Holiday Reflections

[elSicomoro]

So...did everyone have a good holiday (at least here in the States)?

I don't know if anyone else here went out of town for Thanksgiving, but I must say that it was a rather interesting holiday...and I'm back 2 days before most people will be.

--Tuesday: Baked 60 biscuits, dumped cranberry sauce into a Tupperware bowl, and warmed up gravy for a holiday feast for 30 on Wednesday.

--Wednesday: Went to work, had a relatively quiet day, ate well, then picked up a rental car on the Main Line. I opted for the Mitsubishi Mirage--it had a built-in CD player. Drove 45 minutes back to our apartment in the city, where I picked up Rho and we headed for Baltimore.

While Rho was at home, maintenance arrives...with our new ("rebuilt" is the better term) dryer. Finally...after 2 weeks.

--Wednesday night: Rho and I make our way down I-95. It's a relatively easy ride, although I see a 15-mile backup along I-95 northbound in order to cross the Susquehanna River near Havre de Grace, MD. Get to my in-laws house, settle down, and watch another great episode of "L&O".

--Thursday afternoon: A nice warm breakfast, then it's off for a bit of driving. We head to our old neighborhood in Mount Rainier, MD. It still looks relatively decent. Then we drive through the streets of downtown Washington. Very quiet. You know, the serenity of it all made Washington seem like a nice place. Drove over to the Pentagon...looks like the attack occurred on the north side of the building, and quite frankly, I wasn't going to try and find a way to get up close. Although, I was a bit concerned. There is an exit off I-395 that takes you along the east side of the Pentagon towards Arlington (VA Rt. 110). To be honest, I felt like we were a bit too close to the building. There was a chain link fence up, but it looked like we were no more than, say 300 feet from the building.

--Thursday night: Feasting at one of Rho's cousin's house. Good meal...I dined sufficiently. Stuffy as hell though...too many people in such a small house. It's a pleasant little place in Randallstown (a suburb of Baltimore), but I didn't think they built attached homes in the suburbs. Strange...

--Friday: You ever get into those situations where you wind up bringing things home that you hadn't planned on? Somehow, we wind up with lots of food, an almost-new Krups coffee maker, and a mini-copier. (?! I asked Rho, "What the f**k are we going to do with a copier?" "I dunno...maybe we can sell it," she says. I'll have to play with it over the weekend.) A stop at Ledo Pizza in Ellicott City was mandatory...the only place that comes close to pizza like this in Philadelphia is Santucci's. And it's a lot cheaper at Ledo.

4 states and the District, 3 days, 500 miles, good food, family, and free shit...now I just dread going to work tomorrow.