Well, Christmas 2005 has come and gone. It was a good holiday season. I got some great gifts, and I think I found some nice things to give others that they enjoyed. We went down to Ian’s family for Christmas Eve as usual, though this year his mom scaled things down from the big party to a smaller family gathering. I really liked it, and I think everyone else did as well. Although they put me in charge of the steaks and hopefully won’t do that again. Gas grills lately just don’t like me. Ian has to constantly come to my rescue and restart the grill so that it heats up properly.

Christmas Day we made it back to DFW to spend with my family. We did our usual stop at Jack in the Box, the only restaurant in all of Texas that is open on Christmas Day. This was the worst we’ve ever seen it, I think it took us an hour. Still, we made it and had a good time at my sister’s house, finishing up with a great game of Taboo.

My brother Tim brought a package of sodas he bought on a whim. This company, Jones soda, makes some good colas in various flavors, sometimes various fruit combinations. Well, apparently around the holidays they make weird flavors. You can’t quite read them in the picture, but the flavors in this pack are pumpkin pie, cranberry, turkey & gravy, wild herb stuffing, and brussels sprouts. Here’s Tim showing off these unique drinks.

Now, you’d think that if they’re going to bother spending the money to make such bizarre drinks, they would try to in some way make them palatable. Hell no. HELL no. These are god awful. Foul. I don’t know what the point is beyond a gag gift. Do they really sell that many?

So, even though I KNOW I’m going to regret it for doing it, I told my family I would. So here is the picture of me tasting the brussel sprouts soda, by far the worst of them. It smelled like urine and grass and tasted something like what I can only imagine rotting feces tastes like. And of course, my reaction to it was caught on camera. Let the jokes about this begin.