ASK Musings

No matter where you go, there you are.

Danville Archive

Tuesday

22

December 2009

1

COMMENTS

But baby it’s cold outside

Written by , Posted in Adventures

I seem to have dodged many a weather bullet this past week. I got out of London in time to miss the snow (and accompanying travel delays). I somehow managed to be in NYC when the weather was great, sandwiched between two snowstorms. Seattle was wet and windy but nothing out of the ordinary. And now I’ve made it back to my parents’ home, so even if I get stuck here past my return date, it won’t be such a big deal, as I have another two+ weeks after Christmas to get back to London for school.

My visit to Brooklyn was sweet but of course too short. Herman and Kathleen kindly opened their home (and super-comfy double-decker air mattress) to me. After 14.5 hours of travel door to door, I spent the first few hours back in the States getting things in order – finding a US SIM card for my cell so I could communicate with people, stocking up on the antiperspirant they don’t sell in London – before dinner at Chilis and Chocolate, a favorite Oaxacan / mole restaurant. Tuesday (after waking up for the day at 3:45am) I stopped by the office to have lunch with friends and coffee with my former boss, before some final prep for the cookie party. Herman spent the weekend baking so we could carry on the holiday cookie party tradition, which also served as a great way for me to get to see nearly all of my NYC friends. I was exhausted (a six-hour time difference is tough), but I started to feel a bit like how I imagine the grandmother feels at a big family gathering. Content to just sit in the corner and watch everyone interacting and laughing, not needing to chat. Just feeling good being around all the people. 

Wednesday I dragged my (slightly lighter, thanks to the distribution of some holiday gifts) suitcases back to JFK, and spent 12 hours door to door getting from Brooklyn to Bothell, Washington. I rented a car (and managed to spend the whole trip driving on the correct side of the road) and headed up to meet Reagan and Lon, who treated me out to a lovely Italian dinner. Seriously, the theme of the week has been Food I’ve Been Missing. Thursday Reagan and I wandered the shops, finishing up some holiday shopping before I met up with Jeremy for a late lunch (more Mexican – woo!). I got to Jamie and Mike’s to see Jesse, who was not in good form. Poor girl was not a happy child, and after about six hours of on and off crying, melting down, and just general sadness (accompanying the mad cookie-baking and candy-making that Jamie and I were engaged in to prep for her Sunday party) we all piled into two cars to head to the ER at 11 that night. All is well – baby was fine when I left this morning – and that definitely kicked me right onto Pacific time. Friday was filled with more baking, party prep, and just good, relaxing time with Jamie, Mike and Jesse. Saturday I ventured over to West Seattle for time with Renee and Kevan, and dinner with Megan and Mike (who are engaged – congratulations!). Finally, Sunday was Jamie’s party. I hadn’t been to one of her Christmas parties since college, and it was so much fun. I got to see some college friends, and even meet the new girlfriend of another friend (who, I can safely say seems super nice, which means I can continue to honestly say that I really like all of my friends’ partners!).

This morning I had considerably less travel time – just six hour door to door – getting from Seattle to Danville. It’s so good to see my sister, and be with my parents. And it’s even better because, waiting on my bed when I walked in my old room was …

A SLANKET

That item is amazing. It’s seven feet long. It’s fleece. There’s a little hand pouch on the front and a foot pouch on the bottom. Both my sister and I fell asleep in our respective slankets by 9:30pm.

To those of you travelling, or who have friends and family travelling, I hope the weather and the transport cooperate and get all to their destinations safely. In case I don’t get a chance to post before then – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sunday

28

December 2008

0

COMMENTS

Christmas in California

Written by , Posted in Adventures

I made it! I made it to California, and I made it back to Brooklyn. What a great holiday!


Monday morning I met up with Laura, her mother and her son. Last Christmas I visited her in San Francisco, and she was still pregnant. It was pretty cool to meet her kid. He’s really cute and was very well behaved in the restaurant. I was scheduled to head to San Francisco Monday night, but because of the travel snafu I decided to skip it and focus on some good family time.


Monday night we did our traditional drive through the neighborhoods to see all the lights. One area in particular is known for doing some crazy things, and they did not disappoint.


Tuesday we went to the Sharks game – and it was fun. They won 5-0, and we had a great time watching the action from some pretty sweet seats.


The rest of the week was spent alternating between eating, going to movies, and playing board games. It was really relaxing, and just a nice time. Christmas even we had probably around the 15th visit with the Decker family, and Christmas day included some pretty wonderful gifts.


All in all, a great holiday. And now I’m back in Brooklyn, tidying up and getting ready for the last work week of the year! Crazy.

 

Saturday

15

November 2008

0

COMMENTS

Reunion

Written by , Posted in Adventures

Okay, so finally. What two of you have been waiting for. The reunion debrief.


I met up with Jen and Kelly (and their respective husbands) at Melissa’s house. It was really sweet – her parents opened up their home to a few of us for some pre-reunion drinking. Good times. But it did get awkward pretty quickly – a couple of other who Jen, Kelly and I didn’t really know well (but are friends of Melissa) showed up, and it was a little tense when Jen accidentally called one by the wrong name. Um, so that’s a good tone. Getting annoyed that someone doesn’t know your name ten years after they last thought of you? Yeah, dial it down ladies.


We made it out to the reunion and there was definitely a moment of panic when I walked into the (way too well-lit) room. It was just – ugh. Lots of people I hadn’t seen or thought of in a decade, plus, thankfully, a smattering of people I really, really wanted to see.


It seemed that almost everyone I talked to was doing well. People were nice, friendly, and didn’t seem to be trying hard.


And I say almost – because DAMN. There were two women there who were dressed SO hilariously inappropriately. Like, clothing that would make one say ‘oh ew’ at a club. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t ever judge people, but I do understand that people have different styles and that’s cool – much more interesting than if we all wore clothes from the Gap – but these outfits were just hilarious. And totally perfect for the girl who hasn’t grown up since high school.


There were definitely a few memorable moments. Coming out of a stall in the bathroom to find a group of girls taking swigs from a flask, being asked to join them, and doing it. Introducing myself to someone I apparently knew in high school (oops!). Being one of just three people living it up on the dance floor.


I’m really glad I went – I reconnected with a couple of people I had definitely missed over the years, and saw some people I’d wondered about (and no longer have to wonder about because, y’know, eh). If there’s a 20-year I’ll probably go.

Friday

28

December 2007

0

COMMENTS

Merry Christmas!

Written by , Posted in Adventures

I had an absolutely lovely Christmas. I went home to visit the family on Thursday evening. I was greeted at San Jose airport, which is undergoing construction. I’d packed my coat before checking my luggage. In addition to the obvious ‘what if they lose your luggage’ question, there was an unanticipated hiccup: San Jose’s airport is under construction, so they don’t really have gates in the traditional sense. Instead, they just park on the tarmac and you walk down past a few other parked planes and through this big tunnel to get to the terminal. It would have been cool, were it not, y’know, cold.  


Pup pup was under the weather – she scratched her cornea – so she had to wear what they call an Elizabethan Collar. She’s already blind in one eye and kind of deaf, so this added another level of confusion to her challenged navigational skills. Meaning she kept banging into the wall. Which is sad and funny, but also a bit obnoxious when it’s 1 AM (4 AM according to my body) and one just wants to go to sleep. Even better – she’s got some issues with doing her business in the house, and the collar made it worse. She’d do her business, and then walk through it. Good times.


Saturday Stephanie and I went into San Francisco to look at Union Square and have a drink. She then met up with a friend in North Beach and I went to Balboa Park to meet up with Laura and Sean, who are expecting a kid in a mere two weeks but still managed to whip up an awesome meal for a small holiday dinner party. She’s the first of my friends to have a kid. They’ll be good parents – very mellow, deal-with-it-as-it-comes kind of people.  


Sunday we hit the 49ers game, and we actually won! Well, I mean, the team won, but it was also a victory for the fans, who stuck around in a painfully bad season.


Monday night was our traditional Christmas Eve with the Decker family. We’ve been doing it since the early 90s, and we alternate homes. It’s a fun evening, and a good time to get caught up with people who I’ve known for years. It was almost a less than fun evening, as we started to smell gas in the afternoon, and had to have the utility come out and check on it. My professional training came in super handy. “Don’t touch anything.” They didn’t listen, but at least I knew what to do! Anyway, we were lucky the guy knew what he was doing, because the other option was they would have to shut off our heater until a repair person could come out. Which would have been a bit cold.


Christmas day was just great – the parents and sister were VERY generous, and clearly know me well.  The evening was a bit bizarre – watching the 5 PM news, and then a cut-in on Breaking News of a tiger loose at the zoo. Odd.

Wednesday

26

September 2007

0

COMMENTS

Goin’ to the Chapel . . .

Written by , Posted in Random

. . . and watching other people get married!


This was a wedding weekend. A friend I’ve known since I was five and in Brownies (Girl Scouts for the extremely pre-teen set, for those of you not in the know) got married this weekend. It was surreal. I’ve had three of my dear friends get married, but they were all people I’d met in college, so I’ve always known them as “adults”, and marriage wasn’t that odd an idea. But my fried Jen, well, we’ve been through it all. We went skiing together, we went to the beach together. She was visiting me in Tahoe the first time a boy kissed me (he was SOOO cute). When we were in 7th grade we did shots . . . of Sprite. We spent a few New Year’s eves together in college, when we were both home visiting family and didn’t really want to deal with parties. I believe I also helped get her to be able to go to a party when we were 18 where (shock and horror) there weren’t going to be any adults.


And now she’s Mrs. Different Last Name. It’s SO WEIRD. I’m so excited for her. I don’t know the guy much better than I know most people I work with, since they live on the other side of the country, but she’s so happy with him, and he seems so happy with her. It’s just so cool and still SO WEIRD.


The same day I went to Jen’s wedding, I got a message from ANOTHER friend, Reagan, saying she’s engaged. SWEET! I’ve got two friends engaged right now. Well, three.  Kate and Richard are both my friends and engaged to each other.  Reagan and Lon – I don’t know Lon all that well, but he seems like a great guy, and again, Reagan seems SO HAPPY.


Congratulations to you all!!!