Hello 2011

Well, Christmas and New Year's are officially over and we're well into 2011. So far, so good, it seems. But first, a recap of Christmas.

A couple days before, Mom, Dad and I took my cousins, Megan and Tiffany, out for lunch. It was great to see them and spend time with them, considering I never get to. It's crazy to think that Tiffany could be one of my students... and I remember when she was born. I=old. But I'm not so much worried about Tiffany, she seems to be making good life choices. Megan, on the other hand, doesn't watch Glee and listens to Lil' Wayne, so we had to have a chat. She has since informed me that she has watched Glee and I gave her some Florence + the Machine, so she could be on track to good life choices. :) That's what big cousins are for, right?

There was also the annual trip to Rum Runner's, where Eric and I celebrate our anniversary because that's where we met, realized our mutual love of piano bars, and became friends. And now he's in Miami and I'm so happy about that fact. It's kind of magical, how life works out... :)

The night was also slightly magical because a dream of Eric's and mine came true. The piano player did the "Bedroom Intruder" song, which was basically amazing and hilarious. In fact, I think all of our requests got played (the serious ones, anyway). Key. And I got a video of it... also key!


Christmas Eve we did the Noche Buena thing, which I never even knew WAS a thing until I moved to Miami. It's also my dad's birthday, so that's pretty cool. The piggy was better than I ever remember it being and seeing the fam was good too. It's sort of a somber gathering these days, with everyone getting older and, it seems, farther apart, and my grandmother being, on a good day, somewhat cognizant. Still, it was a gift in and of itself to even see everyone, and spend time with them, and talk for a little while. I'm lucky that I get to see them at holidays, even though we live far away.

Here's the traditional cousins picture... I remember when Liz and I were the only tall ones in the picture!

And this one might be my favorite, my dad in his new beret lookin' straight pimp. Holler.


That night, we did Christmas at our house, with the cool, new edition of texting back and forth with Steve, Raquel, and J.P. in Texas. It was kind of cool, actually. The miracle of technology at work. I must've been a good girl this year because Santa was good to me, hooking me up with a GPS that will certainly be useful and help me break my addiction to GoogleMaps. Even Bubba got in on the action, opening his present (almost) all by himself.


The next morning, Christmas Day, we drove to the Creek to have Christmas with Mema. It was a little sad, not having Grumpa there physically, but we all know he was with us anyway. Brunch was delicious; I've missed the cheese casserole Mema makes. It's a good thing we only eat it at Christmas because it's pretty aweful for you, but oh man is it delicious. Grumpa used to love it.

Bubba and Kody got along well, and Kody was actually quite the little doggie mode, posing in his favorite spot.

Brunch and family time was great as always, and we did the traditional family photo. I played with the timer on the camera and after a few tries, finally got it right.

As you could see out the window, it was a white Christmas, but it was mostly leftover snow. I think it started to snow a little bit as we arrived, but it didn't snow much on my trip overall. Sad day. I did borrow the really nice camera and I was taking pictures all break, trying to familiarize myself with the camera and see if I could get some good shots. I ended up with this one, which is kind of my favorite. I don't know what kind of plant it is, but I took it in the backyard.

The day after Christmas we had VanCooter Family Christmas. Trash and Gary picked me up and dropped me off at Coot's house, where I played with his iPad and watched the Lions win (what?!) and waited for the rest of the VanCooters to arrive. We went for hibachi, which is becoming a tradition, and then we went to the Wayne County Festival of Lights. Here we are at dinner...

And here are some of the lights:

The festival of lights was at a park. Basically, the displays were set up throughout the park, and we drove through and looked at all of them, oohing and ahhing at the elves playing baseball, the brontosaurus eating leaves, the elves skiing, and the tall Advent candles in a wreath. It was actually pretty cool, but extremely difficult to photgraph, even with a fancy dancy camera. After the lights in the park, we went out to Livonia to the house of some people who love Jesus so much they have a huge light show every year that goes along with music. Most of this music is of the Christian Christmas variety (I dig) but when we got there, the show happened to be almost over and the song playing was "Happy Birthday Jesus" which is even worse than you imagine it to be. Anyway, it was still pretty cool to see. I imagined all the other people in the neighborhood, thinking their lights were awesome, and then realizing... fail. The House family (yes, we went to the Houses' house) wins.

After Christmas, I went shopping at the Howell outlets with my mom and dad, where I got some work clothes. The key is that I could buy short-sleeved spring stuff because I live in Miami where I can still wear them. KEY! I also got to see Bob for a bit, 'cause he came to Lansing one day. We went to Beaner's, excuse me, Bigby (lame) and chatted. It was necessary that we catch up, so I'm glad we got a chance to.

I also saw a couple of movies over my break, namely Black Swan and Tangled. was super intense and I'm not sure I "liked" it, per se, but as a work of art, as a film, it was pretty spectacular. It was well acted, well directed, well filmed. The story was interesting; it all worked. I'm just not sure it worked for ME. I do love some Natalie Portman, though, so that aspect was a win. Tangled was super cute, and I love fairy tales where the princess saves herself, or even saves the prince. I think that's how fairy tales should be anyway--instead of teaching little girls to wait for Prince Charming to save them, they should save themselves and hope Prince Charming can keep up. If he can't, peace out princey.

I came back to Miami the 30th, in order to spend NYE here. Michigan New Year's just doesn't cut it, probably because everyone I'd want to spend it with there is so spread out, or visiting people because they also have time off, that Miami is just a better choice. This year, a friend had a party at his place, and I headed there. It was a small gathering, but the new year came anyway, and the ball dropped, and champagne was drunk, and merriment was made. I meant to take pictures of the evening, but somehow ended up without any. Fail. But I suppose all I wanted was to ring in the new year with people who make me smile, and I certainly did that. Let's hope my year is filled with such a gift.

Much love.