More Bourbon Balls, Please

There were so many wonderful things about Christmas 2008, chief among them the fact that Mummy Plotnik not only said she'd try to come, but actually did. She got in some real Isabella time, and the entire family was together for the first time in many years.





But Mummy P. is 94. She has very little vision and she never feels all that chipper. She worries about every headache and is generally cold all the time. She knows she won't be allowed to smoke in the house so she'll have to stand outside in the cold wind to have a cigarette. So it took her 'way out of her comfort zone to get on a plane, fly to Oakland, then stay for four nights in an apartment by herself next door to Plot and Duck. She gave us all her own special blessing just by showing up.



Of course there were issues. There are always issues, because families are families. We seem to be unwilling to tolerate the same behaviors by family members that, if our friends committed them, we would laugh it all off and say: "Hah! There goes Ol' Buddy Melvin again!" We'll do this for friends, but we won't do it for family. Our expectation levels are set impossibly high, even though we know with certainty that our family members can't meet those expectations, and if they could, would probably refuse to.

None of it matters.





The Plotniks saved the presents from the South Carolina Plotkinses for last (the Plotkinses are the Plotniks from South Carolina whose original name ended in 'kins').

The blanket for Belly is beautiful, as is the portrait on world class embossed plastic of famous brother in law J.M. Plotkins, and of course the Piggy Park BBQ sauce was highly appreciated, but nothing was better than the Screaming Monkey Slingshot. This will be a gift that will keep on giving. Especially when they get it back next year.






All holidays matter, but Christmas is better. And it is official that Traditional Honey Buns are now history. They have been replaced, hopefully forever, by Traditional Bourbon Balls. You can write it down.