Happy New Year!

Ten years ago I was living in New York, wondering if Y2K was going to destroy the world.  I spent the evening with some awesome friends, Heather and Anna and Emily, and I remember going to the roof and listening to everyone cheer when the end of the world didn't happen.  lol

I can't believe that was ten years ago.  The "oughts" were a pretty great decade for me.  I lived in NYC, San Diego, Albuquerque, DC, and spent three months in San Francisco.  I traveled to eleven countries, did a Broadway show, earned another bachelors and became an RN, went to both Disneyland AND Disneyworld, dived with an octopus in Indonesia and whale watched over lunch in Newfoundland.  I had the pleasure of getting one-quarter of "Il Divo" and one-third of The Jonas Brothers to sing "Happy Birthday" for my sister over the phone.  I saw the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls and Uluru and Angkor Wat.  But most of all, I've made a heck of a lot of good friends whom I treasure.

I have two more weeks to prepare for our Central American Adventure (what a way to start the decade!), and though we are getting a little antsy it helps that we have some really cute kids here in Vegas to play with in the meantime.  Got our travel insurance yesterday, and we're getting the Typhoid (it comes in pill form now, no shots!) on Monday.  We've even found a couchsurfing host for the first three nights in Cancun, which we are really excited about.  I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in Cancun at all as it would be so expensive, but now we have a place to stay and a local guide to give us info on where to go.  CA isn't the best region to take advantage of couchsurfing, so we are grateful for the opportunity.

Oh, and we've already seen three sets of friends who have come through Vegas traveling, so if you are coming in the next two weeks, be sure and let us know!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I've spent the evening eating fondue with my entire family (except one who knows who she is!) including nine nieces and nephews who were all super-cute.  I feel very blessed to have the family that I do, and glad that those holiday movies about families who love each other but are always miserable when they get together has nothing to do with us.

Now to go watch "A Christmas Story" with the kids...

Winter is bearable at 60 degrees

So how’s this for synchronicity. On Monday I had to pick up my brother at the airport, who was flying home from Albuquerque. Then I get a Facebook message that my best friend Tiffany has a three hour layover in the same airport that ends just after my brother arrives. Tiffany and David and I all met at the same time, doing a college production of “The Boyfriend” back in 1992. But Tiffany wasn’t flying alone. A few weeks ago her brother broke both his legs, so is now recuperating down in Cabo San Lucas with their parents (I know), but since he was gone our friend Nick, who was also in “The Boyfriend”, had left his home in Chicago to spend a few months in New York living in Tiffany’s brother’s room, and for reasons I don’t quite understand was flying to Sacramento via San Francisco with Tiffany and so was on the same flight. This part I knew. But then when we arrive at the airport, it turns out that ANOTHER friend of ours, Rod, whom I met just prior to “The Boyfriend” in a college production of “Chicago”, and who now lives in San Francisco but had been in New York doing a show for the holidays, had his show close the night before so just happened to be on the same flight home. Awesome, right?

It was great to catch up with these peeps. Also great was when we noticed how young and attractive we all still were. Until my stinking brother, who had been four years old when we all met, showed up and sat there as a 21 year old living reminder of how old we all actually were.

Vegas has been great. Been getting a lot done, plus are getting to spend some quality time with the kids here. We played darts and Sorry! and judged a gingerbread house building competition. David and I have even gone to see two movies, something we almost never do on our own. (Netflix, baby.) We saw Avatar with my mother (which was enjoyable) and The Princess and The Frog with the kids. Well, sort of. It was six adults and four kids, and we were the only people in the whole theater, so the six adults sat and watched the cartoon while the four kids literally ran around the theatre changing seats about every two minutes. Afterwards they said they liked the movie though. lol

It still doesn't seem real, but goodbye DC

Leaving a city you love, even for a grand adventure, is always bittersweet. Our 2 1/2 years in DC have been an adventure in themselves as we explored the many things DC has to offer. We attended a Presidential Inauguration, studied history at museums and civil war battlefields, and gaped at the grand architecture that decorates and uplifts a city like this. We found hidden gardens, underground art museums, and even learned to make homemade crabcakes with delicious fresh Maryland Blue Crab that replaced the turkey at Thanksgiving. And we both were blessed with fantastic people to work with, whom we will miss even more than the monuments and festivals. Our Central American expedition has our attention, but going to DC was not just a great decision, it was the right decision.

We were so wired the night before we left we couldn’t sleep, so we were on the road at 4am. (Thanks Chrisy for the pancake and bacon dinner the night before, next time I want some more of that black raspberry jam!) With such an early start we avoided any semblance of traffic and were able to push through to Jackson, TN for the first night. We lucked out and seemingly found the one non-fast food restaurant in town, hidden away on a side street, where the waitress was handing out homemade chocolate chip cookies she had just baked. Our motel was notable for having some of the best donuts I have ever had as part of the continental breakfast. Kudos to the Days Inn!!

After another motel in Elk City, OK, we hit Albuquerque, where we stayed several days with our dear friend Erin and her family. We saw lots of great peeps and were severely tempted to move back, even though a move back would violate my own commandment that our next home would be winter-free. The green chile breakfast burrito I inhaled didn’t hurt the cause either. Of course we won’t be making that decision until we come back next summer, but Albuquerque is back on the table.

Close calls

A few of these don't seem real, but who cares, still awesome.

Heading to work, but...

Suddenly everything seems to be moving so fast.  Amazingly, we are keeping up.  Craigslist has been awesome and we've been getting rid of lots of stuff, just down to a few items left that hopefully will go today.  David has been painting like a fiend and that is well over half done.  I work the next three days (trying to cram in as many paid hours before we go as possible), and then we just have Wed left to wrap things up, clean out the house and get over to our friend Chrisy's that night.  There is still lots to do but it is all coming together.

The only problem has been the weather, with lots of rain and, yesterday, snow, which is preventing us from taking one last walk up to the Capitol Building like we wanted.  We were just there not long ago, so it isn't a huge tragedy or anything, but I'd been hoping to make a farewell walk our last week to commemorate our time here, which has been so awesome.  Unlike some other places we've lived, where by the time we left we were ready to go, it does feel like we are leaving here a bit early, and I suspect we are thus going to miss it here more than others.  Ah, nostalgia.

The Destruction of New York (to Rhapsody In Blue)

 

Love it!