I live in Ventura and we got hit by the Thomas Fire the first night. Ventura lost over half of all the buildings destroyed by the fire. I live blocks away from a lot of the destruction. Whole neighborhoods within half a mile of me were completely destroyed. A dozen homes within 3 blocks of my house burnt.

We were evacuated the first night of the fire. The following day, my son and I watched two homes burn to the ground within a few blocks of our house. It was terrifying. I left my house that day thinking I might never see it again.

All that to say, it's been a really tough couple of weeks, but we made it through and our house survived and Ventura will rebuild!

Now it's time to celebrate and guess what? My Secret Santa gave me a shit ton of moonshine to celebrate with! I'm so excited to kick back on the porch with a glass of moonshine. She was even awesome enough to send wine for my wife. (and my 16 yr old son thought the "jet fuel" was about the coolest thing in the world - so of course I set him straight by letting him have a sip - my daughter just rolled her eyes).

Thank you Secret Santa!!!!!