I spent a lot of time with the Fam this past weekend ...

Twin bro was in from Cali. Had no undergrad in tow this time. I guess he got dumped. Not a lot of sympathy coming from me. 🤷‍♀

Mom & Dad are still chasing each other around like teenagers. They had us young (mom was 19, dad 20) so they are still pretty young themselves.

So on Thursday we (my gf Alex and I) visited with her fam first for an early turkey dinner (around 1pm). We then went to my parent's home for a second turkey dinner (around 5pm).

At her house there was much discussion of the fishing boat that she and I are essentially rebuilding over this off-season. She acquired it in a barter from a client that owed her a lot of money and couldn't pay (she's an accountant and way too nice to people). It basically needs EVERYTHING and we are calling in favors from everyone we know. The engines are completely torn down right now and getting completely rebuilt (two old Yamaha 150hp outboards). He says they will be running good as new when he's done. That remains to be seen. We've already replaced several rotted out below deck ribs and are replacing almost all the hardware, hinges, latches, etc, onboard. Steering linkage, water system plumbing ... it's all going to be new. Currently we are scraping and sanding the hull in preparation for new gel coat and bottom paint. So everyone was updated on the project progress.

Off to my house where my dad sprung a huge suprise on me. Over the last ten years they've helped my bro three times get back into a safe vehicle after he totaled each of them again and again. And they are now helping him again with a car (I knew all this). So, my dad said he wants to buy me a new car to "keep things fair."

As many of you know, I was driving a Subaru Crosstrek. It's a 2018 so seven model years old, but only three years old to me. Well, he was kinda insistent and Mom just shrugged and said let him do this for you. So, yup, on Friday I went out with Dad car shopping. I really like the Crosstrek, so he said get a new one.

The new one is the "Wilderness Edition" which is WAY MORE tricked out with features and options. I'm still learning it. I've never driven something so "techy" but I love it. I'm still learning all the things it does.

Saturday was spent sanding and scraping more on the boat ... someday I'll post an update about this ...

Then on Sunday we had the annual extended-family Christmas party (early this year). My cousins were loving my new car. Obviously Alex was with me and they've all known her now for several years so there were very impolite inquiries from a couple of my younger cousins about our potential future relationship status! 🤦‍♀ Unrelated to those inquiries, Alex herself asked me a few weeks ago if I ever saw us getting married. 🤦‍♀🤦‍♀ So it was an afternoon of dodging questions with no help whatsover from my girlfriend who just smiled back and shrugged. She's a devious one. I bet she put them up to it!

All-in-all it was a great weekend. But if you were wondering why I wasn't around so much, now you know. :)