during christmas breaks, i come home to visit my two families - my natural family and my high school family. my high school family is the close friends i grew up with since i was 10 years old, and christmas/new years never feels complete without hanging out with the guys till 4am every other night. ironically, we've been doing nothing but the same thing the past decade either. yesterday, wayne bet that we would still be doing the same thing 30 years from now. this is the tradition:

- play poker (except steve)
- play video games
- eat at hoagie haven
- watch a sappy movie (as in, dave and wayne or dave and steve go watch alone)
- gamble in AC (where derek somehow pulls a straight flush every year)
- crash dave's family's annual christmas party (and eat all their delicious food)
- visit new york (and freeze our ass off)
- comments on how fat i got

it sounds boring, but it has been our tradition for as long as i can remember. i'm not exactly sure why we go through the same exact routines every year the past 10+ years, especially when it's so rare that this many high school friends keep in touch for this long, so here are some possible theories:

1. we are very restless people and constantly need to be doing something. the concept of sitting around in a bar or restaurant and talking is just boring.
2. we are all very immature
3. it's simply tradition, nothing more

regardless of the reason, having the guys together is still something that i look forward to every year. however, now with some of us getting engaged/married or moving away, things are changing. there has been a lot more focus on the significant others and real family, as there should be, but the question is how they dynamics of the group will change. better yet, i wonder what's going to happen when we start having kids... probably neglect our children to stay up all night playing dr. mario or super smash bros.