Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003 - 8:21 a.m.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy Hannuka as well! I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I was fortunate enough to have the first white Christmas I have had in memory because I was able to go spend it in Vermont at my Mom's sister's house in Burlington. There was already two and a half feet of snow on the ground when I got there and it snowed on Christmas day and yesterday when I left. It could not have been more perfect, except my husband and my brother could not join us. But it was beautiful!

My aunt and uncle live in a very posh part of Burlington, right across the street from the campus of the University of Vermont and the Burlington Country Club and Golf Club. There is a great hill on the golf course where everyone goes sledding when it snows. I love going down that hill, I just can't get back up that hill. Come to think of it, the last time it snowed when we went to Vermont for Christmas and was about 1983, so its been about 20 years! And the last time we went to Vermont for Christmas, we brought the warm weather with us, so no snow. It was a blast watching my little neice and nephew sledding down the hill. My nephew, who will turn 5 in February, likes to take a running start then slide down the hill on his bum. Its very cute.

The kids got all kinds of cool stuff from Santa Claus including dolls, remote control cars, learning games and a neat new thing where you build up this tower and then drop marbles into it and watch them roll down through all kinds of twists and turns, kind of like those 25 cent gumball machines with the twists and turns. THAT came in a million pieces and I am sure half of them will be lost before Easter.

The day before I got there my sister took the kids skiing and they picked up right away. Skiing isn't hard, its just hard to ski really well, but its very easy to pick up. I saw the pictures of them on the tow line and of them coming down the hill. CUTE!

I wish I could go to Vermont more often. Its great in the summer and great in the winter. There's Lake Champlain, and Stowe and all the great towns around Burlington. Only problem is, I hate to fly. I'm terrified of flying, which is totally utterly rediculous because my father is a retired airline pilot. He flew for Continental and before that Texas International and Trans Texas. If anyone out there is from Texas or is old enough, you may remember those airlines. Texas International, parent company Texas Air, is the airline that bought Continental in the 80's. I used to not be afraid of flying. I loved it. When I was in college at the University of Texas, I preferred to fly back and forth between Houston and Austin than drive. Its only a 45 minute flight and much shorter than driving which was two and half to three hours. Now I am totally terrified. I get sweaty palms, during turbulence I am almost hyperventillating. I know, I know, flying is much safer than driving, but the thought of a plane just blowing up for no reason terrifies me. Of course my mom says, "Stacy, how long did your dad fly?" 30 years he flew as a commercial pilot and only once did he have a "crash landing". IN 1979 he was flying into Baton Rouge and it was raining heavily. The runway had standing water on it and he came in a little too fast and the plane hydroplaned. He was able to get controlf of it right before it ran out of runway and onto the highway. He veered it off into the grass. A bunch of people got bumped up, but in the end, he prevented a huge catastrophe. I understand that that plane is not a training facility for Continental and it is affectionately called the Harry Williams Memorial Training Facility, or something to that effect. Not a real fitting tribute to my dad I suppose since he is still alive and well.

My bags did not make it back with me from my connection in Pittsburg yesterday which is OK, except in one, I have five pounds of Vermont cheddar cheese. But since its not hot in Pittsburg, nor in the cargo hold of a plane, hopefully it will be OK. And its vacuum packed so it should be fine, even if it does get warm. They should be delivered to me later today.

So there is my Christmas. Not too bad! I hope everyone had a very safe and happy holiday.

And to end this missive, Nina found this online and its very appropos:

Which wife of Henry VIII are you?

Song virus du jour: "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" from "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown"