Have a Holly Jolly, Very Merry Christmas!

An Olson family Christmas...never disappoints. There's nothing like being home for the holidays, and especially when there's so much entertainment! Here are the 2011 highlights, starting with the trip:

* Heading to O'Hare on Christmas Eve afternoon, ready to fight the massive crowds that the newscasters were warning me about, only to find it completely deserted! To a very frequent traveler, there's nothing quite like the sight of an empty airport. Serenity now. Here's the proof (look how happy Bieber is!):

* My wake-up call on this Christmas morning? My dad coming in and saying "Merry Christmas little girl! Shitter's full." (Although I have to say, that never gets old)

* Checking my phone right after that, only to find that someone had texted me at 12:30am to say Merry Christmas...and the text included a link to that exact clip from Christmas Vacation on YouTube...MF, did we just become best friends?! I think we did.

* My parents making a traditional Christmas dinner all from scratch, but also including a little something on the side....knowing that I would throw a hissy fit if it wasn't included:

(My dad even said he took it out of the can ever-so-carefully, so as to not disturb the "can lines" that I love so much...he knows me too well)

* Watching bit and pieces of A Christmas Story on and off throughout the day on TBS, only to finally watch the whole thing at once in the evening (no-commercials version though, of course)

* Eating so many of my mom's delicious Christmas cookies that I think I might barf...multiple times during the day

* Waking up in my flannel pajamas, wearing them all day, and then going to bed in them again (which I fully plan to do)

* And my personal favorite? This exchange between my parents and me:

Parents - "Are you eating turkey these days?"
Me - "Not really.  I still haven't eaten any poultry in about 2 years."
Parents - "Really? Still?"
Me - "Well....I accidentally ate hot wings with LM and LK last weekend...after the bar crawl...a little intoxicated."
Parents - "Perfect. We'll just get you drunk then before Christmas dinner. Problem solved!"
Me - "Fair enough. Game on."

I hope everyone else has an equally entertaining holiday.  Merry Christmas to you and yours!