Christmas Photos

Mom sent some Christmas photos...

Emma and Mimi opening presents.

Em and me - at least one of us is looking at the camera. That's the Caillou I got her..

Emma and my cousins - all of which look thrilled about Christmas day.

Mamaw (on the right) and her sister Wardelle. Christmas day was Mamaw's 83rd birthday! (And she LOVED the bird bottle!)

Em with a new DVD... or DBD as she calls it.

More presents!

And still more...

Christmas Fun

[Apparently one-third of my readership misses stalking me, so I promised her I would post again soon.]

Here are some highlights from Christmas in Jeffersonville:

• It snowed inside the worship center at church!
• Holly and I spent some time looking for plane tickets... China, here we come!
• I spent about 4 hours playing Guitar Hero at Rob's on Sunday. I predict there will soon be a disease of the wrist called "Guitar Hero-itis." 
• Sunday night I had dinner with about 25 peeps from high school - a couple of which I hadn't seen since 1997. Fun times! 
• Monday morning I had my annual Heine Bros. coffee date with Chelsey. I heart Chels... and hope to go to Nashville soon for her CD release party!
• Monday afternoon we had our traditional Christmas Eve meal at Macaroni Grill. May I just say that I'm really good at creating my own pasta?
• Monday night we opened presents. Emma was hilarious. Every time she opened one, she'd look at it, then say, "Let's see what else we've got." (To answer the question of another third of my readership, I decided to wait till the birthday for Noah. I was too excited about the 3-foot tall Caillou I got her.)
• Tuesday we did the big family Christmas meal. Yum! There were some strange conversations at the table, as usual... mostly about going pee pee in the potty.
• I had to work on Wednesday, so I came back to Indy on Tuesday night for my second annual "romantic comedies and (a little too much) wine" evening.

Oh Noah, why must you do this to me?

Noah, you've let me down not once, but twice this month! First, I waited in a terribly slow line for you. Since it's Christmas, that was forgivable. Then we went through that whole treadmill debacle together. I thought we'd bonded.

But tonight... when I saw you on the shelf at Kohl's as a special "gift set" with three additional pieces, and a dvd, I felt betrayed. Two little plastic turtles, a little girl, and a dvd that most likely, like the other "Little People" dvds, has Aaron Neville singing the theme song...

To make matters worse, you were cheaper at Kohl's! Yes, you were marked at a much higher price, but you can't fool me. I know that one never pays sticker price at Kohl's!

I'll admit... I debated. "If I re-purchase Noah and the animals, am I letting him win?" I thought to myself. "A cheaper price and more pieces, or a wait in another long Toys R Us line?" Well, Noah, you win. Are you happy now? There are not one, but two of you in my house right now.

Such a Great Friend...

When you are stuck in a ditch and you call me, not only will I come get you and let you use my AAA, but I will also bring my camera to capture the event so you can enjoy it for years to come...

Steve the tow truck driver arrives.

The fun begins.

Almost out... (taken from the comfort of my warm car)

Stopping traffic on 56th Street!

Travelin' Fool

Here's how last week went:

Saturday night: drove to Louisville after celebrating roomie's birthday

Sunday morning: flew from Louisville to New York

Monday night: flew from New York to Louisville

Tuesday morning: flew from Louisville to Baltimore

Wednesday night: flew from Baltimore to Louisville, then drove to Indy

Fun times, but I'm wiped out!

New York

The surprise trip turned out to be a ton of fun! We arrived Sunday morning, and ate breakfast at a cute little place where I got creamer or milk spilled all over me. Oh well... then we got half price tickets to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was excellent. We had dinner with Christopher that night, then went to Radio City for the Christmas Spectacular. That was pretty cool - there was even a part in 3D. Santa was right there in front of us! It ended with live animals in a nativity scene.

On Monday, we wandered around 5th Ave, looking at store windows full of things we could never afford. We had lunch a Bryant Park Grill, and looked at all the fun Christmas shops setup there. We also went to the Charmin Restrooms in Times Square. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius! They offer free, clean restrooms at Christmastime. The staffers are cheerful (some might argue TOO cheerful), and there are even fun scenes setup to take photos. 

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Baltimore

After New York was a whirlwind trip to Baltimore for work. We were looking at hotels for our 2010 meeting. That's right folks, believe it or not, 2010 is right around the corner... in the hotel world, anyway. We looked at ten different ones. After about three, they all start to look the same. We did get to have a very yummy dinner at Pazo... I was especially a fan of the croquettas, which are basically fried mashed potatoes with Manchego cheese. 

I'm pretty sure there will be no more flying till January 6, when I leave for grad school orientation. And I'm definitely okay with that! 

Adventures in Retail

Last night, Liz accompanied me as I ran some errands and got some Christmas shopping done. First stop: dinner at Paradise Bakery. Yum. Why is the small salad really small and the large is really large? Can we get a medium?

Then we were off to Toys R Us to find the Little People Noah's Ark for Emma. Easy enough, right? Nope. Once we found the thing, I waited in line forEVER. The people in front of me spent $641.00, needed a couple price checks, and applied for a credit card. Even after 20 minutes at the register, they still had to go to the service desk.

Then the real fun began... I purchased a treadmill last week and decided I would attempt to save $65 by bringing it home myself rather than having it delivered. So we went to Sears to pick it up. And surprise, it didn't fit in the car. The nice man tied my hatch down so I could still get it home. But when we got out on 82nd Street, the string broke and the hatch popped open. Liz had her hand on the treadmill box, like maybe she could save it if it started to fall out. But more importantly, she was protecting Noah and his animals that we had worked to hard to get at Toys R Us. 

We drove back to Sears. I was laughing pretty hard by this point. We went back inside and I found the guy who tied it up for me and told him I changed my mind. Then the paperwork began. Not only did I have to add the delivery, but I needed an adjustment too because the thing was $83 cheaper online. The cashier made me wait forever because he didn't know what he was doing. He said he was making me wait for the manager in order to make this "as efficient as possible..." to which I muttered under my breath, "I think we're way past efficient."

An hour later, we were on our way to Target. That was a pretty uneventful trip other than our manhunt for the breadcrumbs.

'Tis the season!

Surprises

So this morning I got to do the "big reveal." The phone conversation went something like this:

Me: Did you see that the Rockettes are going to be on tv tonight?

Mom: Really? What time? What station?

Me: I don't think you should watch it.

Mom: (silence)

Me: Because you're going to see it live tomorrow night.

Mom: I am? 

Me: Yep.

Mom: (confused silence)

Me: You're going to New York tomorrow.

Mom: I'm what? Huh? Are you sure?

Me: Yes, I'm sure.

Mom: Well that sounds fabulous. Am I going alone? [joking]

Me: Nope, I'm coming too.

Yay... no more secrets! :)