Christmas Weekend

Thursday
I worked until about 3:30 on Thursday afternoon. Carrie had agreed to take me to the airport at 5:15, so I thought I should leave a little early to repack my suitcase and check on the airline schedule. Most of the people in the office had also gone home by that time, and my boss had suggested we leave early. Before I left, I checked the flights to see if I would be late. I found that the flight from Burlington to Newark was about 45 mins later and the flight from Newark to Cleveland was about two hours late. I figured I would just watch DVDs while I waited.

I got home and repacked my suitcase, as the main one was heavy with Christmas presents for the Sullivans. As I was rearranging the suitcases, I got a call from Continental that said that there might be a delay or cancellation with my flight. I didn’t call them back until after Carrie and her brother Jim arrived. When I got on the phone with Continental, they said the flight was cancelled. The next possible flight for me wouldn’t be until Christmas Day in the evening. I was a little freaked out, needless to say. Though I feel I am adjusting to life in Vermont, I had been planning to see the Sullivans at Christmas for weeks, as I was not going home to California. This would be my first Christmas away from home since college. I remember my brother, sister and I left for Easter Island and Chile on Christmas Day in 2000, but here I was with no old friends or family to celebrate with. Flight Cancelled. Damn Newark, New Jersey. I heard that there was some technical error. Don’t know if it really was the weather or a computer malfunction. At least I was in good company, as all flights had been cancelled in Newark. Still…. So I called Helen to share the bad news with her. I cried because I had looked forward to this trip for what seemed like AGES. Helen and I talked about alternatives like coming in late January or February. Carrie called her mom and they invited me to spend the night Christmas Eve at her house and the day with her family. I called my parents and in the consolation that my dad gave, he suggested that I still go. I thought there would be no way I would go for just one day. That would be a waste of money and time. We talked about trying to extend the end date of the vacation. As I have just started a new job, part of me feels a certain dedication to my employer and the responsibilities of the job. I thought I should talk to Tom about it anyway. I called him with the proposed end date of Wednesday. He said that was okay and he would work things out. It was very kind of him. I really appreciate it. So, I called the airline and was able to bump the end date to Wednesday. I called Helen and all was well. I spent the rest of Thursday evening recovering from the crying fit I had earlier that evening.

Friday
I thought it would be awesome to sleep in, so I didn’t set my alarm clock. Despite my good intentions, I woke up at 6:30 in the morning. It wasn’t a very restful sleep. I suppose part of it was the excitement of Christmas as well as the trip. I just couldn’t sleep anymore, so I rolled out of bed and cleaned up a bit around the house. I watched a really stupid Regis and Kelly as well as The View. I have to say that Kelly Rippa showing her domestic side was humorous. She has a really busy life with the husband, three kids and two tv shows. Who knows what else she has going on in her world? I have to say that watching her bake cupcakes and pandering to her childrens’ bad behavior was sad. I wonder just how much time she spends with her kids and how many nannies she has? I am sure she is a great mom, and it is hard to tell in a 10 minute segment. There was a cute kids’ chorus which was fun to see, and everybody was wearing pjs. As far as The View goes, I am sick of Star talking about her wonderful husband and the fact that she wouldn’t dream of having sex at her in-laws, before or during the marriage. I suppose it sends out a nice moral comment to all of the mothers and college girls who watch the show (who else besides unemployed actors are around at that time to watch?) I think Babs Walter has become antiquated for the show. She isn’t funny, and does anybody really care if Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of her personal friends? Now I must speak for a moment about the Phantom of the Opera. Some of you dear readers remember the 90s when the Phantom Phenomenon was all about. It was incredible. Women would cry when hearing the song “Music of the Night,” which was the Phantom’s big number. There were Phantom towels, mugs, posters, buttons and I am sure somewhere in the world there are even Phantom lighters. I am sure families named their children after the main characters Christine and Raoul (I think that was his name…) I actually snuck into a performance with Steve S. (there are four Steves plus Steve my cat.) Of course the sneak in was only for the last half hour of the show, but that was all I needed. I did buy the cassette, which I actually have in my car. Why I have it in my car I just can’t explain. I won’t, so don’t try to make me. I digress. Well after that sintilating television, I decided to go to the movies with Carrie and her brother James. We went to see Christmas with the Kranks, starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. It was mildly entertaining, if you don’t mind Tim Allen in yet ANOTHER Christmas themed movie. It was totally worth the $3 I paid. We stopped by Hanneford’s, the local grocery store, where I got things I didn’t need to buy before a four day vacation. Carrie and James left me with the promise that I would spend Christmas day with their family before flying out. I spent the evening talking to various people on the phone, repacking my suitcase and watching TV. The best part about the evening was having my Christmas beef burritos. It is a Borneman family tradition. It was a very pleasant evening.

Christmas Day
I left at about 8:00 to drive to Carrie’s family’s house in Virgennes. It’s about 30-45 minutes south of Burlington. Along the road, there was some snow on the ground (though not much) and a maple farm (which I must stop at one of these weekends) as well as an apple farm (another stop for a weekend visit perhaps in the spring.) The craziest thing I saw was a two-humped camel. It was on a farm with curly horned rams. Oddest thing I think I have seen on a farm, not that I have been to that many farms. When I got to Carrie’s house, I met her parents, Larry and Pat and her sister Mary. They had a stocking for me with treats as well as some very Vermont gifts – a stuffed moose, some maple syrup and a New England puzzle. I also got some candles. We opened up presents and had a delicious ham supper. I left at about 3:00 so I could make it to the airport early enough to check in and relax before the flight. The Burlington airport is a little bigger than the Burbank airport (now known as Bob Hope International Airport, I think.) While I waited for the plane, I watched one of the DVDs I had brought with me. It took us about an hour to fly to Newark, NJ. On the plane, there was a teenage boy who couldn’t say anything other than “Awesome” and “Cool”. I documented that in a 1 minute time period he must have said “Awesome” at least 12 times. Whew! So goes the degradation of the English language. Not much to say about Newark, other than it is a big airport. I don’t know if it is the size of LAX, or bigger, but it is pretty darn big. It took us a long time to pull into the gate. There was a problem with the stairs/passageway/connection thingy not fitting close to the plane. We didn’t have to hop or jump to disembark, but the gap between the plane and the connection thingy was about 6-8 inches. The plane ride was a little over an hour. Not too bad. I arrived on time at about 10:15. I called Helen and she picked me up. I think the air temperature was about 15 degrees. It was a tad cold. We talked for about an hour before going to bed. It was nice to be in Cleveland.

Sunday
Helen and I opened presents with the kids. For Christmas, my folks had sent over presents for me to the Sullivans. I got some pretty great things. I got gift certificates, jewelry and some cat themed things. I got some really wonderful lotion from the Sullivans as well as a calendar, gift certificate and more. I gave them a bunch of things too. It wasn’t the usual Mrs. Han Solo spectacular in the gift department. It was mostly practical stuff. I could tell the kids were a bit bummed. But I know the stuff I got them will be used. We had Boca burgers for lunch and some really yummy chicken thing Helen made for dinner. As it has only been two months since I was here last, it was like only a week had passed. The baby, Mikey, was a little bigger and had only days before taken his first few steps. Joe and Patrick were just the same – funny and zany 5 year old and 4 year old. We played games, crawled on the floor, built a pirate ship, made cookies and watched some videos. It was a pretty full day of fun.