What a crazy exciting time! I love Christmas. I love a full week of vacation. I love snow and Skiing. I love running in the cold weather. I love having the whole family together for a time. I love watching real candles on a Christmas tree.
As you can guess, I had a great time over the holidays. I paid a visit to Craig on his birthday, in time to experience the Transit strike. I made it up to Maine to hang out with Mom, Dad, and Alex. I made a quick trip to Boston for a mini Tufts reunion. I made it back to Miami to ring in the New Year with the GF and a refreshing New Years swim! Here are some fun times from the trip.
• Escape from New York: What should have been a $20 cab ride to LaGuardia Airport from Craig’s Place turned into an $80 cab ride. The Transit strike imposed this weird zone system where the cabs had to be full to cross zones. This involved a line at the zone edges with cabs looking to fill up with people. At $20 a person + $5 each for zone crossing it was a good time for the cabbies. I ended up taking a $65 car service to the airport. I rode in style in a PHAT Lincoln Towncar. I know how Trump lives now!
• USAir forgot my luggage on the NYC to Portland leg. Then the delivery service forgot to deliver it that night. Two days later they showed up. By that time I had eaten the brownies I set aside to give them as a thank you.
• We went skiing on the 23rd up at Sunday River. We were supposed to meet up with the cousins Ben (18) and Danny (16) but missed connections on the mountain. It’s a big place and I left my phone in the car. (Last year I broke one while skiing. 2005 was not a good year to be one of Brad’s phones.) Randomly we found them after lunch. They ski hard and fast. Alex and I had a good laugh at how old we felt skiing with them. Were we like that at 18? I think so. Oh well, I bet I can totally drink more beer than them!
• I bought Alex a Printer, but forgot to wrap it. I wrapped the special photo paper for it and the USB connector cable though. When he opened that he looked excited for a second, then really confused. I had to run upstairs to grab it from hiding. That made me realize I’m out of shape.
• The boys from Tufts played late night Frisbee Golf on the Boston Common. This deserves its own post.
• I had two awesome Mom-made turkey sandwiches to bring on the airplane back to Miami. I could tell that the other passengers were jealous!
• The movie on the plane was Willy Wonka. Gene Wilder was better! The old freaky psychedelic boat ride was way better. This version seemed very watered down. But Charlie’s Mom was hot, so that was nice.
• Laura picked me up from the airport. We hung out for the whole long weekend. It was great to see her again after being gone. She’s a cool girl, whom I hope you will get to meet sometime. Still, after 3 whole days I was ready to have my life back though. It’s tough to have someone around all the time. I don’t know how you married kids do it! Kudos to you!
• I think she could tell I was somewhat relieved to say good bye Monday evening. She managed to get me out to meet her sister over drinks on Tuesday and then dinner with her whole family last Saturday. It must be serious if she’s willing to bring me home. I brushed my teeth and shaved for the occasion!
