Lots to talk about this time around.
Some nastyish weather on the 19th, but I got to Karen's Friendmas party with no problems. Mexican themed dinner, and a white elephant gift exchange. I forgot to bring a gift, but Karen and Michael had an extra. I ended up with a tub of potato chips, which I gave to Andrea (and she used for her family's white elephant gift exchange). I really wanted the brownies and buckeyes, but someone else after me also wanted them. The snuggies were actually quite popular, but the real hit was the BB gun.
On Christmas Eve, I finished work at noon, got home, finished packing, and Andrea got me by 1. To the airport by 1:15, straight through check-in and security with no one else there. I then sit for 3 hours because the airport is just dead. There were only about 15 people on the flight even. It was busier in Philly, but I was lucky on that flight too and the person sitting next to me moved. My mom and Johanna picked me up from New Orleans. Unfortunately, it was too late for us to do the traditional CE movie. I at least got to see Emma before going home. Finished up wrapping presents, and off to bed.
Christmas was pretty much the usual except that KC was there too. Something about his family going off on vacation without him. He wasn't feeling all that well, and fell asleep at some point. I got a bunch of movies and books I wanted, plus lots of things I wasn't expecting. Lots of kitchen stuff, for some reason. And stuff from the Netherlands. My sisters went back home, and they ended up finishing the cooking of christmas dinner (form some restaurant) because my mom's oven was on the blink. I thought we were going to have ham, but it ended up being turkey, oh well. Then we watched Doomsday Machine.
Boxing day, my family (and KC) went out to J Alexander's, then went to go see Avatar in 3D. It was okay; graphics were great, and you could see them as real characters, but the story was nothing new, and it had so many action cliches in it. Afterward, I met up with Chris, and hung out with him at Stefan and Andrew's, then back to Chris's to watch him play Beatles Rock Band.
The 27th was all filled with drama. Plans to go to the museum early were scuttered when we found out they didn't open until 1pm. Tried to meet up with people for breakfast, but Chris was eating with his parents. So I got to Coffee Call, and waited in a huge line, and talked to some strange guy who had been shoot twice in the arm, and fortunately he was just leaving as Brian and Linnea were ready to sit down. We hung out there until 1ish, and finally woke Chris up to meet at the Louisiana State Museum. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, especially when we got to the second floor. It was a pretty nice museum all in all, especially for free, and it was much better than sitting around watching a movie or playing games. The best bits crazy wildlife art, the black neighborhoods of BR, and the music of LA. The bathrooms were very odd, and the faucets had temperature controls, but were actually motion sensored, which took us a while to figure out how to control. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack my camera on this trip (I did remember to bring the charger) but I had to take a phone picture of this:
After the museum, we went to the Mellow Mushroom for an early dinner, then went our separate ways.
The 28th, Linnea and I went with my mom and Johanna to the Baton Rouge Zoo. Too bad I missed the opening of the Realms of Asia exhibit in January. It was a cold enough day that many of the animals were moving around a bit to keep warm. More phone pictures:
My mom and Johanna went off to do some things, and Linnea and I went to Poboy Express for sandwiches; their fries were not all I had been led to believe. Then we went to Linnea's to play Super Mario Brothers. Then Linnea dropped me off at Chris's, and we waited around a bit until people were ready to meet at Mason's. It was me, Chris, Stefan, Nicole, Andrew, Rochelle, and Eric. I was hoping to talk with people but it was mostly WoW stuff. Nicole tried to ask me some questions, but she was across the table from me, and it was hard to talk over everyone else. I was really surprised when everyone just left after eating. Chris then watched Doomsday Machine, and it was slightly less tedious the second time. Chris dropped me off at Emma's, and I had some final quality family time.
The 29th, I met with Linnea and Brian at South of Philly, a philly cheesesteak place we saw a commercial for while at Mellow Mushroom. It was a pretty good sandwich and fries (and orangy ketchup!), but a little on the expensive side. Back to Linnea's for a little more Super Mario Brothers, and then home to finish packing. Picked up Johanna from work, and took her home. Hung out with her and Emma for a bit, then to the airport with my mom. One last set of beignets, then through security. The flight was delayed, but since I didn't have to change planes at Charlotte, it didn't matter much.
The next couple days were a bit rough. Not much sleep, and pretty much boring at work. At least the 31st was only a half day.
Andrea and I got down to Kentucky to visit with April over new year's. She actually went off to a party with some other people before we got in, so we stayed at her place alone for the first night. It was kind of nice to have the comforts of home, while getting out of the habits of being at home.
We were all supposed to go to Mammoth Cave the next day, but she was sick from too much champagne, so it was just the two of us. We took the New Entrance Tour, which focused more on the geology of the caves and less on the history. It also included 500 steps and 3/4 of a mile of walking. I'm glad I took my leather jacket, because there were a lot of tight spots I had to squeeze through, and it saved some wear and tear on the clothes I'm sure, but it was also a bit too hot for the jacket and a long-sleeve shirt.
We finally met up with April that night for dinner. And then afterward, we got to meet her two kids, Madeline and Abram, and her ex-husband, Ben, and his husband, Simon. A lot of snarkiness in that family, so it was pretty fun to hang out with them all. We also had lunch with them all before leaving the next day.
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