Another week, another year

Dear Blog,

I have to update you on so much, so let me start with Christmas Eve. Juan and I decided to make a turkey for Christmas Eve, since we didn't get to have one for Thanksgiving. It was our first time cooking a turkey, and it turned out okay. We had to buy a turkey that had already been smoked, so I think that ended up making it a little dry. We also made mashed potatoes and asparagus. After we ate dinner, we went to mass at the cathedral in the Zocalo, which was cool. Everyone brought their baby Jesuses to be blessed by the Cardinal.

On Christmas Day, I got up around 8 and packed for my trip. Juanty took me to the airport, and my flight and everythin went smoothly and landed on time. I flew into Charlotte cause it was cheaper and my dad came to pick me up, but his car was having problems. We got a couple of miles from the airport and the transmission died, so we had to call AAA. They came pretty quickly, and our driver shared a wonderful Christmas story with us. He told us about how there was a human skull discovered right by where we were stranded. After he picked us up, he drove the car to a shop and dropped us off at a nearby Hilton. Poppy (my dad's new name as a grandfather) really wanted to buy a movie on pay-per-view, so he settled on "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl," which I thought was a strange choice for a 59 year old man, but it was a good movie.

The day after Christmas was spent dealing with the car mostly. We got it towed to Columbia, so my dad and I rode in the tow truck down to South Carolina. Our driver was an interesting character named Gary, a true Texan. He enlightened us about the wonderful world of the rodeo, everything from calf-roping to bull-riding to bronco-riding. When we got to Columbia, we finally got a rental car and headed further south to Ridgeland and got there around 6 p.m., a full day after my arrival. Marc, Perri, Mar, Lil' Bro, Manning, Bailey, Ernie, and Big Nasty all greeted us. It was like walking into an animal shelter. I was excited to meet Lil' Bro, who reminded me of a little piglet. He has a tiny little head and skinny legs, but he has a little piggy body--he was so cute.

When I got there, Marc and Perri gave me and the Mar a framed picture of Bailey and Manning, which I thought was a little strange, until I read the dogs' thought bubbles, which indicated that Marc and Perri are having a girl. I love how Marc and Perri like to break news to people--instead of just telling people their news, they give little clues and hints.

The day after the day after Christmas, we saw two movies in the theatre, 'Marley and Me' and 'Doubt.' I read the book 'Marley and Me' and knew what to expect, but my family of dog lovers was a little traumatized by the ending. My entire family wept, and there was a child in the audience that is probably still weeping--it's just that kind of movie. We watched 'Doubt' right after, which was really good. I had seen the play with Gretchen, and I think I like it better as a play, but it was still a great movie with great acting. After all the movie madness, we went to Target, and I bought gifts and dog treats and movies--oh my! Then, we ate at Outback and went home. When we got home, we opened gifts. It was good to hang out with the family, although we missed Erin and Ambie and Makayla...oh yeah, and Juan.

The day after the day after the day after Christmas, we bummed around the house and watched movies. It took us still 6 o'clock in the evening to decide to do something. We ended up eating at the local Mexican restaurant. It may seem surprising that I wanted Mexican food, but you really don't get good chips and salsa down here in Mexico.

The next day--I'm not really sure what day it was--Marc and Perri left early in the morning. Lil' Bro, my bedmate, woke me up when they left, so I got to say goodbye. My dad came down with some sort of flu/bad cold/constipation sickness, so he stayed in bed all day. The Mar and I went to Savannah to go shopping. I finally got to eat Chick-Fil-A...mmm. I also got to use up some of my giftcards, and my mom bought me some clothes for Christmas. We had a good time chatting and shopping, and we walked more than ten thousand steps, which I was able to track using my new pedometer.

The next day was Tuesday, December 30, the day before my departure. My dad's appetite returned, which meant he was feeling a lot better. I packed up my bags, and me and the folks and Lil' Bro headed to Columbia, SC. I got a little tour of downtown Columbia, and we ate a restaurant in the old train station. I know I give Columbia a hard time, but it wasn't so bad. After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble, and I bought a bunch of books to read.

Yesterday morning, we got up at 5 a.m. and headed back up to Charlotte International Airport. My flight left about an hour and a half late, so I got to Mexico City around 2 p.m. Juan was there to greet me and Monty was waiting in the car. It was good to see my little men. After spending so much time with neutered dogs, Monty's balls looked weird to me. I can't wait to have them cut off.

I was pleasently surprised when I got home. Juan had cleaned the entire apartment, and he had taken down our second tree, which was super dry (something about Mexico kills trees after about a week). We went out to dinner around 7, but we had to search for a restaurant that was open. Apparently, in Mexico, people don't begin eating dinner till 11 on New Year's Eve, so none of the restaurants were even open yet. We finally found a restaurant in the J.W. Marriott and ate there. After dinner, we went home and celebrated when the east coast celebrated. I went to bed at about 11:30, Mexico time. Hopefully, 2009 will be a good year.

Happy New Year, Blog!

Love,
Jenny en la ciudad