South Kakalaki Christmas

I spent Christmas this year with my brother, Chris, sister-in-law, Patti, and their son, Cashlin. My parents and I traveled to South Carolina on Christmas Eve and returned this afternoon.

After we arrived on Christmas Eve, we immediately went to eat at Sho-Gun’s, a hibachi restaurant in Spartanburg. Chris and Patti made this their Christmas present to us and it was a good gift because the food lasted a couple of days. After dinner, we went back to Chris and Patti’s house for the evening. After Cashlin went to bed, we assembled some of his “Santa” gifts then went to bed. Christmas morning was good. Everyone awoke when Cashlin walked out of his room and started looking at all the presents. The presents were quickly distributed and opened and everyone had an opportunity to rest before lunch. Chris fried a turkey, made bread pudding, and baked cheesecake. Patti and Mom cooked the side dishes—cornbread dressing, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce. Shortly after noon and after Patti’s mom (Lisa) arrived, we all had lunch. Then it was off to resting again. Finally, to end the evening, we played a game of Monopoly, which Chris won.

On Friday, everyone took it easy in the morning. We did not stay awake too late on Christmas day, but it was later than normal for Patti and Cashlin. Around lunch, we decided to venture out on the town! We had lunch at The Beacon Drive-In, which serves more tea than any other single restaurant in the country, then went to Falls Park in Greenville. It was not a great day for walking the park along the Reedy River, but we did it anyway. On our way back to Chris and Patti’s house, we drove through the campus of Furman University—the first Southern Baptist University. The campus was beautiful. We played another game of Monopoly on this evening and this time I won!

Here are some pictures:

Cashlin Tearing In

Browning

The Beacon Drive-In

Dad's Beacon Burger A'plenty

Patti and Cashlin at the Falls

More Christmas Ideas!

I thought I might share a couple of more ideas for Christmas gifts for those who have not already purchases something from my previous list. I intended to put some of these on my initial list, but forgot. Others I just realized the need/desire for the item so decided to put them in this post when I made this edition. So here are some more Christmas ideas:

Carolina Cider—When I took a trip with Chris, Patti, Cashlin, and Lisa to North Carolina we passed a guy on the side of the road selling this cider. I though this guy made the cider in the hills and this was his way of bringing it to market; however, after reading the label, I realized it was made near Charleston, SC. Anyway, I really enjoyed the Peach Cider and the Black Bing Cherry Cider!

A Valet—This is a really cool piece of furniture. It allows a gentleman to set-out his clothes for the next day, as well as store all the items that should be in his pockets before he leaves. It also provides a place for him to put all of those things when he empties is pockets in the evening. This would be really helpful since I started working dress clothes to work instead of scrubs!

Camera Lens—I saw this lens as I was perusing bestbuy.com. It’s a cool—it has the shift and tilt built into a wide-angle lens. It is cool, but it is expensive.

And for the “Anonymous” poster who said I should ask for a wife. Obviously, that individual is more interested in me finding a wife than helping me find one! After all, I did post a description of the kind of girl I’m looking for (it’s like a job description)! Maybe Santa will bring me a wife—just not Mrs. Clause, she seems like she is past childbearing age.