Headed to the Big Apple

Here I am, in New York. It is the day after Christmas and the family is gathered in the living room, enjoying eachother's company.

So far:
On Friday we left for the airport at about 8:00PM to catch our 12:35AM flight. We got to the airport at about 8:50PM and waited to get our bags checked for about 30 minutes. There were people lying on the floors and on cots, sleeping and expecting a notice for when they would be able to get out. I later found out that my aunt's brother, who lives north of us, stayed the night there and waited for a total of about 5 hours to get to his gate. It was overall chaos, but we were lucky to have been able to avoid it. Our flight was delayed only about 50 minutes. Everything else went smoothly, except for when the flight attendant woke me up-midflight-to check to see if my seat belt was fastened. We got into LGA at 6:45 their time and I slept all the way home. We got our bags in and then slept for hours and hours. I woke up at 2 and just stayed in my pajamas, watching t.v. and such for the rest of the day.

On Sunday I slept late and then waited for my aunt to show up around 2. I played Frisbee with the boys until she showed up and then watched a movie and wrapped presents. As a family we made a vow to make it to church on time (if not, early) because we were known for walking in after the service began every year. We were ready to go by 4:30 and got to church with 10 minutes to spare. After church we went over to my aunt and uncle's house for lasagna and Christmas cookies galore. We had a good time and I played Nintendo DS & DDR with my cousins. We went home, watched A Christmas Story, and then went to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

On Christmas day, I woke up at about 10 as the second-to-last person to wake up. My cousin Ben woke up about an hour later and we began opening presents around 11:30. That took about an hour and a half with the six of us and then my aunt and uncle (cousins, too) showed up. We quickly scarfed down some French toast and then played and lounged around with the fam. We ate dinner in the solarium (Roast beef + twice baked potatoes) and then Doug (my aunt's significant other) played his accordion and we sang Christmas carols. The youngest (and oldest) drifted off into their rooms and the rest of us stayed up to watch the wonderful, magnificant 2006 Spelling Bee rerun on ESPN2. It was a good day.

Here I am now, on Tuesday. Today was a laid-back-do-whatever-you-want kind of day, and I mostly sat around, eventually mustering up the energy to take a shower and get dressed. My aunt, uncle, and cousins showed up again after my uncle from Brooklyn and his new bride (her family, too) arrived. Today was necessarily as good as the rest of them; I felt kind of...antisocial. I don't know. I get kind of standoff-ish after I'm around the same people for hours and days at a time. Little things got on my nerves and I couldn't enjoy the day as much as I would have liked. I'm feeling better after a little alone time, though.

Well, the family is eating dessert downstairs and Joe and I (Doug's son) probably should go grab some. Merry [belated] Christmas to you all, and I hope you have enjoyed your families and this so very wonderful time of year. :)

P.S. I'm headed to the city tomorrow-I'll talk about that (if there's anything exciting) when I get back home.