quick holiday update

The next in the series of Sabbath blog posts is due imminently, but before I do that I wanted to deliver some highlights from my holiday trip back east. (And no, getting up at 3:30 a.m. will never qualify as a highlight.)

• Travel went easily, including the drive up to LAX which only takes half an hour when traffic is that light! There were planes, trains and automobiles, plus subways in two different major metropolitan areas.
• All relations were in good health and spirits, from the 90-year-old grandfather to the 2 1/2-month-old nephew.
• The Wilmington Drama League's Playwriting Bake-Off was a rousing success. Highlights from the plays included a chase scene between a recently retired gentleman and his wife, a revelation of a bank robbery, and a three-way tango to "Hernando's Hideaway."
  
• Two solid job interviews. Neither was the big hit out of the park that I have had with some interviews, but that suggests to me that my reach exceeds my grasp, which is in the end a good thing.
• Chances to visit with three friends who live in NYC and one who lives in Washington DC. The DC visit included live performance of flamenco a foot from my elbow.
• Shannon laughing at the note I attached to her Christmas gift, which I promptly had to take back from her to return and exchange for the gift I thought I had ordered for her, but apparently didn't.
• Feeding Spaghetti-O's to Connor. This is a full contact sport.
• Sipping Scotch with Lee.
• Sort-of trying on the pieces of the sweater Mom is making for me, in the hopes that I will soon live somewhere cold enough to use it. :-)
• Being introduced to vocalese by Erin, who is something of a connoisseur (connoisseuse?) of the genre.
• Admiring the engagement ring Joe bought for Julie, and then hearing later after he drove home to Georgia that she had accepted said ring and they are Now Officially Engaged.
• And of course, meeting Drew, who expressed his approval of me by sleeping on my shoulder during most of the time we spent together.

Now I'm back in CA, getting ready for a quiet solo New Year's Eve. It may involve a walk down to the beach (two blocks away) just before midnight. I like to be outdoors at the turn of the year. But it will certainly involve the petite bottle of Chandon Brut Classic that my assistant gave me as a holiday gift.