Welcome Home!

I spent a wonderful week in Denver with Ellie visiting my parents. We were able to do a little Christmas shopping, play plenty of cards and Scrabble, and I spent Saturday night celebrating Jen's Birthday while Gram and Grand Dad entertained their favorite baby girl. It was a great trip.Unfortunately, my good mood coming home was short lived. It started on the plane ride. The two year old sitting in front of me wanted to talk to me (and talk and talk and talk) and "play" with Ellie the whole flight. She wanted to touch Ellie, offer her fruit loops, and ask me a million questions. It was really kind of sweet at first, but after ten minutes it got old. Please leave me alone. Her mom was busy reading her book. I love children, but I prefer my space on airplanes. Ellie had a horrible dirty diaper in the middle of the flight. Everyone was looking around for the culprit and checking their own kids' pants, but it was my sweet little Ellie. It was extremely awkward and very inconvenient to change in the tiny airplane bathroom. Oh well. Shit happens.

We landed and were excited to see Knute when he picked us up. We waited for my bag at the luggage carousel, but it never made it. I'm pretty used to this happening to me. My luggage has been lost 4 or 5 times in the last two years. Does this happen frequently to anyone else? I really don't travel that often. I know the routine fairly well by now so I headed over to Southwest to fill out a Lost Luggage Report. The bag will typically make it on one of the other flights coming from Denver. It still has yet to come. I have called several times. Knute has called several times. No one knows where it is. They even said, "it should have come by now." I will continue to be hopeful. Yes, I know they're only material possessions, but I am sick about it. You know that feeling when you've lost something? I lost A LOT.

On the way home Knute told me that we received a noise violation from the Animal Services Department for persistent barking. Our dear Rudy. Not really sure what else to say about him. I think it's all been said.

The house looked fairly clean on the surface, but I know our house well and things weren't quite as they should be. I think Knute may have taken his "Mancation" to the next level judging from the number of beer cans in our recycling bin. It's possible that he may have even hosted a college fraternity party. I may never know for sure.

On a positive note, it is the time of year to be thankful. I am thankful for Elizabeth Clare, who just turned five months old yesterday. Wow. I love her so much that I feel like my heart is going to explode sometimes. It's an incredible feeling and something I can never quite explain. We are very fortunate to be celebrating our first Thanksgiving as a family of three (plus dog) this year.