Hope you got everything you wanted

Its the day after Christmas and I hope everyone got all they wanted today.  Or at least their kids did.  My kids were spoiled again, especially the girl but hey if I can't spoil them, who can I spoil?  But they're good kids, their mother did a great job raising them ( I missed a lot of time working odd hours when they were young) and their aunts and uncles helped a lot too.  I had a good day as well though Santa did not bring me the winning lottery numbers.  I'm sure he will next year or maybe the Easter Bunny will come through this spring. 

On Christmas morning we had brunch at my sis in laws place.  We made some sausage balls and a sausage/egg bake dish as well and brought it over with us.  There was a lot of people with in laws, nieces, nephews, girlfriends, etc there but we managed to have a fair amount of food left over still.  The kids (except for old ones like my boys and my nephew Jay) all got presents from their aunts and uncles while we oldsters ate and gabbed and caught up from our last visit.  A good time all around. 

Last night dinner was at my house.  We made a 10 lb standing rib roast, about 6 lbs of loaded mashed potatoes (including cheese, garlic, butter, bacon, and cheese), green bean casserole, corn, brussel sprouts, plus appetizers.  Oh and the ham from brunch made a second appearance as well.  It was another major food fest.  At the end of the meal there were 2 pies and a birthday cake (my son's girlfriend had her birthday on Dec 25 as well lucky girl) to finish it off.   The house was fit to burst with 16 people in it but we managed to feed them all.  Not so much on the leftovers though as we only had a some corn, less than a pound of the rib roast and some ham left at the end of the day.  But no one left hungry either. 

After that I was one tired puppy.  So was the PQ as she made a lot of the food.  Luckily the roast itself was very simple.  Most everything else was too, probably the most work went into the potatoes and I did the work on that.  Still it was a good bit of effort involved in preparing and getting ready.  And we both were falling asleep by 9 last night.  I slept pretty good too until I woke up with pretty bad heartburn.  I forgot to take my Omeprazol pill in the morning and paid for it that night.  So my sleep was interrupted at 3 am and though I managed to get more sleep later, I'm still pretty tired.  But all in all, a pretty good Christmas with friends and family. 

This morning I made breakfast for the daughter and myself.  I cut up a few potatoes and made home fries for us.  While they were cooking I cut up some of the left over roast and heated it up in a little butter and garlic then made omelets with the beef and some cheese.  Prime rib omelets with cheese and homefries.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.  The rest of the day I've spent relaxing and and doing a little reading.  The PQ went out with our girl to do a little Post Xmas shopping.  The last thing I want to do is shop right now.  I do need to read up on some of my new games to play but maybe I'll do that tomorrow. 

I still have to buy 2 things though and I want to do that in the next week or so.  I was reading the best time to get furniture is after Christmas and we need a new mattress so I imagine we'll be buying one this week or next weekend.  Also, I am planning to buy a handgun in the next few weeks as well.  Now I know some of you will look upon this with undisguised revulsion and disdain, others will shrug it off and still others may actually applaud.  We all have our reasons for how we think of guns and private gun ownership.  My view has been espoused before but to some it up, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

It's not like I live in a high crime area or go to areas that are high crime, though some of the areas I referee in are not the nicest parts of town.  Still I cannot bring a gun with me onto school property so I won't be armed and dangerous while I'm refereeing.  Thank God for gun free zones like schools.  They disarm the law abiding but provide a bunch of disarmed victims to the criminals who do not obey the law.  But the thing is, I don't want to be at the mercy of some criminal who may decide his best chance of not going to jail for robbery or something is to leave no witnesses. 

When I was a much younger man, the general thought was "give the robber what they want and they will leave you alone."   This also extended over to rape as ladies were told it was best not to resist and get it over with.  Back then, states offering concealed weapons permits were few and far between.  Now many states have rethought this issue.  While it is true that usually a robber is not interested in harming you and just wants your money, victims were injured or killed enough times that people got fed up and demanded the right to protect themselves.   Think back to this past June when a guy robbed a pharmacy up in NY and killed the 4 people inside.  The pharmacist gave the guy drugs but that wasn't enough for him and he killed all the witnesses.  That is a statistic I don't want to be a part of.  I've been at the wrong end of a gun twice, once I was lucky not to be shot while another guy there was wounded. 

Studies have proven that areas that allow the citizens to carry weapons have less violent crime than areas with strict gun control.  The main reason is, most criminals want to get their money, drugs, etc in the least dangerous way.  Can you blame them?  They don't want to go to "work" with a good chance of dying when they do their "job".  That's why places with more liberal gun laws tend to have less violent crime.  Arm the victims and the criminals don't want to work so hard for their money.   And for women, I would think it a no brainer to be armed if at all possible.  After all, many criminals target women specifically because most are not armed and most are at an extreme physical disadvantage in a confrontation with a man.  But enough preaching from me.  Just keep in mind that I am not a gun nut in any sense of the word, in fact guns still scare me a little.  They are tools, but they are tools that can seriously harm or kill a person who takes them lightly.  Still I think gun ownership is for me.