2 January 2002

Well, here we are in the new year! Let's hope this one is an improvement on the old one!

We had a very nice holiday and trip, thank you. Despite my nervousness (which led us to be at the Newport News airport a good three hours before our flight was due to take off - before they even opened the gate, in fact) we had little trouble with the airports or flying.

Our second flight on the way there was delayed by forty-five minutes, but that wasn't too much of a cause for frustration, since it didn't necessitate any running to catch connections or lost luggage. Grandma and Grandpa Brooks were starting to get a little worried when we finally called, but that was it.

The weirdest thing was on our return, when we got to O'Hare (two and a quarter hours early) we wound up standing in line at the ticket counter for nearly an hour and a half - not weird in and of itself, since it was the holiday season and airlines aren't allowing check-ins at the gate any more - but when we finally got our boarding passes and walked down the terminal and around the corner to security, there was no one there. Well, not no one, but at each of the four stations, there was only one person in line. Based on what I'd seen of security on our way in to Chicago, I'd expected the security lines to be six or seven people deep.

But I'm not complaining. Nope. Nope nope nope.

The visit in Chicago was nice, if hectic. Grandma tried to feed us enough to last the entire year, as always. I resisted better than I usually so, except at breakfast time, when my will is weak. We spent a lot of time shuttling from one place to another, trying to make sure everyone got us for equal time.

Given that the temperature highs were in the twenties and that there were snow flurries for most of the trip, it's probably for the best that we didn't go into Chicago. Instead, Matt's mom took us to the mall (the day after Christmas, no less) to see the Apple Store there - which was very nice - and then to see Fellowship of the Ring.

(My quickie movie review: A couple of minor things bothered me, but I'm not a Tolkein purist, and all in all, the movie rocked. I thought the Moria scenes were especially good. If you want to know what a Tolkein purist had to say, I thought Braz's review was well-considered. Don't read it until you've seen the movie, though.)

And I got to drive some more heavy equipment - this time a "skid-steer" (which is just like a Bobcat, but by a different company.) It was fun!

A few more trips, and I'll be ready for my CDL (commercial driver's license) exam! (Well, okay, maybe not.)

And, finally - after thirty years - I got a White Christmas. The snow was never heavier than flurries, but there was maybe an inch of accumulation, and it snowed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Enough to qualify, for me!

It had been one of my better ideas, I think, to ship gifts there and then back home again. Even if it means that most of our gifts from Matt's family aren't home yet. The guy at the Mailboxes Etc. told us, "Twenty-five dollars, and it will be there by about Thursday. Unless you want to ship it express." When I asked about express, the price tag went up to over $100 - so we decided Thursday would be fine.

The most embarrassing anecdote of the trip: Matt's uncle Dave dropped us off at his mom's house Christmas night, and as we got out of the car I scooped up a handful of snow. Matt gamely turned his back so I could splat him with the snowball, and then I shook my hands to get the excess water off... and my wedding and engagement rings flew off into the darkness!

Cousin Erik fetched a flashlight, and - by some Christmas miracle - we found both rings in only a few minutes. But I've gone back to wearing my rings on a necklace, instead of on my finger.

Our trip home was uneventful, and the next evening Matt and I went over to my parents' house for Christmas with them. That was very nice - a delicious pot roast for dinner, and everyone seemed like like their gifts.

Karen's packages for us arrived only a couple of hours before K.T.'s New Year's Eve party. We had fun opening them - Matt's included a two and a half page story about the dreaded pirate "Long Matt" and his crew. (Matt's theme was "pirates" in case you hadn't guessed.)

The New Year's party was nice - a little quiet, but after the bustle of the Chicago trip, quiet was good. We ate and talked and exchanged more gifts (resulting in three more DVDs for our collection, whoo!) and drank and talked some more.

(For those of you who were there... No, I'm not going to post the picture of Kevin's Japanese Bondage Cow, or talk about the Incident that drove me under the table into my Happy Place. Some things are just best left unmentioned.)

I spent New Year's Day relaxing, for the most part - though I did get the bills paid and the checkbook balanced, and the dining table cleared off enough that when Colleen came over to make us stuffed shells for dinner, we didn't have to eat off our knees.

Now, alas, I'm back at work. Bah! Humbug!

--Liz