Journeys

We left Colorado in the frigid, wee hours on the morning on the 21st, and made our way to the airport. We felt a little weighed down by our luggage, after traveling so light for my sister's wedding in November. But this time we were bearing gifts, and happily toted out an extra suitcase for the occasion.

It takes 35 to 45 minutes to reach the airport from our house, since it's located on the great plains! We were treated to the beautiful sunrise. Happy, oddly for us, that it wasn't snowing. There had been an accident at DIA the day before, closing half the runways. Our plane wasn't delayed (probably due to our early departure), and we completed the first part of our journey to San Jose in a normal time. While most of the US seemed shut down by record snow and harsh weather, Colorado was coping quite well with the cold, and we were grateful. It seems to take a lot for Colorado to have issues. Snow, or the frigid, 20 below zero temperatures of a couple of weeks ago only slow things down. Rarely are things stopped.


As of today we have completed half of our journey. We made it to San Jose, and spent time with family and friends. Brandon joined Donna, Jackie and me at "The Nutcracker" for the first time. Donna found out that the San Jose ballet was doing a half-version (touted as the kid friendly version) , and thought that would be the best for him. Our friends Chris and Emily were invited, as well (I think 9 of us went!). We celebrated Christmas twice - first with Brian's family on Christmas day, and then with mine on Boxing day. My present from Brian is a few days with a couple of friends in California, *alone* (meaning - no children with me for the weekend)! I can't even remember what that feels like. I'm sure I'll be able to adapt. The kids have had a fill of grandparents, always running into their arms for love or comfort. I've managed to make up for the some of the cumulative sleep loss that happens when I travel.

It's been good to see everyone again, but we are starting to long for home. For our own beds and other stuff. 10 days is a long time to travel. By the end we are all weary. Both kids talk about missing home, but Caitlin is our little homebody (kind of like her mother, according to my mother). She talks about going back to "our" home and driving "our" car (instead of her Nana's car) all the time. She wants certain toys that are at our house (we don't bring toys with us when we travel to California. Both sets of Grandparent's have plenty. Plus, it's Christmas!). We've heard that the weather in Colorado warmed up after we left, and was around 45 during the day. That's a good 35-40 degrees warmer than before we left. We weatherized, and shut down our household before venturing out into the snow and cold. Still, we're no longer worrying about our pipes bursting while we're gone!

Okay - time to stop blogging, and time to get on with enjoying the second half of our journey.