Whirlwind holiday

Here's the brief rundown of the "Arranging your lamp" family trip to NC for Christmas. This post is sponsored by Xanax, palindromic alleviator of Pteromerhanophobia.

K and I took the redeye to Dulles on Friday, connecting to RDU at about lunchtime. Many people at SFO were trying to reach Denver and were being told that they probably wouldn't get there. Funny how it sometimes takes a holiday blizzard a time zone away to remind us how interdependent we are these days. Anyway, it was a sad scene, and I hope they found a way home.

Our first Triangle stop was K's father's house, for a celebration with that side of the family. From there, we headed to K's mom's farm, for another great family visit. Christmas Eve at the Advocate was beautiful; a reminder that I really do like church. It was great to see a bunch of people we've missed, at least those who were not in MS. Church was followed by the traditional dinner at a Japanese steak house- always good times. While there, I ordered bourbons for K and myself. After about 10 minutes, we noticed a fly in my bourbon, and five (5!) in K's. Back at the bar, the bartender asked what bourbon I had ordered. Knob Creek. His reply: "Knob Creek? No wonder." My reply: "Why do you keep a bottle at your bar if you know it's slap full of insects?" He had no answer, but I was happy to return to the table carrying a couple of drams of the bourbon for which I am an ambassador.

After a fine Christmas morning and brunch with K's family, we headed to the 'boro, center of hotness, to visit my folks. We had a good time with them, including checking out the new 'boro hotness, which consists of hanging a ton of lighted balls in trees, turning the whole neighborhood into something out of a sci-fi movie. Almost certainly not unique to Greensboro, but very cool. Enjoy.


The trip home was highlighted by a 2-hour delay at O'Hare caused by a diaper lodged in the plane's plumbing system. A device called the Super Sucker was summoned, and was partially effective. We made the flight to San Francisco with only half of the lavatories fully operational. My good friend S generously picked us up at the airport, and we returned home to our cats, our bed, and our sweet-ass new TV.