MMMBopp: December 2008

Notes on flying-- Mon., Dec. 1

Today I was delayed for 2 ½ hrs in LaGuardia. More ON the plane there. Then there was the flight. And when we got to O’Hare? They kept us waiting an hour for a gate. When you pile on to that my neurotic dad’s need to bring me to the airport at 7 am for a 10 am flight? It was a long day of traveling. Here are just a couple of random observations:
· Bose headphones are the most amazing, wonderful, heavenly things ever. I was watching a kid scream his head off. But I didn’t hear it. Nope, just Modest Mouse. I may go deaf. But at least it won’t be from kids on planes. The only problem—balancing the world created by your headphones and the real world where announcements about your flight are being made. But it’s a balancing act I’m willing to do.
· Speaking of which, the American Airlines rep at the gate kept announcing names of passengers to come up to the gate for their boarding passes. But the way she said “passenger” it sounded like “pasha”. So “Pasha Smith, please come to the gate for your boarding pass”. I thought I was in the Ottoman Empire.
· There was a guy across the row from me who was there with his sister. Well, I couldn’t tell at first if they were brother-sister or boyfriend-girlfriend. They were both about the same age. Looked like college kids. They were affectionate but not PDA-affectionate. They looked similar, but not identical. I was bored and oddly fascinated with trying to figure it out. Then a guy tried to take the brother’s seat while he was getting food and the sister said, “my brother”. Mystery solved. I’m telling you—bored.Of course, this was the same guy that had about a 3’ tall muppet. Looked like a poor man’s Fozzie the Bear. I’m guessing he had seen “Avenue Q” while in NY.

Thanksgiving! -- Thurs., Nov 27 - Nov. 29

Thanksgiving! I went home for Thanksgiving and this year was one of the better ones. No fights w mom. Saw lots of groups of friends. Didn't get sick. Really, it was a banner year!

Thursday, Nov. 27- Thanksgiving
These days, it's just me and my folks. So for the past few years, we go out to Thanksgiving dinner. This year we went to a place in Westchester called Travelers Rest. It's actually a German restaurant. I had Jaeger Schnitzel for dinner. Actually, my Panamanian mom was the only one to get the turkey. Of course, she did get the chopped liver appetizer.

Mom & Dad

Me and my Dad

Me and Mom. I look like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man in black in this coat.

The gardens and waterfalls at the Travelers Rest.

My mom's bird-- Pinky. Even thought it's orange. Looks cute, right? When it chirps it sounds like a car alarm. And I got to share a room with it. Awesome.

Friday, Nov. 28-- A Day in the City

Friday I got up bright and early and met Lara in the city for wedding dress shopping. We had an appointment at a small shop that TOOK MY CREDIT CARD to hold the appt. If we didn't show-- $50 charge. So I made sure we were on time. And it was worth it-- they were super nice. After about 1 1/2 hrs. there, we walked up to the garment district. It was a beautiful day and walking around NY is always nice. The garment district is famous for having bridal stores w racks and racks of dresses. And man, oh man, did they. Totally overwhelming. So we didn't do much there and instead headed to our next appt.-- Macy's Herald Sq. I'm not sure what crack I was smoking when I made that appt. It was Black Friday! It was INSANE with bodies. Chaos everywhere. Lara murmured, "This makes me not like people." I thought that at the bridal salon it would be better. Um, no. We had a ditzy old lady who had Lara pick 4 dresses. None of them worked. And that was it-- you can only try on 4 dresses. WTF? It was odd. So we took off, happy to leave the Macy's heaving throng. Much more pleasant was the bar down the street where we went for a much needed drink!

Lara trying on dresses. What a lovely bride!

Lara & I having a much deserved drink

Then off to dinner w the BU crew. I kinda can't believe that we've been doing this for 10 years. But we have. Kim did most of the organizing this time and she did an awesome job. Schaffer City Oyster Bar had a fun owner, decent food, great beer and good prices. All in all, a slam dunk. We went around the corner to the Flatiron Lounge for drinks. No Jaeger w/o Davis around. But shots were had. We were out late but not retarded late. We still got it.

Amy & Theo

A blurry shot of the crew

The boys

Kim & Theo in the wee hours

Julie rockin' out!

Saturday, Nov. 29-- Kickin' it old school

Sat. was the wildcard. Because of Facebook, I've gotten back in touch with elementary school friends that I haven't seen or spoken to in 21 years. We decided to get together at the holiday. I had no idea how it was going to go. I mean-- 21 yrs! But it was good to see that even after all that time, we got along. We remembered old classmates, teachers, priests. Or rather, prodded each other to remember. I'm grateful that some of the crew have much better memories than I. And even though a lot of the conversation was about the past, a lot was about the present. Of the future. It was such a fun afternoon. The sense of rediscovery was pretty exciting. Can't wait to do it again.

The only picture of the whole crew. Blurry and crooked. But we're all there.

Melissa, RoseAnne, Evelyn, Melanie, Isa and Heather. RoseAnne was our lovely hostess.

RoseAnne's fiance has drums. Heather started drumming.

Sisters!

The St. Anthony Girls!

Avec w Nicole & Jim-- Mon., Nov. 24

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Nicole & Jim and Nicole's sister & brother-in-law all went to South Bend, IN for the Notre Dame game. It's Jim's alma mater so I won't comment. But they lost. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get to see Nicole & Jim on Mon. We went to Avec and had an AWESOME meal. It was snowing a bit and Nicole actually applauded and cheered at the sight. It was so nice catching up. A great Mon. night. And a great way to start off the beginning of the holiday season.

Awwww. Jim & Nicole at dinner.