It was my first day of break and I decided to do some errands before sinking into complete mindlessness. First, Paul Dimaggio and I went to the library to leave a gift for Leslie Berger who had come to our class. Leslie wasn't there so we left the gift with Judy Feldman. Next, we drove through the traffic and ran into Raimund and Claire on the way which amused Suzanne until we got to Joe Canal's where the sign suggested that they were expanding though our purchases emptied the store a lot. Jane and Ben were waiting for these hors d'ouevers to get cooked the salad to get made and the chicken to be ready though Suzanne seemed happy just to have the table set as Jeff Nunokawa and Sarah sat down for the meal and eventually the dessert after which John and Jane came for Xmas discussions. On Christmas Eve, Jane loaded the car and when Suzanne emerged from the door, we drove east stopping for gas at this rest stop where the family waited for their food at Burger King as Jane held my lunch from Pizzeria Uno and when I opened the pizza and dug in, I was amazed that the crust could be so bad but I had no idea that this wouldn't be the worst even as I took this self portrait and admired the Food from Burger King as Suzanne expressed some delight about her salad and Ben and Sarah got ready to dig in as Jane and Sarah and Sarah and Ben and Jane inspired me to take another self portrait and photograph French Fries instead of eating them, especially if they were green. We drove on to exit 6 EZpass paid our toll and got onto the Parkway to make our way to the hotel where Nadine checked us into a room that looked like this with a bath that looked like this and this view from the view with the view improving when the flash was off.

We made our way to Norma's where Ben was very amused by the basket made of bread until we tasted the bread and it was even worse than the Pizzeria Uno crust. But, that's getting ahead of the story.

Ben started playing trumpet

and then Ben and Jane played a concert

before we went upstairs to visit Maxine and Ann Sharon who posed with Sarah before the Gespass'es -- Andy, Katy and Sam -- arrived and Sam showed off his new locks before Maxine and Suzanne posed with Norma and then Ann Sharon joined the picture while Sarah finished her piano playing and we went downstairs for the pizza Debbie had made. George was there as was Danny and Dolly and the 2 sides of the table and a slightly obscured Norma at the head admired my new shirt as Sarah showed off her new shirt and Dan talked about life in the delivery business as Jane made a braid and then smiled about it and Sam showed off his new locks as Norma discussed life and Andy moved further and further out of the frame as Ben caught a nap I took this self portrait and Jane showed off her shoes and then took a few pictures of the apartment and her finger before the final pictures were taken and we could call it a night.

On Christmas Day (in the morning), we made our way to the elevator and down to breakfast where the waffle instructions were not as good as we might have hoped but we still had this spread as Ben Suzanne and Jane enjoyed their meals before we headed off to Norma's. Once there, Ben checked out the candy boxes and Ben played with the napkins and then Ben tried to make the chocolate turkey disappear as Sarah opened the arrangement from the chocolate mousse and the Goodness Gracie cookies merged along with the dreidel as we opened the cookies and Jane hid part and then all of her face with hair as I played hide and seek much to Sarah's amusement before the experimental pictures (more to come) were taken and the profile shots of Sarah and my self profile led Sarah to take to take a picture of herself and her food so that we could make our way to the Loew's theater where after some of the large drinks and some snacks we saw Yours, Mine and Ours, a perfect Xmas day movie. On the way back to the hotel, we admired John Minadeo School and when leaving the hotel, we saw a pizza box from Mineo's, so it was really a trip back to my roots. We rode the elevator down as Jane and Ben tried to take pictures of pictures bid farewell (for now) to the Residence Inn and made our way to Norma's for the menorah lighting after which Sarah Ben Jane and Norma showed off their gifts and Jane and Sarah and Jane again showed what they could do with the wrapping materials. Even at these ages, the packaging materials are as exciting as the gift itself.

Next we went to Aunt Sally's where the couches were full as Andy Norma Sue Dolly and Debbie were undoubtedly intrigued by my ability to take self portraits but I then passed the camera to Katy who took these pictures often at odd angles and often with the guidance of Jane

but this effort was interrupted by the spreading of the buffet with a remarkable collection of foods including the famous Xmas roast beast which kept the assembled going through the line and made Katy and Sam happy to see the rooster and the corner cupboard as Andy delighted in his food and Katy thought about the dessert and many cookies to come

while those at the other table conversed and Jane made Blair Witch faces as the food was consumed much to Sarah's amusement and Debbie opened and displayed her new cup as the puppet watched to Ben's great amusement. The camera moved around again taking random shots before it was time to begin the sheriff badge presentation ceremony.

These well preserved badges were first presented the Andy then to Danny and then to Sam after which some group photos were taken of the newly sworn deputies and after a little conversation between Jane and me and some resting of Ben a conversation between Norma and Jane and Sarah's amusement it was time to see whether Sam or I was taller before we adjourned back to Norma's where Andy and Katy were settled and this missed profile shot led to more Blair Witch on Jane's part as Ben and Sarah wondered whether Ben's present would be found but fortunately Suzanne found it and Ben was very excited to have his iPod shuffle as Suzanne admired the packaging Ben realized he needed a CPU from which to download and Sarah checked for phone messages so that we could call it a night.

Monday morning was still a bit of a Christmas celebration because Xmas had fallen on a Sunday. Against the protest of Jane's sleeping arm Ben Sarah Suzanne and I (in this self portrait) make our way to breakfast where this woman wondered (for her daughter) if my Heinz shirt was an Xmas gift. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I just got lumps of coal. This was my breakfast before we went back and packed (but not carefully enough to avoid leaving a book behind) and made our way to Norma's where the rabbis were juxtaposed with the Santas and Ben decided to take some background photos before capturing the views and some decorations not to mention the assembled and the Bnai Brith calendar with the incorrect dates before he did experiments to see how a light shines on a wooden floor and teddy bear and rabbi pictures before a few experiments and this picture of Sarah back and of my face before the pattern shot and the picture of the package the girls brought as Jane and Ben talked to Audrey (aka Butterfly) and then captured part of the tree and more fabric before coming back to Audrey and then exploring the flora and views from Norma's once more After a look down the hallway we made our way tot he elevator for one last collection of group pictures before it was wheels up time.

Once on the turnpike, we endured the long line at Sbarro's to get through the people to the pizza that would fuel the rest of the car ride as the gang in the back seat did some truly experimental photography.

leading to more Blair witching from Jane and this final picture of Ben before the DARE book was considered.

Back in Princeton, the menorah was set and Ben Jane Suzanne me (in self portrait) and Sarah admired the decorations Josephine had hung as a few dark pictures and this light one set the stage to start lighting candles and then to take this family photo before Ben showed off his new game Jane showed off one present as Suzanne handed her another that Jane could display and I was excited about my seater as was Sarah about her shirt and we were warm together for the rest of the evening