Welcome Back

Hello from the Nikiverse! It was a lovely break. In the spirit of all of those "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" essays foisted upon us in elementary school, here is a quick recap of what i did over the last 2 weeks. I flew to FL on Dec 21st, went to Ft Meyers Beach and hung with my dad and his girlfriend, Shirley. The next day i drove to Orlando to visit Douglas. We had a great time and tried a new sushi place. He had to work the overnight shift at the Park Plaza Hotel in Winter Park, so i got to sleep in a $250 a night room - it was pretty plush. After lunch the next day i drove to Deltona to visit with David and Kaaren. It amazing how big their kids are already. We had a fun dinner and David and I stayed up till 4 catching up. After a late breakfast of pancakes I set out for Gainesville, but partway there i came to my senses and realized there was not actually enough time in the day to drive all the miles i had to drive. So no Mel and Mike this trip. sigh. I arrived at my Mom's in North Port around dinner time. After much discussion on which Christmas Eve service to attend, we ended up not going to any, which was probably a good thing cause my sister called to say that her ex-husband had just died. He was really sick, but the timing was a bit unexpected. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with my sis and my nephews, but it was still a good night. Mom and i had a nice leisurely Christmas morning with a visit from my aunt and uncle. Then i made a full turkey dinner for my mom and 2 of her neighbors, Miss Ceily and Miss Evelyn. We dressed for dinner cause Mom wanted pictures of us together: The next day was beach day I went to my favorite beach, Nokomis, which is on Casey Key (in the Gulf, of course). I've been going here since i was little. The beach is mostly made of shells which i love. It was a little cold, but i did go in (at least to my waist) Mom and i had a really nice dinner at home and worked on some projects. The next day we were supposed to go to Myakka State Park, but it was grey and foggy and gross so we slept in instead. After finishing several more projects i drove back to my dad's in North Ft Meyers. We barbecued, had Christmas and played cards till late. After a few hours of sleep it was back to the airport and back to MD. Matt picked me up and we spent the day hanging out and finally found the road to the giant woman in the middle of the forest on the side of 95. (alas i didn't have my camera) Saturday was an errand day with a trip to the trainer in the middle. Sunday Matt and I went on a tiny adventure. Some of the highlights include cheese steaks in Philly (he really loves ketchup; it was really hard to get a pic with the drip in the frame) after touring some of the more scenic neighborhoods (we were a bit lost), eating ice cream in an ice storm in NJ and discovering that there really IS ivy all over Ivy League schools (at least there is at Princeton) New Year's eve i went to the gym, gave blood and had a relaxing night at home. Tuesday i started the year out right with shopping, errands, writing a new budget and some home improvement projects. While Wednesday I designed and made the first batch (about 50) of New Year's cards. Then it was back to work. Overall, i traveled 3000 miles (2000 by plane and 1000 by car), visited 13 people and was in 5 different states. It was a nice break from work, but i certainly wouldn't call it restful!