Okay, 1600+ messages to catch up with after four days away is just Not
Possible for me, so I'll ignore the fact that any of you posted anything
while I was gone.

We flew to D.C. Friday (to visit relatives and assure DH has Premier
Elite status on United for next year.)

Our visit was very low key and family oriented, which was nice. We
usually see these people once a year for a week when they come out to
ski and we join them.

D.C. was cold and drizzly much of the time and we sat around exchanging
family and travel news and talking about the 2008 election. (D.C. folk
DO that a lot!)

Food: Ham one night, Prime rib one night, pea soup with the ham bone
the last night with punsch, a Swedish traditional anise flavored
liqueur. Homemade bread, too. Yum. A trip to Trader Joe's was an
added benefit. I picked up more dried cherries, apricots, Mint JoeJoes,
and stroopwafels meant for my son-in-law who can eat such things w/o
gaining weight.

We discovered our homebound flight was canceled after we were dropped
off at Dulles Monday at noon, but United had booked us on the next
flight, three hours later. We got in at ~7:30 instead of mid afternoon
and stopped for dinner at Ted's Montana Grill where we enjoyed roast
buffalo rib. Too tired to think about parties, we were asleep by 11PM.

We were happy we had gone because the family gets smaller and smaller
every year. We are now the "elder generation" and that's daunting.

Happy New Year, y'all. My online N.Y. resolution is to Ignore The
Trolls (you know who you are) and spend less time online. I think the
latter has already been broken.

gloria p