Post Christmas Day 2016

If I write every morning, I can write either about the events of the night (at this stage of my life, little enough) or of the day before. If I do the latter, it seems more natural to backdate the post so it appears I write that evening.
This Christmas morning Eric was smoking on the front step. I had given him a ride home from Kat's annual Christmas Eve party, but we talked so much through Everett that I clear forgot the turnoff and while initially I was annoyed, I realized that I needed to be more social and try a little conversation. It was really pretty interesting as we are now both on the windy side of age 50 and have hard-earned wisdom to share at a time where it might actually make a difference.
For example, we can be frank about the effect of being whipped as children - he much worse than I, and it shows.
I was in the grip of my annual seasonal allergy - there's something that releases into the atmosphere near the end of the year that my body spends three days fighting, and the best I can do is sleep it off - otherwise I might have pulled an all-nighter just talking. I was careful to text the housemates that Eric would be crashing upstairs and remind him the basement was theirs and off-limits to us - drawing boundaries is really important - and then I slept pretty solidly. In the morning Eric and I talked for another hour or three while I did casual cleaning. When it was time to drive the girls to Convington, Eric turned down the offer of a ride, saying he wanted to explore and adventure - maybe the busses were running, maybe he'd just walk - a thing he's really good at. Eric's in a better place than he had been for a while. Losing his wife (common-law wife, but wife nonetheless) was really hard, and I don't think the circumstances with her family helped at all, but he's carrying on and has found ways of dealing with the bipolar/depression he inherited and the PTSD he was given (it's a nature/lack-of-nuture thing) and he seems to have work and plans for the future which is good.
The Covington trip was uneventful and I returned without the benefit of navigation, discovering a few roads I had not seem before - likely not the most efficient trip but that's partly the point, am I right?
The rest of the day was me and the cats. The Hoover Roombaclone fascinates them as it delights me. It is getting a solid workout this first week at home, as there is more than five years of cat hair - I sweep weekly or better but there's no denying this new broom replacement sweeps clean.
The allergy is a good enough reason to turn in early. I am along but for the cats, and they're just as happy to have me stay in one place so they can demand attention.