Christmastime is here
"We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room."
- Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
I have not written much as of late, owing to the fact that I mostly feel obligated not to do so unless I have a story to tell or a witty observation to make. I suppose that's missing the point of keeping a blog--they can't all be gold or else hardly anyone would write more than once in awhile. So here I am, then, to keep from stalling out. At any rate, my travel plans this time around were pretty rough; I opted to do a red-eye instead of burning an entire day. Both have their pros and cons, the cons being that without a seat in 1st class or a Valium (or a good stiff drink) to take the edge off, it's pretty tough even for the likes of me to sleep on an overnight flight, and I'm such an old flying vet by now that I've pretty much trained myself to fall asleep before we even take off.
Armed with special earplugs to help ease the pain of flight descent (I had a really nasty cold coming in) and wearing my new Snuggie, I was determined to have a quiet 4 hour jaunt from San Diego to Newark. What I should know to expect by now is that the best laid plans can be foiled by a little boy and girl who do not care for flying, and will admit so vocally. I thought the guy on the aisle seat next to me was going to eject himself from a door, or at the very least perform a crude vasectomy in the bathroom with a ballpoint pen and 10 mini bottles of scotch, for all the muttering he was doing about the kids. I made overtures to agreement to make him feel better, but really it didn't bother me all that much, despite what you may have read in my previous holiday flight experience.
By the time I arrived in Norfolk on Wednesday morning, I was pretty tired, but none the worse for wear and I managed to make it through the day with only a few cat naps on the couch. Christmas this year has been low-key, as I was the only older child to make it out here this year. Ben had spent quite a bit of his PTO and money on his wedding in Brazil, and Brian, Ashley, and baby Eli just returned to the States earlier this month and are trying to settle in, buy a house, etc. There's a campaign to get everyone together in VA for Thanksgiving next year, but for now it's just me and Edward, Mom and Dad**. There has been lots of goodies, lots of masses (my family is the instrumental and vocal backbone of the church choir), many hours listening to Christmas music and watching the old favorite specials, and plenty of gifts for me. I must say, being the only kid who comes home for Christmas seems to put a few more gifts in your bag. ;-)
Today my brother, Mom, and I went to see the Princess and the Frog and we were unanimously impressed. I laughed, I cried, I wished to be about 20 years younger and able to grow up with a mocha colored princess of my very own--or to have a little girl right now to impart this Tiana to--and I look forward to seeing her in the Disney parks in the coming years. Monday is my last full day in town before making the trip in complete reverse to jump back into a short work week, and then...the New Year.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.
**Just by the by, I also happen to call my stepdad Dad. You may be confused if you read about my going home to Pittsburgh to my Dad and Pam, and then read about me coming home to Virginia to my Mom and Dad.
- Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
I have not written much as of late, owing to the fact that I mostly feel obligated not to do so unless I have a story to tell or a witty observation to make. I suppose that's missing the point of keeping a blog--they can't all be gold or else hardly anyone would write more than once in awhile. So here I am, then, to keep from stalling out. At any rate, my travel plans this time around were pretty rough; I opted to do a red-eye instead of burning an entire day. Both have their pros and cons, the cons being that without a seat in 1st class or a Valium (or a good stiff drink) to take the edge off, it's pretty tough even for the likes of me to sleep on an overnight flight, and I'm such an old flying vet by now that I've pretty much trained myself to fall asleep before we even take off.
Armed with special earplugs to help ease the pain of flight descent (I had a really nasty cold coming in) and wearing my new Snuggie, I was determined to have a quiet 4 hour jaunt from San Diego to Newark. What I should know to expect by now is that the best laid plans can be foiled by a little boy and girl who do not care for flying, and will admit so vocally. I thought the guy on the aisle seat next to me was going to eject himself from a door, or at the very least perform a crude vasectomy in the bathroom with a ballpoint pen and 10 mini bottles of scotch, for all the muttering he was doing about the kids. I made overtures to agreement to make him feel better, but really it didn't bother me all that much, despite what you may have read in my previous holiday flight experience.
By the time I arrived in Norfolk on Wednesday morning, I was pretty tired, but none the worse for wear and I managed to make it through the day with only a few cat naps on the couch. Christmas this year has been low-key, as I was the only older child to make it out here this year. Ben had spent quite a bit of his PTO and money on his wedding in Brazil, and Brian, Ashley, and baby Eli just returned to the States earlier this month and are trying to settle in, buy a house, etc. There's a campaign to get everyone together in VA for Thanksgiving next year, but for now it's just me and Edward, Mom and Dad**. There has been lots of goodies, lots of masses (my family is the instrumental and vocal backbone of the church choir), many hours listening to Christmas music and watching the old favorite specials, and plenty of gifts for me. I must say, being the only kid who comes home for Christmas seems to put a few more gifts in your bag. ;-)
Today my brother, Mom, and I went to see the Princess and the Frog and we were unanimously impressed. I laughed, I cried, I wished to be about 20 years younger and able to grow up with a mocha colored princess of my very own--or to have a little girl right now to impart this Tiana to--and I look forward to seeing her in the Disney parks in the coming years. Monday is my last full day in town before making the trip in complete reverse to jump back into a short work week, and then...the New Year.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.
**Just by the by, I also happen to call my stepdad Dad. You may be confused if you read about my going home to Pittsburgh to my Dad and Pam, and then read about me coming home to Virginia to my Mom and Dad.
