My trip to Portland to spend the holidays with family here got off to a great start when Northwest Airlines upgraded me to business class for no apparent reason. If I knew how that happened, maybe I could repeat it for the return trip in mid-January. The plane arrived early, and I cleared customs without additional fees despite the slightly more than allowance quantity of alcoholic beverages in my luggage, and yes, I did put it all on the form. My sister and her husband (Sydney and Mike) met me at the gate. They had arrived via bus and MAX light rail due to the snow that has clogged the streets here. Then we reversed the process to get back to SW 45th and Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, where Mom met us at JoPa's and treated us to lunch.
John (and Märzen) remained behind in Amsterdam. He says it's really OK with him, and I know that he has some social activities planned: a Solstice party on Sunday at someone's house, Christmas with Dandelion in a house that they're taking care of over the holidays, Democrats Abroad fun gathering on 3 January, Anouk's open house at her new apartment on the 11th, and a boys' night out for his birthday on the 12th. I'll be back on the 17th (leaving here on the 16th).
Schools have been closed here (Portland's west side and Beaverton) all week due to snow, and more is expected over the weekend. It's really amazing: all day long the only thing on the TV is the weather news. Now it's affecting the whole country, and flights are being delayed and cancelled further east. I'm really glad that NWA had that non-stop flight from Amsterdam. The weather is delaying my long-awaited Mexican food outing, but we're having American pizza at the Stocks this evening, and it's all good (as John would say).
-Shirlee
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