Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving
[Additional pictures for this post can be found on this site.]There it was. It came and went, the beautiful holiday I've learned to love over the past few years, and this time the magical season was spent in Lakeside, Arizona. Sweet, warm Arizona.
I hadn't been to AZ since August, right before I went off to college, so by this time I had definitely started to miss my dear family there again. Tim has, two weeks ago actually, embarked on a mission in Texas, so he wasn't there this time. But Ren and Larry, Kim, Bekkah, Michelle and Nathan all greeted me at the airport when
I arrived on Tuesday the 22nd. My journey there proved to be a little more complex than initially thought, due to the tremendous spike in airfare prices during the holiday week, and I ended up on a bus from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis (6 and a half hour), spending about 20 hours in a hotel by the bus depot there (it had room service and a swimming pool indoors, so I wasn't all that uncomfortable during my long wait), and then 3 and a half hour on a plane to Phoenix, before boarding the scariest propeller-driven aircraft in the world up to Show Low. I survived, and there at Show Low Airport (with its two daily flights) the whole family met me.
We drove to the new El Cupido's right away, to the one in Lakeside (hey, no trip to AZ is complete without a trip to the fantastic El Cupido's, and without having one of their "Special Ground Beef Chimichangas with Red Sauce". This is an indisputable fact.) and then we went to their house. Then I remembered. What's predominantly square, black, weighs about 30 pounds and was forgotten in all the excitement at the Show Low airport? If you guessed my suitcase full of all my stuff except for my music player, CD's and chemistry book, you were sadly enough correct. Driving in all haste back to the airport yielded no success; the airport closed after my flight had landed, and looked more desolate than the area surrounding Sioux Falls (which is well done, seeing as this city could be renamed "the-wannabe-city-in-the-middle-of-nowhere"). We drove back to the house, and I got Nate's room in the other side of the house to sleep in for the week. I was tired, and we went to bed around 10-ish.
Wednesday came. I woke up from Kim singing Britney Spears songs to the computer, and the occasional horrendous scream into my ears in her usual, annoying "Chriiiistiiiiaaaan!! Waaaaake uuuup!" manner. Oh, I'm not exactly loving it. She took me to the airport, which had fortunately opened by then. But, there were obstacles: Apparently, since my name wasn't Monique, and since I didn't have a pink suitcase, they couldn't release anything to me before the airline supervisor or whoever had returned. That meant 3 more hours before I could return for it, so Kim and I went down to Ren's work at the dentist's office, and we all went out for lunch at KFC. Now,
that I can love.
The day passed as all days do, with the normal family stuff there always is, and after taping Lost for later viewings, the day was over. We had rented "Stealth", a newer release, and all gathered to watch it. It was okay, I guess, but nothing to yell yahoo about, certainly not a favorite either. Just a movie, explosions, revenge, air force secrets and lies, uncovering secrets and lies, movie over. Fine. Go to sleep.
Turkey Day - Day of Gobbles - T-Day: Thanksgiving had arrived for real. I woke up around 10, to the sound of a crowded kitchen and the initial cooking of whatever needed to be cooked. I shrugged, jumped out of bed, and got dressed. Ahh, the smell of Thanksgiving... The day passed by going with Larry and Michelle to Wal-Mart to buy various foods; including but not limited to pumpkin pie, apple pie, various kinds of pop, ice cream and multiple other last minute purchases. As it would turn out, this was by far everything, and Kim and I went to another store later to get the precious olives (which I can't stand), and beautiful whipped cream. That evening, around 5, we all gathered around the meal that has come to symbolize Thanksgiving around the world, with turkey, mashed potatoes, bean casserole, rolls, gravy and even a drink where they'd mixed orange juice with something like carbonated water. I gotta say, that was great!
We had the meal after a turn around the table of giving thanks for whatever you were thankful for, the only demand being that your three thanks had to be something previously unmentioned. A nice holiday, a time for thought, a time for appreciating all the good things in our lives, they are so many when you think of what life could have been. I'm thankful for my friends, both in Norway and here, my family, both in Norway and here, getting a good, private college education and the chance to pursue my goals and seek the meaning of my life, as well as all the little positive things in my life that I assure you, don't go unnoticed. Thank you.
The meal was followed of an intense game of "
oh, heck", which I was winning all the while till I was passed brutally by Larry and his ferocious non-betting time after time, and it all taught me to not necessarily be so darn daring everytime, betting sometime close to the actual number of tricks I could get, but not quite. The day was over after this, we had installed The Sims 2 on Tim's computer and started playing that, and then it was time for night-night.
Fridaaay. I slept in this day, I like sleeping, sleeping is great. Ren had decided, and obviously this isn't all that rare over here, to start decorating the house fro Christmas since it was now already the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas tree, ribbons, lights, the whole nine yeards were brought out and prepped the house for December 25th. After lunch (turkey sandwiches from the turkey and rolls, with cranberry slices on it) we decided to go out for a movie. Kim had just started working, at the new movie theatre in fact, so she could come, but Larry went right there after work and joined us. Ren, Bekkah and Michelle and Nathan decided they wanted to watch
Yours, Mine and Ours, a movie in the
Cheaper by the Dozen generation, actually more like a twin brother of that movie, so Larry and I ended up going to
Just Friends instead. And what a hilariously great choice it was! This movie, I'm telling you, was worth every penny. Lots of good laughs, real funny physical humor here and there, a touch of crudeness well within any known limits of funny, and of course, actors like Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl), Amy Smart (Road Trip, Rat Race), Anna Faris (Scary Movies 1-3), and Chris Klein (American Pie 1+2). Great stuff, you simply need to see this one. After the movie dinner followed, a tasty casserole from the leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. Dinner was followed by important previously recorded shows from the DVR, namely LOST and NCIS. Both great episodes, both totally worth the watch. Another well directed day in the Arizona desert.
Saturday. Waky-waky!! WAKY-WAKY!! Early. Tired. "What? Where are we gonna have breakfast? Denny's? I'm awake!!" Kim and Bekkah came with, but since Kim had to work and Bekkah had other business, they couldn't come with to Phoenix. But the rest of us, the lucky 5, cruised our way down there after breakfast, and spent the whole day in the 80 degrees shopping, shopping, and finally, eating at the Outback Steakhouse for Michelle's birthday (the next Tuesday). I had a big, juicy steak, very different from the food served in the Commons at Augie, and just another one of the many meals I'll dream about for weeks to come. We stayed at the
Embassy Suites that night, and first we went out to the outdoor pool and went swimming and had fun, even had a soak in the warm hot tub. Then we bought a pay-per-view movie (
The Island, not all that good, really) accompanied by brownies, ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. Grrrrmmmwaaaauu!
The sad departing on Sunday was a bit early, at 7:30, but the plane wouldn't wait. I said goodbye to Larry outside the terminal (he took me to the airport, the rest were sensible and stayed behind to go back to sleep), and got on my plane to Minneapolis. In Minneapolis (note here that the following can be told in many ways, I choose to not go down the bitter road, or to mention any emotions associated with the following events) I waited around in the airport for about 45 minutes, before eventually realizing that no one would actually show up. I hailed a cab to the downtown area, and went straight to the bus terminal. I was told the next bus to Sioux Falls, 245 miles away, would leave at 6:30 am the next day, so then I checked in to a hotel nearby and stayed there till the bus departure the next day. The bus was on time, and after sleeping most of the way, it was raining at first, then sunny, then Sioux Falls came up, I was met outside of the city by a brewing blizzard that cancelled all the other passengers plans of getting out of there that day. I was just going to Sioux Falls, and fortunate that way, but now I'd already missed two classes and a make-up test that day because of the late bus.
Markus picked me up at the bus depot, and he told me the good news. Due to the snow storm, school had been cancelled that day and an extra day of break eventually added. Relief. We made it back to the school okay, and safe. Trip concluded, and well worth the money. I'd do it all again in a heart beat.
A Snowflake Has Many Sides
Ugh. Welcome Jack Frost. Nice to meet you. What made you come to Sioux Falls? Oh, you live here, huh? I forgot.
Peering out the window before Philosophy class this morning (actually like 20 minutes ago), a white blanket of flurry, soft snow covered the ground, leaving a distinct feeling in me that I had to officially announce the opening of the South Dakotan winter. It did, like this state is known for, never stop either, and I have the impression this snow is going to keep getting renewed throughout the day. But, as is also true about the Midwest weather, tomorrow could even be another one more of those warm t-shirt days, as just last week, rendering us inclined to wear light layers and then, preferably t-shirts. I feel a slight sniffling coming on, I don't know if this is because of my frequent tendency towards the aforementioned light layers, but sick I cannot get. I will succumb to majority's urge to put on heavier layers, maybe even wear my stocking cap once in a while (note: this is the English word for "lue", one of the new additions to my English since I came here).
Philosophy class was cancelled today, the professor was ill, he reported on a note on the door and in an e-mail, and he will serve as a warning of what's to come. I better reserve myself against sleeping in when I should be going to classes, because soon, I just might need that time for some real recuperating.
Labels: Pictures
I'm Not Cold, That's Why I'm Shivering
Oh. LOST has finally picked up it's own torch, in island terms, and has now become itself again. Yesterday's episode,
Abandoned, was certainly worth watching (as obviously 20 million other people discovered too). The long awaited, but surely dreaded, death of a main character occurred, and thus the episode literally shot to new heights, after an action-packed and somewhat revealing storyline. The death of
Shannon, who was
previously departed Boone's step-sister, was as shocking as relieving, seeing as the episode was built up to make us think
Sawyer would be the one to bite the bullet. We also got news of the progress of the "tailies" venture across the island, giving an additional clue to their previously experienced events (which will be fully explained in the next episode, next Wednesday, called "
The Other 48 Days").
I might come off as the same old Christian what TV concerns, but I beg to differ. I only watch 3 - 4 shows a week, including the ones that top my Top 10 List (see sidebar), especially LOST and, of course, Smallville. In relation to that, I need to mention my excitement about tonight's Smallville episode, "
Splinter", where Clark will encounter the paranoid enducing Silver Kryptonite. Fascinating, and I can't wait. Then there's hours upon hours of chem and bio homework, which'll by far make up for my little hour of TV inproductivity. Have a nice one.
I Talk to Myself
I do. I don't care how weird it sounds, but I do. At times I wonder if my personality might be split, since I catch myself saying things like "I DO have my key, idiot", like I'm talking to someone beside me, berating the person for a mistake I myself have made. Maybe my psyke is indeed divided, into a "me", the me that sits idly by, the "me" that observes and sort of stays in the background of my 'official' thoughts, and the me that is talking inside my head (not meaning crazy voices here, meaning rather the 'talking' of my thoughts). I wonder if in any way the dual personalities have different qualities, if the core me, the one 'me' that never thinks out loud in my head but still is known to be thinking, is wholly good or wholly anything, or if this 'me', like every other part of me, is comprised of multiple characteristics, so complex and possibly bottomless. Hopefully I'm not alone in thinking this. Try this experiment one day (how about now?): Try to not think any thoughts, try to empty your mind completely and just don't let the "spoken" thoughts in your mind say a thing. Observe. You still seem to have one more layer, one more unpenetrable layer of 'you' that is observing, a speechless thinking that is directing your effort not to expressively think, that is searching your innermost parts to judge whether or not you are thinking. And this part, most possibly, is our smallest denominator, this might just be the expression of our soul. Who knows, this exercise might have the possibility of making you nuts, you keep trying to get under that last layer until you suddenly just snap, but hopefully it will just be vexing. Philosophy class can do this to you.
El Manzana Grande
[The long process of gathering pictures, this post and even more pictures has been completed, and here I present the final NYC work. For the pictures accompaniyng this post, go to my New York City Pictures, and the more artistic ones can be found at my Flickr site.]Been there, done that. Again. Fall break came and went, and inbetween I found myself in New York City, which for some reason is called 'The Big Apple', with 5 of the other Norwegians from Augie.
The day of departure was Friday Oct. 21st, and the time chosen was 5:05 a.m, to optimize the time spent in the enormous city. We traveled through Minneapolis/St. Paul, and were in NYC around 10:30 a.m. That was breakfast time, so after surveying the 3 star hotel, the
Homestead in Secaucus NJ, we all went to a nearby Subway and had a bite to eat. Then we all decided (note this: 6 energetic Norwegians on the same trip spelled decision trouble from the beginning. Some were distinct 'followers', and more than the healthy one were 'leaders', so decisions were made after very weird democratic patterns throughout the trip) that it was time to explore Manhattan. After a somewhat catastrophic trip to what was supposed to be a shopping district in New Jersey with two Mexican cab drivers, we made our way to central New York City by a bus that stopped right outside our hotel. Around 4 o'clock, after roaming the impressive streets of NYC for about two hours, we entered the Museum of Modern Art. The place had a lot of fascinating (not in my usual sense, actually
fascinating art, including pictures and sculptures. Museums are cool, what can I say?)
This day was mostly devoted to the soaking in of impressions, in the form of huge skyscrapers, a metropolis (love that word) atmosphere, and the huge quantity of people that was scurrying along the many streets. After some shopping (at Quicksilver and other such fine stores mainly) we found our bus home at the Port Authority building and went back to the hotel (note: I'm 19. Victor and Marianne aren't. They're over 21. We separated that evening).
The next day was a good one. Victor and I split with the rest of the group, mainly due to irreconcilable interests (i.e. overly excessive cravings for shopping in the girls), and went on a somewhat different sightseeing trip. We both agreed that the city would be best seen from the ground, that is, by foot, and that we would try to seek out less tourist ridden places. Our trip started out by transporting ourselves on the subway to Brooklyn (across the river), and by walking up to ground level there. Hmmm... That was somewhat intimidating. The whole neighborhood we had entered was... African American. And we were as white as fresh, Norwegian snow. "You're two stand up guys, right here, huh?" a man shouted at us when we passed him going down the street to find the famous bridge located a couple of blocks from where we were. Fascinating, or more like scary. We hurried on to the intended destination, and began walking over the river on the Brooklyn Bridge. Good view from up there too, and it's a sight of itself.
Our next stop was downtown Manhattan, and more precisely a Starbucks there, since rest for our sore feet seemed necessary. After a cup of warm chocolate and a cookie of some sort, we wandered down to Wall Street. Not much to see there, though, just the building covered by a huge American flag, but worth the walk down there. We took some pictures, and kept walking down Wall Street a few blocks. We suddenly encountered something that seemed like a back alley, or more like a side street, and it all had a very European look to it. The exterior of the buildings made me reminisce about my trip to Prague, and the French inspired sidewalk cafes were a nice feature. Halfway down the little street, we actually found a Scandinavian restaurant. Here we took the chance to recap several aspects of Scandinavian culture, before hurrying back to Times Square, where we'd agreed to meet the girls for dinner. Dinner this day took place at Planet Hollywood.
The next day we caught the 10:34 a.m. bus to Manhattan, and our first stop was Broadway to secure our six tickets ($27 each) for the "Chicago" show later that afternoon. We then hurried up to catch a glimpse of Central Park. The girls (collectively named 'the soccergirls', and Marianne) weren't all that interested in the park, so they decided to turn around at the very entrance and head back to shop some more. Victor and I, the true explorers, entered the park to discover (rediscover, in my case, but hey) what it was all about. It was full of runners, joggers, rollerbladers, and casual walkers like us, mostly due to the full restriction on cars in the park during weekends. The trees were still green, the park lush, and despite of a somewhat gloomy weather we found the park to be a worthwhile destination (in fact, so worthwhile that Victor would return early the next morning to rollerblade his way through it again). The show was to begin at 2:00 p.m., so we went back to meet the girls outside of the theatre, and got seated in the okay seats we'd gotten. The show was funny, really funny, and quite entertaining as a matter of fact, something I'd come to expect from a show lasting two and a half hour. When we got out of the theatre, the sky was finally blue and the sun shining, so we decided to proceed to the Empire State building.
After 90 minutes in line, we finally entered the 86th floor of the building, and by then the sun had already set. The pictures were illuminated by the subtle light from the city, but the problem was to keep the camera still enough to avoid any blurriness, even sometimes present at the 'night' setting on my camera (you're probably shouting 'more technical stuff, Christian, more!' by now). The pictures came out fine, nothing a little editing can't fix. We got ourselves down from the massive building okay, but then the challenge of moving towards the bus station presented itself. Who'd imagine walking ten blocks would take us 3 hours? I would, knowing my company. Shopping stop after shopping stop, clothes and shoes and gorgeous/beautiful/fantastic/ravishing pink purses, plus a dinner stop at McDonald's (of all places) had me imagining myself running back to the Empire State building and flinging myself off the 86th floor. But we made it. We took the bus back to the hotel, and after a little party in our room we all went to bed.
'Monday morning rain is falling...' No, it wasn't raining, in fact, but the sun wasn't shining either. I met up with Victor at the Hardrock Cafe, and we proceeded to the Rockefeller Center to see the ice scaters there (the ice rink opened Oct. 8th, and it was kind of nice to see ice again), and the site where the Norwegian christmas tree is placed every Christmas. We walked on to the St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was a truly magnificent sight by the backdrop created by all the skyscrapers. Inside I lit a candle, a nice little tidbit, and we sat in on the very intimidating beginning of a Catholic sermon. The priest, chanting in Latin, and the congregation looking like they were eternally condemned or bottomlessly repentant, it all had me getting chills down my back and swear that I'd never become a Catholic. The whole thing was soaked in a feeling of guilt, and I could never live like that. But nevertheless, good for the Catholics if they don't mind.
Exiting the cathedral, we walked down another side street to perhaps find some fascinating new sigths. Sure enough, there only 300 ft from the cathedral, we found a local restaurant which proved to be a real find. "
The Primeburger", as it was called, was still decorated according to the '50s, and had waiters dressed in tuxedos serving you. You could sit in a group, each in your own seat, with a retractable tray to place the food on. Pretty cool.
Our next endeavor, and this time as a whole group again, was the boat ride around Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. The boat departed at 4:00 p.m. and with what you could call a rather enthusiastic, deep-voiced sightseeing guide speaking over the loudspeakers. The boat had two floors, and we situated ourselves on the very top one, with an icy, strong wind sweping across our faces when we went back and forth between the two sides to take pictures like real, Norwegian (Japanese?) tourists. The ride included Ellis Island, the aforementioned Lady Liberty, the also previously explored Brooklyn Bridge, and most of upper Manhattan. Nice way of seeing it all, the stuff that we wouldn't necessarily have spent many hours on anyways (note: The famous statue was closed and has been in the upper part since 9/11, so a day spent looking
at and not
from it wouldn't have been worthwhile anyways). We disembarked the vessel, and headed over to Ground Zero.
Ground Zero. A huge hole in the ground, but with so much meaning behind it. I won't expound on this part of our sightseeing, but it was definetely worth it this time too. After this stop we went on, Victor and I split from the group again, and we found our way to Chinatown. We walked around for a while, taking pictures and soaking in the impressions, before settling down at one of the authentic Chinese restaurants. After a "Chicken Schzezuan Style" for me and Victor's shrimp balls and other shrimp overdoses, it had begun raining, and we made our way to Times Square again. From here we walked to the stand up club, where we had tickets to one of their shows. The comedians weren't all that good, one guy tried so hard it was more embarrassing to watch him than anything else. But there were funny elements in it all, so it wasn't all wasted. When we exited the club, the rain was pouring down worse than ever, and needless to say, I was dressed in a t-shirt and pants. Soaking wet, like some dripping cat (I miss my cat. Cats are beautiful animals, and I miss my long departed one. Anyways). Around 11:30 p.m. we went back to our hotel and got a good night's sleep.
Tuesday. The day of bitter departure. But not before seeing the last remaining sights and attractions. Victor and I (as always) split up with the girls and embarked on our last sightseeing walk of the trip, a trip that also turned out to be a wet one. It was raining sideways at times even, and the result was that we were dry on our upper bodies (where my umbrella and his rain jacket had been), and soaking wet in the lower region. Cold. Anyways, we arrived at our second destination around 12:00 a.m., the
Sony Wonder Technology Lab, after quickly surveying the not all that spectacular Grand Central Station. The tech lab wasn't exactly as high-tech as we hoped it would be, but fun nontheless, and we ended up spending an hour and a half there (it might have had something to do with the weather, and the process of drying, but practicality never killed the ca... Oh, now I made myself sad).
Outside the sun was shining again, once in a while anyways, and Victor and I gave in to our conflicting interests and went each to ours to cover more things in the little time we had left. Victor went to the Museum of Photography, while I walked up to the Time Warner center to take the CNN Tour. The tour started at 3:00, and lasted for about 45 minutes, and covered all the studios, research floors, newsrooms, the Larry King set (one of three identical ones, though, but nevertheless) and some other cool tidbits. Not included in the tour was meeting the CNN celebs, though, but the tour I joined was lucky that way. Halfway into it we were walking down the hall of one of the sets, and there came Larry King! We stood there waiting for the elevator together, and then he scooted off to his late lunch or whatever. Pretty nice. I bought some souvenirs from the building, and ran outside to catch a cab (yes, it was one of those movie cab catchings, I threw myself halfway into the street and waived the first cab I could find over to the side, and threw myself into the backseat before hurriedly saying "To the Port Authority!") I arrived at the PA a couple of minutes before 4:00, when I was supposed to meet the others.
We got on the bus back to the hotel, got our bags, got in a cab to the airport. The plane was of course cancelled when we arrived there, but that wasn't the comical thing. The funny thing was the way we were told. When checking in, the lady behind the counter took my credit card, found our tickets, and then started talking about our reservation, lik normal. Then halfway into the mumbling, she suddenly mentiones then kind of important piece of information. "Yes, you've got a window seat, non-smoking of course, your plane will be leaving from gate 34, and your flight is cancelled..." We took the whole thing with full calmness, and ended up on a Northwest flight instead. The trip had been yet another success among other good trips to these United States, and New York never let us down.
I hadn't been to AZ since August, right before I went off to college, so by this time I had definitely started to miss my dear family there again. Tim has, two weeks ago actually, embarked on a mission in Texas, so he wasn't there this time. But Ren and Larry, Kim, Bekkah, Michelle and Nathan all greeted me at the airport when 
I arrived on Tuesday the 22nd. My journey there proved to be a little more complex than initially thought, due to the tremendous spike in airfare prices during the holiday week, and I ended up on a bus from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis (6 and a half hour), spending about 20 hours in a hotel by the bus depot there (it had room service and a swimming pool indoors, so I wasn't all that uncomfortable during my long wait), and then 3 and a half hour on a plane to Phoenix, before boarding the scariest propeller-driven aircraft in the world up to Show Low. I survived, and there at Show Low Airport (with its two daily flights) the whole family met me.
We drove to the new El Cupido's right away, to the one in Lakeside (hey, no trip to AZ is complete without a trip to the fantastic El Cupido's, and without having one of their "Special Ground Beef Chimichangas with Red Sauce". This is an indisputable fact.) and then we went to their house. Then I remembered. What's predominantly square, black, weighs about 30 pounds and was forgotten in all the excitement at the Show Low airport? If you guessed my suitcase full of all my stuff except for my music player, CD's and chemistry book, you were sadly enough correct. Driving in all haste back to the airport yielded no success; the airport closed after my flight had landed, and looked more desolate than the area surrounding Sioux Falls (which is well done, seeing as this city could be renamed "the-wannabe-city-in-the-middle-of-nowhere"). We drove back to the house, and I got Nate's room in the other side of the house to sleep in for the week. I was tired, and we went to bed around 10-ish.
Turkey Day - Day of Gobbles - T-Day: Thanksgiving had arrived for real. I woke up around 10, to the sound of a crowded kitchen and the initial cooking of whatever needed to be cooked. I shrugged, jumped out of bed, and got dressed. Ahh, the smell of Thanksgiving... The day passed by going with Larry and Michelle to Wal-Mart to buy various foods; including but not limited to pumpkin pie, apple pie, various kinds of pop, ice cream and multiple other last minute purchases. As it would turn out, this was by far everything, and Kim and I went to another store later to get the precious olives (which I can't stand), and beautiful whipped cream. That evening, around 5, we all gathered around the meal that has come to symbolize Thanksgiving around the world, with turkey, mashed potatoes, bean casserole, rolls, gravy and even a drink where they'd mixed orange juice with something like carbonated water. I gotta say, that was great!
We had the meal after a turn around the table of giving thanks for whatever you were thankful for, the only demand being that your three thanks had to be something previously unmentioned. A nice holiday, a time for thought, a time for appreciating all the good things in our lives, they are so many when you think of what life could have been. I'm thankful for my friends, both in Norway and here, my family, both in Norway and here, getting a good, private college education and the chance to pursue my goals and seek the meaning of my life, as well as all the little positive things in my life that I assure you, don't go unnoticed. Thank you.
Fridaaay. I slept in this day, I like sleeping, sleeping is great. Ren had decided, and obviously this isn't all that rare over here, to start decorating the house fro Christmas since it was now already the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas tree, ribbons, lights, the whole nine yeards were brought out and prepped the house for December 25th. After lunch (turkey sandwiches from the turkey and rolls, with cranberry slices on it) we decided to go out for a movie. Kim had just started working, at the new movie theatre in fact, so she could come, but Larry went right there after work and joined us. Ren, Bekkah and Michelle and Nathan decided they wanted to watch Yours, Mine and Ours, a movie in the Cheaper by the Dozen generation, actually more like a twin brother of that movie, so Larry and I ended up going to Just Friends instead. And what a hilariously great choice it was! This movie, I'm telling you, was worth every penny. Lots of good laughs, real funny physical humor here and there, a touch of crudeness well within any known limits of funny, and of course, actors like Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl), Amy Smart (Road Trip, Rat Race), Anna Faris (Scary Movies 1-3), and Chris Klein (American Pie 1+2). Great stuff, you simply need to see this one. After the movie dinner followed, a tasty casserole from the leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. Dinner was followed by important previously recorded shows from the DVR, namely LOST and NCIS. Both great episodes, both totally worth the watch. Another well directed day in the Arizona desert.
Saturday. Waky-waky!! WAKY-WAKY!! Early. Tired. "What? Where are we gonna have breakfast? Denny's? I'm awake!!" Kim and Bekkah came with, but since Kim had to work and Bekkah had other business, they couldn't come with to Phoenix. But the rest of us, the lucky 5, cruised our way down there after breakfast, and spent the whole day in the 80 degrees shopping, shopping, and finally, eating at the Outback Steakhouse for Michelle's birthday (the next Tuesday). I had a big, juicy steak, very different from the food served in the Commons at Augie, and just another one of the many meals I'll dream about for weeks to come. We stayed at the Embassy Suites that night, and first we went out to the outdoor pool and went swimming and had fun, even had a soak in the warm hot tub. Then we bought a pay-per-view movie (The Island, not all that good, really) accompanied by brownies, ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. Grrrrmmmwaaaauu!
The sad departing on Sunday was a bit early, at 7:30, but the plane wouldn't wait. I said goodbye to Larry outside the terminal (he took me to the airport, the rest were sensible and stayed behind to go back to sleep), and got on my plane to Minneapolis. In Minneapolis (note here that the following can be told in many ways, I choose to not go down the bitter road, or to mention any emotions associated with the following events) I waited around in the airport for about 45 minutes, before eventually realizing that no one would actually show up. I hailed a cab to the downtown area, and went straight to the bus terminal. I was told the next bus to Sioux Falls, 245 miles away, would leave at 6:30 am the next day, so then I checked in to a hotel nearby and stayed there till the bus departure the next day. The bus was on time, and after sleeping most of the way, it was raining at first, then sunny, then Sioux Falls came up, I was met outside of the city by a brewing blizzard that cancelled all the other passengers plans of getting out of there that day. I was just going to Sioux Falls, and fortunate that way, but now I'd already missed two classes and a make-up test that day because of the late bus.
Markus picked me up at the bus depot, and he told me the good news. Due to the snow storm, school had been cancelled that day and an extra day of break eventually added. Relief. We made it back to the school okay, and safe. Trip concluded, and well worth the money. I'd do it all again in a heart beat.
