It's That Time Of Year

It's that time of year, again. As my family knows, the day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Since I can't make it to Chicago for Thanksgiving (and haven't been able to for a few years now) that means I can't help G-ma put up her Christmas tree and have dinner at Bailey's afterward. But that doesn't mean I can't extend that tradition to my own house (or condo as the case may be).

And in the spirit of Christmas, I am going to post a letter that I wrote to my mom and G-ma in December of 2002 - the very first Christmas I had in my own apartment after I graduated college.

To my mother and grandmother,

Sometime this morning I realized something about the Kunde/Jorns/Groble (the maternal lineage) women. It was more of an insight than a revelation. I saw it, I grew up with it, but I never expected to have it show up in me. The female members of my maternal family lineage possess a gene in our DNA strand that make us embrace the Christmas season with more enthusiasm than we usually display during the rest of the year. When I say enthusiasm, I don't necessarily mean we're super happy, super chipper, let's shove the christmas spirit down everyone's throat type of enthusiasm. What I mean is, our rooms explode with Christmas decorations, our kitchens are filled with a frenzy of flying flour and our homes are filled with the intoxicating aroma of freshly baked cookies and the twinkling of colored lights.

Yes, as I said before, I saw it occuring - in Grandma's house (her decorations and all of the cookies that she would have), in every female member's house in McHenry, and of course in my childhood home. Now, seeing as how I have always been very un-domestic and have never been ashamed of that status I never imagined that I would ever exhibit the same behavior as those who came before me. But, alas, the gene is yielding its head and has taken hold of me. Decorations, lights, tree, presents, and baking, lots and lots of baking have become a part of my daily life this season. Who would have ever imagined that I would bake so much. It's not that I become so incredibly ecstatic about baking (but I don't hate it, either) it's more like this subconscious behavior that just occurs.

One line of thought is that everything we're doing is for the appearance of Christmas - our attitudes and beliefs don't change with the coming of the holiday (we don't all of a sudden start wishing 'good cheer' or 'holiday blessings to one and all'). We may be filling some kind of void that occurs as a result of the holidays or we're overcompensating for something.... who knows. Or (and this is probably most likely) we just become crazy Christmas decorators.
Merry Christmas!

Love,
Katie

(This was just suppose to bring a smile to your face - not to make you concerned about my well-being or anything - I'm not crazy. But at the same time, how else can you explain my sudden "domestic" behavior and rash baking spree during the Christmas season except by concluding that it's something in our genes?)

My New Toy

The Motorola Q. I have no idea how to use it.

Viva Las Vegas!

Viva Las Vegas! Last month Sean and I attended a wedding in Las Vegas. It was suppose to be a quick weekend trip to Vegas for the wedding and reception, but the day before we were suppose to leave I found out that I'd have to go to Vegas that Monday for a site visit for work to meet a vendor we'd be working with for the show. So I was looking at: flying to Vegas Friday night and flying back Sunday night - only to get back on a plane Monday morning to go back to Vegas. Rather than fly back Sunday night and spend 10 hours in Orange County before having to head back to the city of sin, I opted to extend my stay and switch my return flight to Monday.

Rather than give you the boring stories of dealing with a somewhat inept Orbitz customer service rep - I'll skip straight to the good stuff. I was able to upgrade to a suite for $50. That's $50 total, not per night. Upon reaching the room and realizing the bathroom was the size of our living room and that I could lay completely down completely flat in the tub, we were giddy.

The rest of the trip can be summed up like this: Katie spent more money in the gift shop on sudafed, kleenex, vick's vapor rub and chloraseptic than she lost gambling. Craps is our new favorite game. Some buffets are worth $40 a person. The Wynn is a gorgeous hotel. And any place that gives you free drinks for standing around throwing dice gets a thumbs up in my book.