Thanksgiving break was nice. I procrastinated Wednesday night and didn't start packing until around 11:30, which meant that I got about 4 hours of sleep before the flight. Oops. Our trip out to DC took forever due to a delayed flight, an occupied gate at Regan National (our plane had to sit and wait for 20 minutes before the other plane left), and a broken baggage claim carousel. After getting up at 5:00 that morning we finally made it to Jillene's house around 2:30 pm. We had "The Dinner" around 4 and then I crashed on the sofa for about an hour....I just couldn't help it! It ended up being one of those nights where you look at the time and say "it's only 7pm?? It feels like it's 10!". Dad had rented a bunch of old movies, so we watched "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (which brought my dad to tears--he's a softy) and a "classic" Burt Lancaster movie called "Come Home, Little Sheba". Yeeaaahhhh.
Friday was a beautiful day in DC! Dad took us for a tour of the Pentagon and I must say that it is a pretty impressive building. We saw the memorial for the people killed on 9/11 and looked at all of the history displays scattered through the halls. The place is a mini museum! We saw his office and met a co-worker or two. No windows, though. Then back to the house for leftovers and more movies--dad went modern on us for Friday night's selection and we watched "Dirty Filthy Love" and "Modigliani". Jess and Lydia (Jillene's daughter) went to see the new Harry Potter and get this, they left before it was even over!! I'm glad I didn't go with them otherwise we would have had some words in the theater. I was dying to see "Rent" but didn't have the opportunity....maybe when Katie's in town.
We actually braved the mall on Saturday. My dad is one of those people who gets super impatient very easily, so it was a TON of fun for him : ) I joke that he was meant to be a NYC cab driver because he honks at other drivers for no reason at all. No joke, the half hour I was in the car with him he honked at least 5 times. It drives me NUTS!! At the mall Jillene and I went into a total of 4 stores and according to my dad it was "The Longest Mall Trip EVER". We take his complaining with a grain of salt. He was sulking during the car ride back to Jillene's: after surfing the radio stations and changing CDs several times he had to listen to HIS music (smooth jazz, which sounded a lot like the weather channel) despite my and Jillene's protests. My response was "well, you didn't have to come along, now did you?" He did some more grumbling. Ah, if only I had the money to buy stuff--window shopping makes me depressed, that's why I avoid the mall if I can't buy anything. I'll be a shopping fiend after I get gift cards at Christmas. Saturday night was more of the same: food (no leftovers!), a movie, bed. It was relaxing, but the majority of the time I was thinking about all the stuff I need to get done when I get back home.
Spending time with dad is great. He's incredibly funny and everything just feels at ease when we're all together. He and I have the kind of relationship where I can tell him whatever I'm thinking and call him on being unreasonable when appropriate.....all with total respect, of course. He gets sad when Jess, Josh, and I leave.....he'll call us after we leave to make sure we made it home OK and tell us that he misses us. Jillene left for another trip to London a couple hours after we left and he called tonight and said that he told Jillene that the four people he cares most about left today. Awwww.....
Christmas will be here before we know it. SO much to do before then! Better get started........
Here are some pics from this weekend:
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