christmas adventure

For Christmas, we headed back to teh Minnesota thanks to the generous gift of plane tickets from Kevin's parents! Getting there was a bit of an ordeal, we planned to leave our apartment at 930p for our flight that left at 1250a. The drive to SeaTac is about 45 minutes or so, giving us plenty of time.

Unfortunately, we didn't actually leave at 930p... Kevin decided it would be a good idea to park his car in a snowbank. I spent 30 minutes pushing and placing cardboard under his wheels to get him out. If you ask him, he'd say 15 minutes, but he was in the car all warm and cozy pressing the gas pedal and turning the wheel (what man lets his girlfriend push the car out of the snow??!) The actual time was probably somewhere in between... 22.5 minutes or so. I can maybe cut him some slack about parking in a snowbank considering this is his first winter without his jeep and the four-wheel drive that goes along with it.

Anyway, 952p and we finally get on the road. The drive took slightly longer than anticipated, but they always do here where the traffic never moves (or so it seems). Probably get to the SeaTac area around 1055p. Wanted to use offsite parking, but all the lots were snowed in--of course! Ended up having to park at the airport, but for some reason there was a HUGE back up getting in.

I don't know if drivers do this everywhere or not, but it seems to be a big problem in Seattle. You'll have jerks pulling onto the "exit only" or "this lane must exit" areas because they are not backed up and then try to get back over right before the lane ends. It is annoying and slows everyone down because no one wants to let those people back in.

Anyway, we finally get parked at 1130p. Luckily security and check-in were pretty dead and we got to our gate right when they started boarding first class. Phew. Yes, we have had much worse plane experiences (ask us about our Bill Clinton/Snowstorm Madison Departure and our Chicago/Stormy/Next Day Vegas Departure), but it is never fun to have the unexpected occur. Anyway, we made it to Minneapolis in one piece.

We sat in the airport for while watching CNN. Clearly, it was a slow news day because they reported on a water main that broke for 1.5 hrs (and probably more, but we were saved by Brent). We went to the magnet store and lego land where Kevin and Brent built toy cars... then Becky and Eric arrived and we had a nice little lunch. Thanks to you all for the lovely gifts! Hopefully you enjoyed yours as well.

Then it was off with my mom to Mankato. Nothing eventful really happens. We made a vegetarian Christmas feast which was fun, considering my mom and brother would prefer turkey or ham or something of the sort.

We had Christmas at my maternal grandparents on the Eve and at my paternal grandparents on the 26th. We do a gift exchange where everyone puts something in the middle (boys buy for boys etc.) and then we draw numbers. Lowest number has to go first and opens a present from the middle... next person can either take the present from the first person or open a different gift and so on.

Well, last year Kevin ended up with a toolbox. I warned him not to pick a gift that was for a man (pick unisex instead), but he went against my advice. The men in my family are all very manly men--they like to hunt, fish, fix stuff, play with tools, etc... Kevin doesn't fit into that at all. Well, he did it again this year--ended up with a fluorescent shop light... Lucky for him, my mom took pity on him and stole it, giving him a chance to get something a little less... masculine.

It was a very short trip, but we had birdies, kitties, and fishes missing us at home. It is good to be back and now the weather is more tolerable (no snow on the ground and 40 degrees).

Thanks again to everyone for shlepping us around and for the gifts you gave! We really appreciate it!