When I was home for Xmas break, we got dumped on pretty good and spent most of the time at home. I found that puzzles and dominoes were the mainstay when the TV wasn't tolerable anymore. My girls are 17 and 21, so they've learned to keep themselves occupied or Dad can find plenty for them to do (like clean and oil firearms, shovel the sidewalk, dust the furniture etc). The wife was willing to just kick back in the recliner with me and relax, something about being gone for 4 months I guess might have to do with that.

When all else fails, a good cooking lesson from Dad's repertoire of recipes will keep everyone occupied for a couple hours at least. Of course, now that the girls are old enough, conversation is a whole lot easier to start and maintain. Fortunately we share enough common interests, such as hunting, politics, career development, and when I get tired of talking, the wife can take over and they can all discuss the latest hollywood junk if they so desire. Each of us do have our own set of hobbies/crafts that we can catch up with as well.

Still, it was nice to get out and do a little shopping (okay, with three girls at Christmas, it was a lot of shopping) or go to a restaraunt or visit with friends or neighbors. We ain't totally Burt Gummer style anti-social just yet.