Must be Christmas-time

...because Santa just drove by. I'm at the theatre right now, which happens to be right in the heart of the downtown area. The parade of lights just began, and the streets surrounding the theatre and administrative offices are currently playing host to Santa and scores of parade floats. Clearly Santa is a big-wig as he had a full police escort. Either that or Santa's in some type of trouble.

I like parades. Other than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, which I usually watch on television, I haven't been to a parade in more years than I can remember. I'm watching this one from the comfort of the administrative offices, but the streets are absolutely lined with people. They're selling those bright-light neon glow necklaces. I have no idea how they work, but I've always thought they're the coolest. Dad used to buy my siblings and I those at Six Flags and the state fair, and we were forever trying to figure out how to make the glowy last longer. We tried freezing them, but it never worked.

I went to dinner with my parents about an hour ago to Campo Verde. They're the BEST place to go to at Christmas time because they go all out with the lights. Seriously, it's so tacky, it almost transcends tackiness. They use over 100,000 lights and combine it with yards and yards of tinsely garland and Christmas sculpture. My stepmother's favorite is the animated three teddy bears who play "Little Drummer Boy" on the drums. Every time she sees them, she turns into a five-year old. She keeps keeps pressing play over and over and over and over... They had this Santa at the checkout, dressed in a white robe and white santa-suit with sparkly diamond buttons. I'm sure it wasn't the intention, but all he was lacking was a black felt hat with a feather in the rim, and he could have been pimp-daddy Santa. Good times.

I like this kind of stuff.

Hope all of you are doing well!