Out with a bang!

The restaurant has been busy. I have been working 60+ hour weeks and everything is going along as well as can be expected.
Kel's folks came to visit for Thanksgiving and we returned the favor by going to New Bern for Christmas.
On the way we re-routed to see the Meadow Lights. Although not overly impressive, it was good to visit the general store, were you could get all sorts of candy goodness and old-fashioned sodas in bottles (RC and Squirt anyone?).
We then carried our tired masses to New Bern where we ate. And ate some more, most of Monday we slept and ate. During Sunday's eating festivities, we met JAG (from Next Food Network Star) who is the Chef at one of the New Bern restaurants. We got to hear some of the behind the scenes info from the show and jibber-jab for a couple of minutes.
But most unlike me, who was going to wait until January, we broke the Amy-is-preggers news to both sets of grandparents-to-be, Kel's on Christmas Eve and mine on Christmas day.
Kel's mom always always always starts bugging the rest of the family to open a present on Christmas Eve. Always. Every year it gets earlier and earlier in the day - at one point it was 8 or 10 at night - this go round we somehow made it to 4 in the afternoon. Kel and I gave them a present alright - a Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa card with Ultrasound pics taped inside. It took them a minute, but when they figured it out there was an outpouring of OHHHH's.
It was tougher for the folks from Philly, because after gentle prodding to open up their frickin' email for 20 minutes, the stupid e-card didn't pop right up on screen. Thank you Hallmark.

Just as I thought, I never could've handled this whole pregnancy without them. Mind you I'm 11+ weeks along and the first thing from Kel's mom is - "you know you can't have alcohol now."
And from my very own flesh and blood after claiming she knew something was up - Mommacita Mel - "you know you should be eating healthy."
Good thing I've been throwing back the booze and eating crap food for the last couple of months 'cuz now I have to lead a life on the straight and narrow.

I have to say, out of the whole thing, the best two responses were:
1) from my dad who was still on the phone with me and started emailing everyone he knows. (dads are so cool when you least expect it) and 2) my mom saying that my dad could go completely gray to fit the part now - I thought the wedding was enough to do that.

Festive greetings y'all!