Well as you may have guessed/noticed, I definitely did not blog since my last post proclaiming my return to Maryland. Now that I have returned to Oregon, let's get this party started once again!
Speaking of parties, Thanksgiving weekend was the party of the century - or at least the month. With Janae being with me, we had a lot of stuff to fit in. AND BOY DID WE. Four full days of fun and frivolity.
It all started on Tuesday after squeezing in two hours of work before our flight - I'm nothing if not a dedicated employee. Smooth flights on Alaska Air, which has dramatically improved its planes. They have electrical sockets on the back of each seat. Amaaaaazingggg. And there seemed to be extra room in each row. I was comfortable in the middle seat. Uh what? Yeah, it was pleasant. As pleasant as you can be riding bitch on a plane.
We got in late on Tuesday night, and by the time we got our luggage and to our hotel (so graciously taken care of for us by blinding brilliant lights from heaven) all we could do was get crappy late night delivery.
Wednesday was full of catching up - with people and with time. We awoke early to a sorry excuse for snowfall and enjoyed lunch with former coworkers. It was great to catch up on gossip and what's changed and to be reminded how glad I am that I no longer work there. After that we decided that we had not yet adjusted to east coast time. We proceeded to take a three-hour nap. Definitely the right decision. We awoke with enough time to get ready for our dinner plans. We spent the evening at the Hajjars, shoving food and alcohol down our gullets.
Thanksgiving Day was as usual spent at my aunt's house so Janae could meet her and my grandmother. My dad was also there too, gimpy as he's ever been. He's got some spinal issues that require a Wolverine-like rehabilitation process. But like the rest of us, at least he can still eat. And boy did we. My aunt went all-out with this meal. It probably would have won an award on Top Chef. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry concoctions, pear salad, and my personal favorite, Irish potato soup. Oh my gosh. You wish you had more stomachs. And then for dessert was carrot cake and apple pie. Two of my favorites. WHY CAN'T I FIT IT ALL? Not to mention afterward we head back to Bethesda to stay at Owen's apartment and proceed to drink loads of beer and alcohol. I was just hoping that the stuffing would act as a giant sponge that refused to expand. Anyway, 6 hours later at 4am, we decided we should stop and get some rest.
It turns out rest meant sleeping until 2pm. We just couldn't wake up, okay? It's like the 4 lbs. of food I ate on Thursday were hanging from my eyelids instead of sitting in my stomach. We went out and got some breakfast at about 4:30pm. Prime time if you ask me. We got ourselves a nice little base coat for what was going to end up being EpicFest 2014 later that night. See, I hadn't been back east in six months. We had to make up for lots of lost time here! Anyway, we went to the gold ol' watering hole that I used to fancy for happy hour: a little place called the Barking Dog.
The night was nothing short of cray cray. It's the most fun I've had in a long time. I am humbled and honored that so many people showed up to celebrate friends and livers! I know Janae really enjoyed meeting everyone, and from everything we can tell, everyone is REALLY happy for me (and us). I know. I did pret-ty well for myself. Thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm. I wish I had more time to talk to everyone. It's never enough time. Just know that I soaked up all those precious minutes. And despite the fact that I completely blacked out at the end of night, I remember talking to all of you. Like I said it was just a complete blast, and I think we should do it again soon. Maybe I'll remember eating an entire plate of late-night food afterwards. Maybe I'll interpretive dance to a different song.
Saturday was Half-Dead Day. We spent the whole day recovering. A nice greasy lunch with the Jelens and then coffee and dinner with people we didn't see the night before. The only problem with Saturday was that we knew our trip was coming to an end, as our flight was at 8am Sunday morning. As much as we tried to sip on beers on Saturday night watching football games, my body just wouldn't take it. This ain't a decade ago. Anyhow, we reluctantly but safely got on our flight heading back west. We took Spirit Airlines again, which if you recall, is the Satan's asshole of aviation. Both our flights were delayed (not by much mind you) and we had a 5 hour layover in Las Vegas. I'm convinced that they only have 40 planes for their entire service area. That is the only explanation for the fact that they can't get anything done in a reasonable amount of time. To numb the pain of 5 hours in an airport, we found a little sports bar in the terminal and I watched the early NFL games whilst spending $8 per beer. But hey, we were still on vacation. All in all, Spirit was way better this time around. Still doo-doo, but less stinky doo-doo.
We got back to Portland without incident after a 16 hour travel day. But those 16 hours were totally worth the four scrumtralescent days we spent in good ol' MoCo. Once again, thanks to Owen for the accommodations and thanks to everyone who made an effort to come see us and/or to meet Janae. We scratched a lot of people off the list! Anyway, Maryland, I don't know exactly when we will be back, but when we do return, it will yet again be as epic as a brand new Star Wars trailer. Sorry for my lack of pictures. My phone is not cooperating. See ya soon!
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