Return from Holiday

My last post, on December 5, was written at the beginning of the last two week stretch of the semester.  I was busy writing--I turned in 5 papers over those two weeks, and writing for "fun" (this blog) seemed to be beside the point.  The next two weeks, after the end of the semester, was spent on holiday with my husband in Metro.  The lack of posts from those two weeks were inexcusable.  However, I did have a wonderful time.

I have, however, returned to University Town.  School starts tomorrow, and I will return to my twice weekly updates.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, had good time with family and friends, and returned to work rested.  Thanks for bearing with me.

Since last time....

November:
It was Thanksgiving.  I made a turkey Wellington--crazy recipe because I'm really frustrated with turkey.  It turned out OK.  Then I flew home.

Flying home was great!  The first leg of the flight offered actual food!  Not $7 snack boxes, but free food--a box with wheat crackers, a little wheel of herbed Rondele cheese, and a package of sliced salami.  It included a small package of M&Ms, and another small bag of dried fruit.  That was before the drink cart came around with pretzels, and we were handed an entire can of soda.

Then, I was in Cleveland Hopkins International for the first time.  I remained only in one terminal, but it was nice and airy.  I liked how they placed the restrooms in the middle of the hall, with a corrugated metal half-pipe roofs--it made the terminal seem boulevard-ish.  The terminal even had an area for young children.  I people watched as I waited for my next flight, and it was a pleasant people watching--not staring into a tired crowd moving hurriedly back and forth in a long tunnel, as it can sometimes feel like in an airport.

The second plane was a bit odd.  Typically, on such flights, there are two seats on either side of the aisle going all the way back, where it opens to a small area for the flight attendants.  This flight, instead of being open in the back, had a back row that was 5 seats across.  That is, one person sat in a seat in the "aisle".  (I was seated in the last row, but next to the window.)

I was in good spirits when I landed.  It was about 6 o'clock, but dark my now.  I thought it odd that the car did not unlock when I tried to unlock it with my key fob...and that the light did not come on when I manually unlocked the car...and then that the car didn't start.

After a few frantic phone calls (I didn't have my AAA card, and couldn't reach my husband.  I called my in-laws, instead.), I got on the bus to go back to the terminal (there was a shuttle bus between long-term parking, where I was, and the airport terminals).  I stopped a couple that was disembarking to ask if they could give my car a jump.  They said that they didn't have a jump cable, but I said I did.  Only, when I looked in my trunk, turns out I didn't....Back on the bus.

My husband called me when I had arrived back at the terminal--his parents had contacted him, and he had called AAA for a service vehicle to be sent out.  My car got jumped, and I was on the way home by 8 o'clock.  I drove the 2 hrs home without incident.  The first thing the next morning, I was at Sears, getting a new battery put in.

The following week, I made two presentations.  That week also had the first day of hunting, and the local schools were all closed. I received an early birthday present--a clock radio docking station for my iPhone!  I'm very happy with it.  It's display, sound quality, and ability to pick up stations, are all better than my previous clock radio.  It looks pretty, too.

There were also strange weather reports.  It was 50 degrees and raining here in University Town in the Northeast, but I heard that it snowed back in southern Metro.

Finally, the penny remains.