Holidaze!!!

I hope that everyone had a festive and fun holiday season and new year. My crazy holiday schedule was daunting, but everything went like clockwork. Jeff and I did the double this year - we hit both Boston and Rehoboth for Christmas. The two flight legs from Denver to Chicago then on to Providence were a bit scary; it was a windy day and both landing were made at 45 degrees angled into the wind with the plane shuddering the whole way in...these shaky affairs made us a bit nervous. We flew Southwest which I love because it seems like they always get me there on time....in all the years I have flown with them I only had one flight canceled that I can remember. We arrived on-time and in one piece, woo-hoo. Most of Jeff's extended family live in or near Bridgewater Massachusetts just outside Boston; I had a great time meeting the extended family and enjoyed spending more time with his parents. It seemed like our time there flew by...but we were able to get in some great messy trail runs and swam at the local club a few times. I had no idea the number of state parks in the area and was very impressed with the terrain though with the leftover snow and ice it wasn't the ideal time to run there.
After our trip to Boston; we headed down to Rehoboth. I always love going home and enjoyed taking Jeff there finally after he dodged the bullet last year by doing his snow dance. We had a fun time celebrating a belated Christmas with my extended family. Before Jeff returned to Denver, we also visited my good friend Ashley and Antonio in Bethesda and were able to meet their new son Lorenzo who is busy getting big and strong in the NICU. They moved back from South Africa this summer, and it is always such a pleasure to spend time with them.
Then, Jeff flew back to Denver on New Years Eve, and I spent an extra week in Delaware so that I could attend my sister-in-law Cindy's baby shower. During my extra week in Delaware, I managed to squeeze in some good base training around all the family outings. I swam in the 90 degree water at the YMCA, which is always fun - nothing like trying to swim hard when you body just wants to lull around in the hot bathtub-like water. But, other than the Y, the weather was great for running, and I even got to bike outside a few times. I was also able to catch up with my good friend Shan from high school; she too caught the pregnancy bug and is expecting her first in April. We met up in Easton and had a nice relaxing lunch and chatted about her wedding this past summer. She always has the craziest stories - only her wedding inn would have Michael Jackson refusing to leave and causing a scene and umbrella shortage before her rehearsal. The end of my trip culminated with the baby shower for Cindy; my mom and aunt did an amazing job with all the food and decorations....it was amazing. My mom got tons of kudos for her various stratas, her cupcakes, and of course the homemade diaper cake; my contribution, the pumpkin chocolate bread pudding, also received some nice praise. It was sad to leave home, but I was also excited to get back to D-town and my two favorite men.