The Sunday Before Christmas

 Christmas is this Thursday.

I've long opined that one of the big milestones in the journey from childhood to adulthood when the march to Christmas goes from much too slow to entirely too quick.

This one's getting up on us in a hurry.

I spent yesterday morning picking out a couple last books to give this holiday.   I may still run out to find some cheese to give from Sweetwater Valley Farms, a local cheesemaking outfit in between Sweetwater and Loudon.  They do great work, but I'm fond of their buttermilk cheese, and I know there are people in the family likewise fond.

I took the nephew out Christmas shopping last Thursday.  I'd avoided most of the hustle and bustle of the crowded places this holiday, but he wanted to wander to Hamilton Place in Chattanooga to look in Dick's Sporting Goods and World Market for a couple things.  We grabbed a tasty Detroit Style pizza from Community Pie, and managed to hit a couple books stores.  Facebook memories popped up a memory from a previous year's wandering (I've been taking him out Christmas shopping I think for the past 8 years (he's 15 right now).  One such trip included a trip to Jersey Mike's for lunch, where young Thomas, thrilled at getting to choose his own toppings for a sandwich wanted nothing but salami and mustard on his that day.  This year, we went with a more traditional pepperoni and italian sausage.

Thomas has been working, doing some landscaping work with a family friend to earn some money.  This year, he brought his own money to buy Christmas gifts.  After a purchase at Barnes & Noble, he made the realization that many of us have made through the years (some of us, like your old pal Tommy, have to make the realization again, and again): Damn....this can get expensive in a hurry.

We enjoyed ourselves, though.  I don't know how many more Christmas shopping lunches he'll want to make with Uncle Tommy, so I'm always glad to squeeze one in.

I may grab him while he's off the next couple of weeks.  I have an old dresser in our spare room, a room that I'd like to get back to using in an office capacity.  I've had a couple sets of bookshelves to put into the room, that will help me get some of my shit off the floor, but I need to get the dresser out of there.  Prior to a couple of months ago, I'd have grabbed my Dad's old pickup truck from Mom's house, but with Thomas getting older, mom's given the truck to Thomas to learn to drive on, and eventually use.

Maybe we can make project out of it, have him help me carry this giant ass dresser out so he can use it at his house.....