um... durrrrr?

happy new year, people! i am back up in the ATX and desperately trying to remember how the hell to do my job. i've been doing a pretty good job pretending, though, especially with the help of a steady stream of diet coke and breakfast tacos.

since i got really lazy about posting over the holiday, i must warn you in advance that this post is going to be a haphazard collection of unrelated paragraphs with minimal transitional sentences and even less insight, just blather about what i've been doing for the last week.

so! with that caveat, i present you with...

JENNIFER'S HOLIDAY SEASON, 2K6 (does ML still read this? ever? b/c every time i say "2K-something" i think of DEB 2000!!!! hi ML)

we'll go in reverse order b/c that's the most fun.

last night i had a really weird travel experience. now, i've traveled a fair share, and have had a reasonable amount of strange travel experiences (the time a man had to be restrained by the federal air marshal b/c he was freaking out, the time in korea where i seriously prayed for my life b/c i thought i was going to die, riding like a baller in international business class, riding like a loser in tiny-ass little planes that do flip-flops with the minutest shift in pressure change, that one flight attendant who had reggae playing when we walked on-board, he was cool, annoyingly chipper southwest flight attendants, etc etc etc). but this one was a first. we had left our gate @ dulles a little bit late but were heading toward the runway and were #2 for takeoff. turn onto open runway, blast engines on, accelerate, start charging down... and then SLAM ON THE BRAKES and veer off toward the right.

and then go back to the gate and sit there for 2.5 hours while they deal with the "warning message that came up during takeoff about a potential mechanical issue." good times.

instead of coming home around 7:30 with plenty of time to unpack, clean my apt, and cook a nice, healthy dinner, i came home after 11, exhausted, annoyed, and freaking LAY OFF ME I'M STARVING.

(by the way! cowboy survived the nine days without me! he is a serious pimp.)

okay so that's enough about my weird aborted take-off story. so, holidays? were great. chill. started off slowly with kim family fun (including a karaoke contest -- i got the highest score, boo yeah!) and then got really packed with fun friend outings (including a night in which i decided to break in my new shoes with ten million hours of alcohol-fueled dancing and a late night ride through the mcdonald's drive-thru. three blisters later, my feet are still mad at me. but the shoes looked good as hell) and ended up with a fun little jaunt to good old charlottesville, which i've heard described as "God's country" and is just so true. the hills! the smudgy blue ridge mtns against the gray sky! just gorgeous, seriously. i also learned that i am a MASTER MARTINI MAKER, y'all! seriously! i mean i knew i had CONSUMED a lot of martinis in my life but i didn't know that i could actually MAKE them! i was so impressed.

um, so what else did i do? i spent a lot of time at home with my parents. we made a huge birthday feast for my dad's birthday. i did some shopping. i bought three pairs of shoes. heh. i ate some insanely delicious indian food with the always-fabulous kattyk. i went power-walking around my parents' neighborhood with my mom. i slept in a lot. i had numerous conversations about marriage and relationships, which were thought-provoking and eye-opening. i visited cleveland park and had amazing italian food and delicious martinis in all of my old haunts with my good buddy nay. megan and i discussed the meaning of "til death do us part" in the overwhelmingly yuppie neighborhood of downtown bethesda (i didn't think it could get any yuppier, but it surprises me every time). i went to a james bond themed party and dealt a killer game of black jack. and also had a pajama dance party. i hung out with little people on christmas and got farted on by a deliciously scheming three-year-old (it was hilarious). oh yeah and i saw JIM VANCE!!! he is totally attractive. (this will only mean something to fellow DCers).

it's always strange to come back to austin after an extended visit home, because i feel like my life at home is very different from my life here in austin. life in DC = very full. friends, family, food, fun, all the F's crammed in as tightly as possible. it's vacation. i'm not working. i'm busy, but with mostly enjoyable things. it's lots of familiar faces and places. life in austin = a lot quieter. a lot newer. more work, less fun. less familiar faces, and more new experiences. things move at a quieter pace, and i am in control of most of the variables. it's different from going home in college, because i feel like i have an established life here in austin, but i'm visiting a life i had established in DC as well -- if that makes any sense.

it's good to be back, but i'm glad i went home.

happy new year, people.