It’s not quite Christmas in Hollis – in fact it was nothing like that – but it was damn good. I hopped on a plane last weekend to take in the long weekend with Walt, Lee, Zoe, and Jake. I flew Mapleflot and it was a surprisingly good trip both ways; it’s almost like they’re starting to understand that their customers aren’t packing crates. The new touch-sceen AV systems on the Embraers are awesome, and my favourite bit was the warning screen telling me that the show I chose contained scenes of airliners crashing and may upset me. Excellent programming choices for the aviophobes out there. 🙂
There was zero shyness from Zoe this time around, and the welcome smile, run, and hug at Newark was a great way to start a holiday. Walt showed his impresive navigation skills through the god-awful NJ traffic by finding the FedEx depot despite taking the wrong exit. Even Zoe was impressed, and kept the editorial comments on how the roadways were similar to a parking lot and she had had quite enough thank you so let’s go home now to a minimum. The evening was pretty laid back, with some excellent home-made pizza, some beer, and maybe some wine. Lee was sick, but was a trooper and went on the offensive in a valiant attempt to drown the bug she had in alcohol (we’re not sure who drowned, so we’ll call it a draw).
Saturday was a trip to home despot to pick up roofing shingles for the moss-embank… err… garage. I’ve never been in a Home Depot where there are Securitas personnel checking to make sure what’s in your basket is paid for, despite the fact that you paid for it two feet away from them. After it was determined that Walt wasn’t hiding an extra package of shingles in his jockey shorts, we were permitted to pass. The late morning and afternoon was spent taking in some Fresh Mex brunch and a bit of shopping. I was mildly disturbed by the fact that the only stores I wanted to go into were Coach and Victoria’s Secret, but I got over it. Dinner was Chinese Food, which was most excellent.
I missed the Easter egg hunt, but awoke in time to see Zoe cracking them open and retrieving the booty within. The empty shells were passed onto Jake, who happily attempted to fit each and every one into his mouth. Also, good to know, crinkly wrapping paper keeps babies occupied for forty-five minutes or more. Lee prepared an awesome brunch, and one of Walt’s colleagues joined us for the feast, a nice walk, sticky ball throwing, and entertaining Zoe.
At some point we also watched Walk the Line, which was a pleasant surprise. I say some point, because already I can’t remember what night we watched it on. I know it wasn’t Friday, but that’s about it.
All in all, a terrific weekend, and it only took me three days to recover 🙂 More pics are here.
Oh… also, don’t take the chocolate easter egg you had stuck in your ear and put it in your pocket. Bad idea. Trust me.