I brought a sore throat back from visiting Toledo. I woke up this morning and made myself some hot Earl Grey tea. That helped a lot.

I had a good time visiting. My family thinks they have to plan exciting and new things for me to see and do when I visit. I have lived there most of my life, so I have seen most of Toledo. I don’t go there for the city; I go there to be with my family. Just sitting around the TV, talking, drinking coffee, watching Shawn dance is just perfect for me.

I got into Toledo on Thursday around 4:00 PM. Unloaded a couple of things at Mom and Dad’s and then went to Tim and Lisa’s for dinner. I mostly had leftover Honey Baked ham for dinner. They seemed to be upset that they had leftovers from Christmas Eve dinner, so I was trying my hardest to make the ham disappear.

Friday morning Lisa dropped Shawn off with us (Mom, Dad, and myself) and we ran some errands. First we went to a little bar/restaurant for breakfast. They have something called “The Egg War Special”. You get two scrambled eggs, a decent amount of hash browns, and two pieces of white toast for $1.35. If I had that deal near here I would probably go at least every weekend.

Then we were going to go to a map store (I love maps), but the store had closed. Poop.

Next on the itinerary was a model train store so that I could buy a couple of manufacturer’s catalogs. Even better, they had a catalog from Walthers. This catalog is like a catalog of all the manufacturers in one giant catalog; over 1,000 pages! It was $20, but it should keep me occupied for a while. I don’t plan on taking up model trains as a hobby, but it is fun to look at, and I might buy one or two things just for a bookcase display. I would like to get a train just to display, not run, on a narrow shelf somewhere in the house. I want to get the cars and engine that we ride into the city on every day. This one looks a little like it, but not quite.

Finally on our trip we stopped at Food Town to pick up the 7½ pound standing rib roast for our holiday dinner that night.

When we got back home, Shawn was starting to get cranky-tired, and I didn’t sleep that well the previous night, so the two of us went upstairs for a nap. Mom put him down in his own little bed, and I laid in the regular bed that was right next to his. He cried for a while, but it wasn’t a real cry. It was a fake cry that he uses to get his way. Uncle Brad doesn’t play that, so I just let him get tired of crying, and then he finally just laid down too (with his butt in the air). I don’t think he ever fell asleep because he was fidgety most of the time. I got a little bit of a nap though. One time he tried to climb out of bed when I had one eye open. I sat up and leaned over quickly and just looked (scowled) at him; didn’t say a word. He just slowly climbed back into bed without saying a word.

After my nap, I brushed my teeth and went downstairs to hang out for a while. Mom was making our family’s spinach salad for dinner that evening. I watched TV with Dad and talked for a while. When Mom was done with the salad, we packed up and headed over to Tim and Lisa’s. That was around 3:00 PM.

Tim and I were responsible for cooking the rib roast. Fortunately for us, they are pretty easy to cook. We put it in an open roasting pan, rib side down, covered it with olive oil, and then rubbed garlic granules, salt, fresh ground pepper, and thyme over the whole thing. We inserted a digital thermometer probe into the center, and then put it into a 325º oven. We set the timer to sound when the internal temperature hit 120º. We took it out, covered it with foil, and the internal temperature continued to climb to about 141º.

We also tried Yorkshire pudding for the first time. It tastes like a popover (because the primary ingredient is eggs) with a beefy taste (because you add a ½ cup of the pan drippings when you take the roast out of the oven. You just mix up the egg, drippings, flour and a little salt, pour the batter into a 9” x 9” pan and bake it for 25 minutes.

The prime rib turned out better than any prime rib I have had at a restaurant. Unbelievably good. As long as you use an internal thermometer with a temperature alarm I don’t think you could screw it up. Easier than roasting a turkey. Tim and I divided the four ribs between us after dinner. We spent several minutes gnawing on the them after we were done eating the main portion of dinner.

Late Saturday morning we all went to brunch at Nick’s. Nick’s is a diner with good homemade food served in enormous portion sizes. I don’t think it would be a visit to Toledo any more with out a meal at Nick’s. It is usually breakfast, but he also makes a very good hamburger with fresh cut fries.

Tim received a $40 gift certificate to Anderson’s from work, so we went there after brunch so Tim could buy a programmable thermostat. We also strolled around the store looking at the after-Christmas specials. All I bought was some windshield washer fluid for the van.

Went back to Tim and Lisa’s and watched Tim install the thermostat. Took him about 10 minutes. Worked perfect the first time. Then we just sat around, had some coffee, watched what I had shot on my camcorder so far. I think they thought my scenes were too long. It was only my first 40 minutes. I will learn.

The drive back to Chicago was uneventful. Traffic wasn’t too bad. Mom packed a little care package for me, in the tradition of my Grandma B*. A little baggie with 5 or 6 slices of very good hard salami; a little tin of the Christmas cookies she made, and a can of Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi. I finished the salami and crackers before I left Ohio. She also put a cute little love note in the bag for me!

I got home about 7:45 PM. Sheri helped me unpack the van, and then she opened the presents that were sent home for her. After a couple of the gifts, she commented that my family is finally starting to “get” her. I think this was a particular reference to the plastic horse that poops little brown cola-flavored candy turds from its butt. She liked everything they picked out for her though.

We went to bed pretty early.

I don’t think we have too much planned for today. She is still sleeping. I have some bills to catch up on. We are looking forward to the short week. I am taking Thursday and Friday off (in addition to the Wednesday holiday). Tuesday will probably be a short day, too.