

Hmm.

Sorry, I'll always have to give the tiebreaker to the city in Texas ;)

Sometimes its just too stinkin' hard to understand what they're saying:

Gas could get below $1 a gallon here. It only has to drop 50 more cents.

I never ever ever ever thought I'd see it below a dollar again in my lifetime (or anyone else's lifetime, for that matter). In fact, has it ever even been below a dollar during my life?? Hmm, the lowest I can clearly remember it getting is around $1.20 in the late 90s, around the time I was learning to drive.

Anyway, sure helps to keep the sting off the economic problems. Although now I feel kinda unpatriotic for resolutely sticking to Japanese cars for the past several years, in light of the problems domestic automakers are having. Maybe if they can hold on for a couple of more years I can look into buying something from them. Those new Ford Fusions don't look half bad, and apparently they get 32 mpg hwy with a 4-cylinder and a stick. That'll probably be pretty important again by the time I get another car.

Luv, Davy

Talking about politics on here. I can't promise it will never come up again, but its time to move on to talking about more uplifting and interesting things, like movies and fast food.

What's new with you?