2004-01-09 - 2:30 p.m. - Christmas '03 memories

I spent two weeks back East for the holidays, and here are my highlights in no particular order:

* Visiting with family and friends

This one is a no-brainer for me, but I guess I’m lucky that way. Many people dread doing the family visits over the holidays, but I get along great with my family. Perhaps it’s because I live 3000 miles away and it’s a novelty when I’m there visiting. Nevertheless, I love hanging out with my siblings and their partners as well as my four wonderful nieces. It’s also great spending some time with my parents and enjoying how they are settling into their retirement years so nicely. Given that I have only one living aunt, uncle and grandmother along with one first cousin and her husband, it’s pretty easy to get some nice quality time with all of them. I didn’t get to see as many friends as I normally do this time ‘round, but I’d rather have longer visits with fewer people than short, rushed visit with everyone.

* Helping my sister and brother-in-law be Santa Claus for their three girls.

I went over on Christmas Eve to help my sister get things organized for the family Christmas dinner she was hosting. My three nieces were very excited for Santa Claus to come. Jenna, the youngest one (3 yrs old), decided to eat a piece of the brownie they were leaving Santa, and the middle one, Kathryn, (5 yrs old) announced it to everyone. My sister jokingly said that Jenna would be getting a rock for Christmas. Unfortunately, Jenna didn’t catch the humor and sarcasm and broke out in tears,"I don’t want a rock"… It was all we could do not to laugh as her father comforted her and assured her that Santa would not leave a rock. Kathryn was afraid the reindeer would go into her bedroom and wouldn’t fall asleep until her dad assured her that the reindeer stayed outside and Santa himself didn’t have time to poke his nose into children’s bedrooms since he’s so busy and on a tight time schedule. I didn’t know this whole Santa thing could be so traumatic! Paige, (7 yrs old) left a note for Santa that I got to respond to in fancy print. I also got to set up the Barbie pool that went along with the Barbie hotel that my sister and brother-in-law got to set up. It was a special treat to help be Santa and I’m so grateful my sister and brother-in-law shared that experience with me.

* Playing with my other niece, Sarah, on her birthday

My brother’s little girl’s birthday is the day after Christmas. I had spent Christmas night at their house after a wonderful day and dinner at my sister’s. My brother and sister-in-law recently moved and were having an open house on the Sat. after Christmas. I said I’d play with Sarah while they got things ready for their party. We all had a birthday lunch for Sarah (her kids party was on Sun.) and she and I spent the afternoon playing. We made a cake in her Easy-Bake Oven that I had never used before. It was quite fun and interesting how it bakes just by a heated light bulb. We stuck a candle in it after frosting it and sang Happy Birthday to Sarah who then enjoyed her first Easy-Bake Oven cake. It was great to spend time with her since we didn’t get as much time together during my summer visit.

* Chocolate Marteeni’s

I know it’s spelled martini, but when you’re on chocolate martini #2, you can’t help but smile and say, marteeeeeeeeeni. I had my first one ever last year at a place called Viva (next to the Paragon), and I was determined to go back and have another one again this year. My sister and I went on my last night there and we had a great conversation and a couple of martinis – a dark chocolate one and a light one – both awesome in my book.

* Finding Nemo

I finally got to see it! My students have all been telling me about it and I said it would be a goal of mine to see it during break, which I did. Ellen DeGeneres’ singing voice for Fin’s "whale speak" had me laughing out loud hysterically.

* New York, New York

My best friend who lives in CT and I along with her husband and 5 year old twins spent the Monday after Christmas in NYC. I hadn’t been there in years and it was probably the highlight of my trip aside from just visiting with my family. We went to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show that features the Rocketts – they are just AWESOME! I loved the show – 90 minutes of pure magic. It’s amazing how the orchestra slides out from backstage and then slowly drops into the pit. Later on, they rise again and slide to the back while out of the pit comes a small ice rink with skaters! My favorite Rockett number had to be the Toy Soldiers and when they all fell down like dominoes. The costumes were fabulous – I was very impressed with the whole show. They ended with the telling of Christ’s birth and even had camels and sheep on the stage at one point when the shepherds and wise men were visiting the Christ child. To describe the show in two words – just perfect.

We had lunch at a Mexican place and then went to Rockahfellah Centah (to spell it how it’s said from where I’m from). Given that there was a 2.5 hour wait to go ice skating, we took some photos of the rink and the Christmas tree and then went over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral which was very impressive. It was also packed as was the rest of the city. It was 50+ degrees and sunny in December – just gorgeous, so everyone was out walking – and the sidewalks were packed with pedestrians. We took the subway to the World Trade Center stop and spent some time on the viewing platform that they’ve made into a temporary memorial until they decide exactly what they’ll do there. (Maybe they’ve already decided and I’m just not up on the news.) It was quite moving. They have a list of the heroes – all the firefighters who died in the twin towers on 9/11. They also gave a historical perspective of the WTC via pictures they have hanging on a fence that completely surrounds the whole perimeter of the area where the twin towers once stood. A cross-beam of one of the towers still stands, and is just that – a cross. The contrast of the atmosphere is quite interesting. On the sidewalk along the fence surrounding the perimeter, everyone is reading the signs, talking in hushed tones and being reflective. When you step off the sidewalk, you have the hustle and bustle of NYC - traffic, city workers walking at a brisk pace, more animated conversations…amidst such a tragedy, life goes on…

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