Friday, December 26, 2003
Reading Rainbow
Today, Reading Rainbow is talking about bowling balls. From a trip to the bowling ball factory, to a bowling alley, I'm learning all about what goes into the life of a bowling ball. And now I'm watching my little brother play Halo, on his brand new XBox. These are the days of my life in Texas.
So, Merry Christmas to everyone!! There was no Christmas weather in Dallas this year, but lots of Christmas spirit (haha). But to back it up a notch:
I flew out of National on Wednesday, arriving over two hours before my flight took off because I was concerned about the increased security. It took me about 15 minutes to get through everything, including checking my bag, so I had lots of time to sit and drink mediocre coffee and read. I had The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and the New Yorker Winter Fiction issue, both of which I finished by the time I got to Dallas. (Lovely Bones was pretty good, although it wrapped up much more neatly than I expected from the beginning. It was a little unrealistic, but I suppose if you buy the conceit that the narrator is watching her family from her own personal heaven, you should be able to buy into everything else.) My preoccupation with these didn't distract me from the fact that I don't really like flying anymore. We were on a regional jet, which I wasn't expecting.
I got to DFW and made my way to baggage claim, since I took my mother's advice and brought an extra bag. I was checking the various belt and had to stop and think "Okay, where do I live now?" Washington, Katherine, Washington. Right.
I hung out with the fam on Christmas Eve, and we went to a great Christmas Eve service at an Episcopal church in Plano. The sanctuary was beautiful, and we sang lots of Christmas hymns.
We went home to open presents, which was also fun. The ones I gave seemed to go over well, although I bought Stephen a shirt that would probably wrap around him twice. I knew it seemed big in the store, but I was at that point of "These are all so much bigger than anything I wear I don't really have a concept of the differing sizes." So now we get to particpate in the Christmas tradition of going back to the store to exchange gifts.
The supersize present from my parents surpassed all expectations. My grandmother started making me a quilt before she died a couple of years ago, and they had it finished for me. It's beautiful, and I'm definitely taking it back to Maryland with me, so it is a good thing I brought the extra bag.
Most of my time since then has been spent reading and watching movies with family. I watched the extended version of The Two Towers yesterday, which was awesome! It's so much better than the theater version -- the characters, and storylines are much more full and interesting. I think we're going to see RotK again tonight (except David, who insists that twice is enough).
The rest of the weekend will be spent much as the past has been. I think I'm having lunch with Liz Rietz tomorrow, which is awesome. I get to go through the boxes I left here when I moved to DC and figure out what I want to take back with me. Sunday is back to DC, and then Kristin comes to visit on MOnday! Yay! and Jessica comes to the East Coast on Tuesday! Yay! (But she gets there so early it should still count as Monday). The big party is shaping up quite nicely.
So, Merry Christmas to everyone!! There was no Christmas weather in Dallas this year, but lots of Christmas spirit (haha). But to back it up a notch:
I flew out of National on Wednesday, arriving over two hours before my flight took off because I was concerned about the increased security. It took me about 15 minutes to get through everything, including checking my bag, so I had lots of time to sit and drink mediocre coffee and read. I had The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and the New Yorker Winter Fiction issue, both of which I finished by the time I got to Dallas. (Lovely Bones was pretty good, although it wrapped up much more neatly than I expected from the beginning. It was a little unrealistic, but I suppose if you buy the conceit that the narrator is watching her family from her own personal heaven, you should be able to buy into everything else.) My preoccupation with these didn't distract me from the fact that I don't really like flying anymore. We were on a regional jet, which I wasn't expecting.
I got to DFW and made my way to baggage claim, since I took my mother's advice and brought an extra bag. I was checking the various belt and had to stop and think "Okay, where do I live now?" Washington, Katherine, Washington. Right.
I hung out with the fam on Christmas Eve, and we went to a great Christmas Eve service at an Episcopal church in Plano. The sanctuary was beautiful, and we sang lots of Christmas hymns.
We went home to open presents, which was also fun. The ones I gave seemed to go over well, although I bought Stephen a shirt that would probably wrap around him twice. I knew it seemed big in the store, but I was at that point of "These are all so much bigger than anything I wear I don't really have a concept of the differing sizes." So now we get to particpate in the Christmas tradition of going back to the store to exchange gifts.
The supersize present from my parents surpassed all expectations. My grandmother started making me a quilt before she died a couple of years ago, and they had it finished for me. It's beautiful, and I'm definitely taking it back to Maryland with me, so it is a good thing I brought the extra bag.
Most of my time since then has been spent reading and watching movies with family. I watched the extended version of The Two Towers yesterday, which was awesome! It's so much better than the theater version -- the characters, and storylines are much more full and interesting. I think we're going to see RotK again tonight (except David, who insists that twice is enough).
The rest of the weekend will be spent much as the past has been. I think I'm having lunch with Liz Rietz tomorrow, which is awesome. I get to go through the boxes I left here when I moved to DC and figure out what I want to take back with me. Sunday is back to DC, and then Kristin comes to visit on MOnday! Yay! and Jessica comes to the East Coast on Tuesday! Yay! (But she gets there so early it should still count as Monday). The big party is shaping up quite nicely.
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