Because nothing says Christmas like champagne in the hot tub

My parents' house has a nice pool, complete with heating. It's been so mild this year that they could probably still be using it, but my dad already closed it up for the winter.

That's where my grandparents come in. A few weeks ago, they bought a hot tub, complete with color-changing lights and a "waterfall." (They had a slightly cheaper one in mind, but my dad - a former college linebacker - just couldn't fit in it. I understand they had to take him to the hot tub place and have him sit in their potential purchases.) This big buy - along with my grandmother's love of touring the new addition to my parents' house (the "homestead"), all the while saying things like, "Oh, and just LOOK at this bathroom sink!" - convinces me that my grandparents are truly happy living out their days in spa-like comfort in suburban Cincinnati.

So when I arrived for my two-day Christmas stay in Milford, the hot tub had been set up for just about a week. That's new enough that my mom wanted to spend all her spare time in it - and no time is more spare than the time between opening presents on Christmas morning and waiting for the relatives to arrive on Christmas afternoon. So, not two hours after I'd torn open my Indiana Jones box set and had my first cup of coffee, my mom said, "Come on, Kel - get on your bathing suit!"

Did you know you're supposed to shower before using a hot tub?

Of my five readers, two are now saying, "Ew, I can't believe she didn't know that!" and the other three are saying, "A shower? Really?"

Yes, really. The water in a hot tub doesn't go anywhere to be filtered, so any dirt you have on you just stays in there. The instructional DVD that came with the tub said being in a hot tub with one other person is akin to being in a regular pool with 150 other people. (As a former visitor to Miami Hills on crowded days, I can tell you that this is super-gross.)

I guess my grandpa doesn't shower every day (which makes sense - it's not like he runs a daily 5K or anything), so he can only go in the hot tub on shower days. My parents were making fun of him - "Ha, ha - YOU can't go in the hot tub!" - and he was all, "Hey, I took my shower this morning!" But he didn't go in when I was there, and Nana was doing some kitchen thing, and my sister wanted to take a nap. So it was just my parents and me.

Which is weird - sitting in a hot tub with my parents on Christmas Day, sipping champagne (my mom decided it would make the occasion more festive). But hey, it beats watching the Jets beat Miami.