The Magic Box

So David's parents gave us an awesome portable DVD player for Christmas, and were kind enough to send it before we flew to Utah for the break so we could use it during the first flight.  

Now, like most parents, I cringe at the thought of my toddler engaging in more than a brief stint of educational TV per day.  I suffer from a serious guilt complex on days when I'm sick and have to plop Rhys in front of back to back episodes of Sesame Street and Super Why just so I can find time to puke.  But when it comes to a 6 hour plane ride across the country, smack dab in the middle of what would usually be nap time, I now say with a clear and happy conscience, "Bring on the virtual babysitter!!"

This is about 4 hours in...way past nap time.  THE most enjoyable flights we've had since Rhys was born.  Way to make frequent visits more likely, G & G Mason!

We'll be home for Christmas!

I just realized that we leave for Utah in less than 2 weeks and I don't think we've told everyone we're coming! We've been feeling a little homesick lately, so when we found out that David has a month long break before the next semester starts we decided we'd much rather spend it at home with family. So we'll be there from the 18th until January 15th. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Here are the things I'm most excited about:

#1 Having a whole month to spend time with family and friends. I miss everyone like crazy and Rhys adores everybody there- he will be so happy to get smothered with love and attention! My mom and sister and I already have more things planned than we probably have time for!

#2 Enjoying all the holiday trimmings without having to worry about how to do it in this tiny little place on a tight budget.

#3 Seeing A Christmas Carol at the Hale. My wonderful friend Jeremy (who is playing Fred this year) hooked us up with tickets to see a matinee of the show a couple days before Christmas. Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I usually suffer from severe CTADD (community theater attention deficit disorder). But he talked us into seeing this show a few years ago, and I LOVED it! Plus, with Jeremy in the cast, I would rather see it than anything Broadway has to offer =) God bless him, everyone!

#4 Eating out as much as possible! We already have a running list of all the places we want to eat at...Have I mentioned that we've been sorely disappointed in the New York fare? We have NO fast food chains near us, only 2 places (pizza and subs) near enough and "cheap" enough to eat at if I don't feel like making dinner, and the ethnic food near us is TERRIBLE! We spent $40 to share two tiny Indian entrees and it was so gross I couldn't even finish it (Bombay House is now at the top of the "places to eat while in Utah" list). It's pretty lame- we were really looking forward to endless variety and awesome ethnic food here. Maybe it's more like that in Midtown or if we were willing to spend $60 bucks a pop at the trendy restaurants around here. But from what we've seen so far, the Cougareat has more selection and less chance of food poisoning than anything in the Upper West Side. So Bangkok Grill, Brick Oven, and Cafe Rio here I come!

The list goes on and on (both the reasons i'm excited list AND the places to eat list) but I'll stop there.

We hope to get a chance to see everyone while we're there- so let us know which restaurant you want to join us at and we'll make it a date!