It seems like there's never enough time to see everyone and do everything while I'm home. My post-Christmas time in ND flew by. Aside from helping Mom out at the store, I managed to keep a pretty busy social calendar. I got to meet my cousin's two adorable kids - Larissa and Raymond. Larissa helped me take some pictures. I had a few good visits with Katie and her son Jacob. He's a busy little guy, and seems to keep his Mom's hands full (and her shelves emptied onto the floor). Ken and LeAnn Kihle were nice enough to show me some of their pictures from Thailand and pass on some valuable Thai etiquette tips. Thanks to them, we will hopefully not disgrace ourselves should we be lucky enough to be invited into a Thai home. I spent New Year's Eve with my cousin Robyn in Minot. We had a good time and managed not to get arrested, so we considered it a roaring success for bringing in the New Year. I got a chance to visit with Joel (my high school choir director), who is in Minneapolis now. I hadn't had a chance to catch up with him since just after I graduated from HS, so it was good to compare notes on our respective metropolitan transistions. I had a chat (on the record) with Scott Wagar, who wrote a nice piece for Courant on our upcoming trip. He even managed to take a halfway decent picture (difficult with this subject before noon). Mom's going to scan the article so I can post it. And of course I got in some quality time at Granny and Grandpa's. Many servings of coffee, popcorn, and Christmas goodies later, I'm happy to report that I came darn close to my goal of gaining 10 lbs. while home in ND. It might not be the muscle mass I was hoping for... but one can't be too picky.

We love you, ND!

Ps - for anyone who's ever read the part of the Bottineau paper that reports the social comings and goings of the even smaller towns around Bottineau, did this whole post sound familiar? ("...and afternoon visitors of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Gust included Ms. Emily Larson and Mr. Trevor Kostanich, of Snoqualmie Pass, WA...") Maybe I have a future in society page reporting.

Labels: North Dakota