okay, so i'm a jerk and haven't blogged in a while. it's not for a lack of things to blog about...i have plenty. it's my fear of having to put it all down on psuedo paper. hi grandma!

i get to spend thanksgiving day with my friend kat and her family in vegas, i'm very excited about this. kat and her husband joey bought me a plane ticket for a present so i wouldn't spend thanksgiving alone. and i get to spend christmas day with my grandma in phoenix, i can't remember the last time we spent christmas together, its going to be great!

ah, let's start at the beginning.

on the 25th, i got on a train at 8am and headed south to san diego to suprise my mom and sister at the airport. i was supposed to work all day but got an extra day off. so, i arrived, took a cab to the airport, they arrived, we got the rental and headed to the zoo. it went suprisingly smooth. so many things could have gone wrong. ie, i could have missed the train, the train could have been late and becky and mom would have gotten their car and left me at the airport...but, all went well.

we got to the zoo, and it was great. however, everyone i asked failed to mention that every part of that zoo was up hill. it's amazing how that works out. it is a HUGE zoo. i'm used to potawatami zoo or at best, lincoln zoo or brookfield zoo. this one is a monster. very cool to see though. we got to see tha pandas and polar bears, giraffes and koalas. at one point in the day, we were walking in one direction and we hear this...commotion. it sounded like someone was killing a couple of birds. it was loud enough to make all three of us to turn and look back at the same time and this flock of giant parrots came flying down, swooped over us, low enough to make us duck, and kept going. we were all a bit amazed.
after the zoo we went to la jolla cove, one of my favorite places in california, and chased some crabs. ahh, good times. then headed home.

the 26th started at 5am. we started the shower shuffle and i made breakfast. we hopped into the jeep liberty and headed north. i took the 605 instead of staying on the 5 freeway and it took us about 45 extra minutes to get to the CBS studios. not fun in rush hour traffic. we got there, went on stand by seating. had a run in with a crazy woman with a cat who got a "price is right" name tag for her cat named 'fluffy.' did i mention she had the cat on a leash and had it perched on her shoulder like a pirate. ah, los angeles. they interview us, i say, "i'm katie, from laguna niguel california, i work for apple computer." on our way in the door i say, "i hope i didn't just ruin our chances." i did. we were blacklisted. the fifth prize was a "shiney new apple mac pro with a 23 inch display." it was NOT cool. the girl across the isle won two cars. i was a little bitter. BUT watch the price is right on december 15th and you'll see us in our fabulous notre dame tradition shirts.
ah, after the show. well, it all started with someone suggesting that we take PCH (pacific coast highway) home instead of the highway. that was beginning of the end.

it took four hours to get home...it should have taken 1.5. not good friends. there were an undisclosed amount of u-turns done (legal in california), a lot of wrong freeways and we always seemed to have been going north. we took the 110 south, it didn't work. we ended up on a peninsula. my mom says, "i don't see water anymore." i say, "no, we're okay, it's over there." my mom says, "yeah. that's on the wrong side of the car." then, we stopped a man with a dog who told us to go over the two bridges in the long beach harbor, get on the 710 north and then take the 5 south. not a problem right? WRONG. we take the bridges. check. we take the 710 north. check. we go to take the 5 south. RAMP CLOSED. so, a lot of side streets later, i call my aunt and she said to keep going, we'd find the 5. we did. and then i went north instead of south. i was so very proud. eventually we ended up at home.

my friends steve and sharon came over so my mom and sister could meet them with their adorable puppy domino. so funny. we all laughed for a while. my mom and sister loved them. of course the fact that they brought brownies and ice cream won some bonus points. :o) thank you steve and sharon!

on the 27th, my friend steve took us sailing. poor sharon had to work. so we went out on the boat. it was a gorgeous day. steve showed us how you can lower yourself down at the bow of the boat and use your arm and shoulder strength to dip your feet into the water. i finally talked myself into it...this is while the boat is moving by the way...and i tried it. i wasn't brave enough to lower myself down all the way, so my feet wouldn't reach. it was very sad. but it was worth the shot. thanks steve!
after sailing we headed up and hung out with the california family. so funny. wendy and mark (my third cousins somehow removed in a way) are hysterical. my brother sent my sister out with a new phrase, "mean mug." so if someone gives you a bad look, they are mean muggin you. well, my cousin mark introduced us to 'ear hustlin.' if someone is eavesdropping, they are 'ear hustling." i LOVE IT. we laughed for a while about that. we got home and hit up the hot tub.

on the 28th we spent a relaxing day in laguna beach and then ruined the relaxing by coming home and shampooing carpet...my mom went on a 'we need to sanitize the apartment' kick. so, it's never been cleaner. and i've very greatful.

on the 29th, we headed south and spent some time at the harbor with some cool ships and submarines. ate some fish and chips, so good, and then headed further south to mexico. good times. my mom and i have a 'get out before dark' rule. you always, ALWAYS leave mexico before dark. it was fun. we only spent a couple hours there. don't worry, no margaritas.

after mexico, we headed to ikea to buy rugs for the newly shampooed carpets. after ikea we headed over the coranado bridge to coronado island to take some pictures and then headed to the airport. dropped off the rental car, had some final chips and quacamole and said our goodbyes. they flew home and i drove home. i had the top down and it was so cold i had a couple of the rugs we bought at ikea, wrapped around my ankles for warmth. ps.i'm a wuss.


so that was their trip to see a couple pictures check out web.mac.com/k_holt and click on 'mom and becky' or check out beckys blog beckycallender.blogspot.com and see all the pictures from the trip.

then, i worked all week.

evan started moving in on friday morning. that's right. i officially live with a boy. and i am SO not ready. don't worry all, there is no, i repeat, NO romantic interest between the two of us. it's strickly a roommate situation. it's a good thing to split your rent in half. so anyway. don't worry. all my guy friends around the country, plus my brother, are on call to attack at the drop of a hat. it won't be needed but aparently my little army is ready.

today was a long day. sharons sister and her family just moved to the states from south africa and sharon and steve had a huge welcome picnic today. a lot of food, a lot of people and a bounce house. it was great. plus, i got to drive my jeep through the park all stealth mode with my lights off. we threw the rolled up bounce house, which by the way rolls up pretty small, into the back of my jeep and headed back to steve and sharons. well, we tried, but i got all the way back to their house and i had steves car keys in my pocket so we needed to go back to get his car. oops, sorry steve! steve took the jeep then and drove the bounce house back and then fixed a bunch of stuff on my car, it's wonderful. did you know that your car shouldn't make noise when you turn? did you know that if it does it is low on power steering fluid??? who knew?!?!

so all in all, the day went well. it was great to see sharons family and meet a great group of people. and now, it's 1230am, and i'm stunned i'm still awake. i have to work tomorrow. not too excited, i'd love to have another day off...

i'll just look forward to wednesday.

i apologize for the misspellings, i'm very tired and can't really see straight.

peace, love and a very fluffy pillow.
k