Christmas and New Year's

I hope everyone out there in reader-ville had a good holiday, from Thanksgiving all the way through to the New Year. I've been busy - mostly having fun, which is the best way to be busy.

I met Mom and GraceAnn (my sister) in New York City on the evening of the 23rd - amazingly I didn't have a delay at the airport, as the big snowstorm that caused the Chicago airports to cancel practically everything zipped through Minneapolis dropping only a few fluffy little snowflakes and leaving behind blue skies and crisp cold. I arrived at JFK around 11 pm and headed to Midtown to enjoy a few drinks and catch up with Mom & GraceAnn.

We started the 24th at Bloom's having one of the best breakfasts I've enjoyed anywhere and then traipsed through the rainy (but warm) streets to Bryant Park, where we did some shopping at the outdoor market and watched the ice-skaters slog through the puddles on the park's ice rink. We enjoyed some coffee and cheesecake while escaping the rain, then wandered some more before heading to Grand Central Station to catch the train back to Mom's house in Connecticut.

Christmas morning we enjoyed a lie-in and then shared presents and had some breakfast. We went to Mom's boyfriend Gary's mother's house for a nice Christmas chinese dinner in the afternoon and spent the evening back at home playing gin and having a few nice margaritas. :) yum.

GraceAnn and I left for Saginaw (Michigan, not Texas) on Friday - we got up a bit late and missed the train into New York, so Mom had to drive us all the way to JFK. Fortunately we didn't hit a lot of traffic on the way down there - but I think Mom may have sat in some on the way back while GraceAnn and I were having a pleasant lunch at the airport. We had a few delays on the way to Michigan, but got there in the end. Uncle Mike and Aunt Annette picked us up at the airport and we spent the next two days at the hotel playing games and catching up with family.

I headed back to Minnesota on the 29th and right back to work for a few days, before taking off early on the 31st to head to my friend Jean's house to help her get ready for a New Year's party. She had a handful of people over and we had a nice dinner and played games while waiting for 2008 to tick over to 2009 - I forgot to set my watch for the extra second, so I got there a bit early.

It was back to work on the 2nd and this week for the first full week of work in a while. Now I'm counting down to the Inaguration for my next long weekend (and excuse to swill champagne like France is going out of business!).

Happy New Year to everyone!