Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer. I hope yours is lovely. I like the holiday more for the time off than anything. I don’t have to go to the office, and I have enough time off that going to visit my family is worth the time the journey requires.

I stay with my parents of course, and the atmosphere is about as different from my place as you can imagine. I live alone, so that’s a change right there. My parents are both retired, so their daily habits are quite different from mine.

This morning, for example, they had to have blood-work done. We planned to go to the lab so they could have samples drawn. Not a big deal but since I could easily drive them, we planned to go early and beat the rush. Being Christmas eve, we weren’t entirely sure if their hours were different. They normally open at 7am so we thought they might perhaps delay opening to the ungodly late hour of 8am.

Things got complicated because despite a high of 10° yesterday, the temperature dropped below freezing over night, and about 10 cm of snow fell. So there we are, up early, at least for me. My parents didn’t have the same idea about how the day would start, however. My mother wanted to leave early, arriving before 8pm so we wouldn’t have long to wait if they opened late, and so we might beat the rush if they opened at their regular time. My father however, was thinking about the snow. He wanted the driveway clear before we left. Not only would we not risk getting stuck in the ‘snow bump’ at the foot of the driveway, but the car wouldn’t pack two trails of snow with its weight.

As you can see above, there was more to do when we returned. My father is very particular about his yard, including the driveway.

The thing is, I could see both sides. I could certainly understand wanting the driveway cleared before we left. I could also understand wanting to get the errand out of the way first. Everything worked out well, thankfully. There was no one at the lab and we were in and out of there in no more than ten minutes. I thought we were the first people there but my father noticed some water in front of one of the waiting room chairs. Elementary!