getting to christmas

on friday, i left work, got to the house, finished loading the corolla, drove with dad and jake to danville to pick up L at work, transferred stuff to highlander, drove towards i75, stopped off at sonic in stanford, and continued on towards tn.

we stopped at the rest stop across the state line, swapped drivers, and i took a nap for a bit. we had to pick up something at L's parents house and, just for fun, i tried to see if i could pick up their wifi signal from the car. success!! we continued on to sevierville and stopped off at a store where L had to swap out some thing she purchased there back before thanksgiving. at this point, i resumed driving and got us to wears valley where the cabin is. however, as we ascended the mountain, we began driving into a fog like no other. we finally made it, but had to go super slow most of the way up the mountain (normally a 5 minute drive).

as soon as we unloaded the car, i started making my chili. well, jen's veggie chili, but i enjoy making it because it uses all fresh ingredients and regular spices. no mystery 'chili' spice pack (though that's delish too). in the middle of making it, we decided not to double the recipe since a few extra family members who dropped in had already left. this left me with too much liquid from the veggies (extra onion and pepper), but i tried to amend a bit and it turned out pretty good. the cilantro ate my insides alive (again), so i guess i'll have to give up on that one.

later in the evening, while L and my mother-in-law were playing santa's elves and stacking / organizing all the presents, L realized that she had forgotten a major, time-consuming present that she had made for around seven people / families. she was devastated. heart broken. i tried to cheer her up by telling her that her sadness emphasized how she had the caught the true spirit of christmas: giving instead of receiving. it helped a little, but she was still really sad. she'll mail the gifts when we get back home.