I have been pretty immune to the holiday craziness this year.  But yesterday it became apparent to me that this is not possible to avoid until Friday.  Just driving around Topeka yesterday was crazy.  It seems like there are 3x as many cars on the road than any other time of the year.

We’re heading up to Chicago today and I realize that the traffic there is 10x that of Topeka.  At least if history repeats itself.

I haven’t done any Christmas shopping.  I procrastinate until Christmas Eve normally.  Kind of contrary to the two paragraphs above, I like the people watching and interactions the day before Christmas.  Not driving, but out about in the masses.

Of course, the weather plays a big part.  Right now, the weather looks good up in Chicago.  Mid 40’s both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Trudi had a holiday gathering party at our house last night.  It was nice.  Just our close bike riding friends were over and it was great catching up some.   The Walbergs are back in Topeka, just live a block from us, so that is great.

Okay, I’m just wondering here, my mind is elsewhere.  I need to gather my stuff, put it in my van and get moving.  Hope you are more organized than me and are enjoying the pre-Christmas days.

  
I dressed to ride to Lawrence, then drive to Chicago. It was 59 degrees when I started, but raining.  Soon it was in the lower 40’s.  But I had tailwind.  Pretty nice average speed for the ride.  So, Mike Crum, I took your advice and “trained like a Belgian”.   

Hi.  Can’t believe it but I’m a little short of time already on Christmas morning.  Plus, I’m feeling a little under the weather.  Boo on that.

Last night I decided to fix the slate entryway at Trudi’s mom’s house for her Christmas present. I had to wait until she went to bed, so to surprise her.  Trudi’s dad put the slate in decades ago, on masonite, and the grout was pretty much nonexistent.  It was a pretty easy project, I’d bought the tools and grout at Home Depot yesterday out shopping.  It took a couple hours and looks great, but I didn’t get to sleep until after 2 am.

This morning we had a great breakfast and I have an hour to open presents and then head over and meet a bunch of new guys to ride to Evanston and then into downtown Chicago.  Like I said above, I’m feeling a little weird, kind of a queasy stomach and headache, but I’m not passing up this ride.

I hope everyone a simple Christmas and hope you truly enjoy the day.

Original floor. The grout was really done.

It was super easy to remove. You can see the masonite in the cracks.

It looks pretty good. I like the idea of giving gifts of labor or handmade stuff. I don’t do it nearly often enough.

Trudi’s mom’s corkscrew. It is an antique, but works pretty great.