I have returned.

Christmas wipes me out, and that makes me feel like a wimp, because I have it pretty easy. It's my job to keep Mom from strangling Dad over something stupid, Dad from doing something else stupid, and both from getting all depressed. After an afternoon of family time, sharing dinner, and throwing back a couple of drinks in the evening, it's also my job to endure the midnight mass, which starts an hour early for me, because Dad has to rehearse with the choir. Dad has a voice fit for Purgatory, but it's not like I have forty screaming kids running around, six thousand gifts to buy, hundreds of miles to travel, shitty inlaws, and an unholy blood feud rending the family asunder.

Mom, Dad, and the dog behaved themselves. There was much laughter. Dad got Mom exactly the same ring he bought on her birthday (something stupid), but ruthless mockery was the only consequence. My kid cousin, up from the God-Forsaken Island, is beside herself about the iPod. Can't believe she's seventeen already.

I ended up with an iPod, myself. I used to sneer at iSheep culture, but now I find myself wondering why the microwave doesn't have a frickin' jack, because, shit, everything should.

My phone decided to shut itself off for seven hours. Missed a couple of time-sensitive messages. Mreh.

oic

comic by stereotypist