Saturday, January 03, 2009

leapin' lizards

Like the guy in the Verizon commercial, Christmas isn't over for me yet. Today is only the tenth day of Christmas. I found a film blog that is also celebrating the tenth day today. Each of the related entries are fun, especially the eighth day.

Since we still have a little time left, let's take a look at three of the newsletters that were enclosed with Christmas cards we received this year. Like last year, the names have been redacted to protect the indulgent innocent.

These first excerpts are from some married friends of mine from college who like to travel. A lot. There are a few of their trips I'm leaving out, including their annual Thanksgiving cruise to the Caribbean.
While we didn't have gymnastics this year for S., we were indoctrinated into the world of competitive cheerleading. In January we traveled to Indianapolis and in February we were in Atlanta where S. was one of 22,000 cheerleaders competing in the Georgia World Convention Center. There was lots of glitter! S. is also back on the pageant circuit and in May she was crowned as Miss Junior National Teenager [from our state].

Spring break arrived in March and we actually thought about not going anywhere. At the last minute however, we decided to book a trip to St. John and had a fabulous time on this very beautiful island. Next, in April, we were off for a quick weekend to New York to see "Wicked," a great Broadway show. This little excursion included a stop in Philadelphia for dinner at a really cool Italian restaurant in South Philly; yes, we're nuts.

In May we went on a 12-day Mediterranean cruise. It was a fabulous vacation and we visited ten amazing ports. In Florence we spent the day touring the medieval villages of Sienna and San Gimignano. We loved the Tuscan countryside (although unlike last year, not by bike). The next day brought us to Rome where we had arranged a tour of the Vatican. Even though we had been there just a year before, there was still so much to see. This was the best vacation ever and we saw so many wonderful sights and had a truly amazing time.

Within a week of our return from Europe and barely over the jet lag, we were off to South Carolina for K.'s orientation at [her new college]. Not long after that we were all back in South Carolina for our annual vacation in Hilton Head Island, this time with four additional friends and the dog! Tiki loved her first trip to the beach. This Hilton Head vacation turned out to be quite memorable as we took advantage of the attractive real estate market and ended up buying a house. For now it will be a vacation home but we plan on moving there permanently when S. graduates from high school.
This next excerpt is from one of my wife's friends:
J. has now passed the 24 year mark at IBM. As his responsibilities have grown, he keeps thinking more and more about hanging up his cleats and moving to Hawaii... but then he wakes up from his dream and realizes we only have 7 more straight years of paying for the kids' colleges.

Our rental rates are very reasonable for those of you interested in coming to DC in late January. Desperate times mean desperate measures - we've got to do something to make up for the 401Ks.
And this last short paragraph is my favorite. It comes from a relative:
December highlight was a visit to the Governor's Mansion at the invitation of the First Lady, who is also an AXO. It is a restored 1871 Victorian mansion. The lunch was elegant and served by incarcerated workers dressed in tuxes and white gloves. An occasion to remember, for sure.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Krisha said...

"The lunch was elegant and served by incarcerated workers dressed in tuxes and white gloves."

The one gentleman with the throat tattoo was of particular interest. We laughed and laughed over Mother thinking it was some kind of fancy ascot.

1/04/2009  

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