Sunday, December 21, 2008

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Friday night for no apparent reason, I lost power for a couple of hours at my place. It all happened while I was making my 3rd trip from the car up to my apartment with my arms full of groceries and final gift purchases. You know I must have had to buy a lot of stuff if I couldn't make them all fit in one trip. I'm rather known for my attempts at making grocery bag hauling an Olympic sport. I think my current record is 13 bags in one trip, but my arms were sore for a week after that. AHEM! Anyway as I opened my door on this third and final trip, the lights went out. Naturally I thought they would pop right back on again, but alas, that didn't happen.

I hastily dropped the last set of bags and went in search of candles. Tripping over a couple of bags as I found my way into the kitchen. I lit some candles. I think I had about 10 candles lit within 5 minutes, and so it was a nice and cozy moment, but I wasn't all that amused by the romantic scene at the time. I was more concerned about getting the food put away while the fridge and freezer were still relatively cold. So, I tucked things away promptly and then just sorta sat there waiting for the power to come back on. I waited and waited...for like 5 whole minutes. And then eventually, I called my friend Becky on my cell phone, and she invited me over to eat my dinner and just hang out until I got power again. So I packed a bag of food and carried my little battery-lit LED snowman with me down the stairs to my car so that I had some light. I didn't have a flashlight, and I needed to be able to see, and so my little snowman came in handy. I'm sure it looked a bit funny, but hey, it worked.

I had dinner at Becky's, got lectured about not having a flashlight, watched some TV with her, and then called my home phone and got my answering machine. WOOHOO! I had electricity again. I drove home with a brand new flashlight courtesy of Becky, who insisted I keep it for future use [Thanks, Becky!], and once I was home I settled in for the night with a sigh, basking in the glow of my twinkling Christmas lights.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the new Indianapolis International Airport with my family. We were all waiting for my oldest niece Janet to arrive home for her college Christmas break from North Carolina. Her flight was delayed, and so I spent a lot of time with Janet's cousin Grace, my youngest niece. Grace is 3 and highly entertaining. She and I went shopping at one of the stores, played with her new bear, and posed for some photos with the large Christmas tree on display. I like the new airport a lot. It's open and more inviting or something, and there sure is a lot of entertainment if you know where to look.

While we were waiting we were all rather fascinated at this young woman dressed in an elf or Santa's helper costume. She was wearing a very short little red and green dress complete with ruffly bloomers and white and red candy cane stockings, etc. We weren't quite sure what she was up to. She was standing by the large Christmas tree for the longest time looking over toward the other concourse. Eventually a flight arrived, and she seemed to be ducking down and hiding from the passengers. What was she doing? My sister Barbara wondered if she were a mime or something. She wasn't moving, she wasn't talking to anyone, but she was just standing there waiting.

Grace was particularly intrigued with her. Grace told me that she was probably waiting for her Mom, and while I thought it could be a possibility, I suspected that something else was up. But what? Soon over the loud speakers we heard, “Would Santa please report to the Christmas tree?” Right after that a male passenger walked over towards the tree and was surprised to find his wife dressed up for him. Awwww...OK, it was a bit cheesy, but hey, they are in love, and it's Christmas time, and I can excuse some PDA around the holidays.

Janet arrived safe and sound, and the whole gang headed out for some dinner to celebrate. It was a fun evening. Janet brought lots of books to study over her break, tales of class and apartment life, and a few photos of her first boyfriend named Chris. Yes, my 18 year old niece is now dating. Now that's scary!

So that brings us to today. It's Sunday, and let me just say, Baby, it's cold outside. It's frigid here in Indiana. I nearly froze running to and from my car on the way into church this morning. I came home to a hot meal, and I'm currently tucked in, cocooned in a blanket on my couch with my laptop at arm's length. I can still hear the wind howling outside my patio door. Brrrrrr... Stay warm, my friends!

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