Christmas and Birthday photo fun

Here's catch up from Christmas...  in photos.

Surprise birthday party for my near-twin cousin Madi (age 3) and me at this awesome pizza place -- Angelo's -- in downtown Denver.

My Mom, sister, and me

The Civic Center in downtown Denver.  I have fond memories of coming to see the Civic Center Christmas lights with my grandparents when I was a little girl.

Christmas with my Dad's side of the family.

My cousin Michelle made my grandparents a family photo album -- with black and white pictures back from my great-great grandparents to the present day.  Always cool to see where you come from.  

This is my Grandpa, my cousin Josh, and me.

Young cousins helping open presents -- even though Jackson is on my lap, he's opening Jana's presents (which is why she looks so excited about it).

April, my cousin's daughter on my lap while Jana "steals her sugar"

Family Christmas

Francesca's new stuffed goose squeaky chew toy.

Jana's pet mouse.  (well, she's a middle school science teacher, and it's really the class pet.  Why is it science teachers always have class pets?)  Ironically, she also has a cat.

Christmas with my Mom's side.

The game boys.  hehe..

Organized chaos.

My Gramma usually writes me every week -- and she sends me select comics she clips from the newspaper.  So, in lieu of sending me a letter while I was in CO for Christmas, she put the comics in my stocking.

Wiley's new toy.

Celebrating 79 years -- Grandpa (Dad's dad)'s birthday breakfast December 26.  It's tradition!

The median age at this table is 12 -- and I'm the oldest!  It was a very.... busy... table.  Jana kept saying it looked like my cousins Nic and Michelle were married with 3 kids.

Grandpa always has great expressions and famous phrases -- which we cousins fondly call "Grandpa-isms"

My birthday celebration with Sarah, Anna, and Stephen

I love white twinkle lights.

They're falling.  And... I'm not :)

Stoaking embers

I'm sure you've heard the phrase "money burning a hole in your pocket"... well, my passport is burning a hole in my pocket.

I want to go.  Far away.  Abroad.  Across an ocean.  On an adventure.

The British Isles.  Italy again, but south this time.  Tripoli perhaps... or the Great Pyramids in Egypt.  Chile.  Or what about down under to Australia or New Zealand?  Or what of the vast and seemingly endless possibilities of places to see across Asia?  I'd be open to pretty much anything at the moment.

Too long has my passport been unused.  I've had this itch for well over a year now -- or has it been 2 years?  In any case, too long.  I often carry my passport with me even though I technically don't need to.  Maps and globes are increasingly mesmerizing.

Soon.  Somewhere.  I want to go soon.

Elementary, my dear Watson

Another story from the December 18 trip to Colorado...
(though, this isn't one I forgot about -- just took me awhile to get around to posting it)

On the airplane, I sat next to a guy who works for Nike.

By the time we landed in foggy Denver, I had his first and last name and email address.

I knew that he was fluent in English and French.

I learned that he was developing the marketing plan for a new product line (though I won't say what since this isn't a very private location).

He was negotiating charitable donations of goods to several nonprofit groups in Europe -- Paris, actually.

He's an avid fan of winter sports, especially snowboarding.

He has two young daughters.

The only thing is, he didn't tell me (or anyone else) any of this.

Beware of the powers of observation...