A happy(ish) New Year

This year so far has had its ups and downs, short though it has been. I got to visit my parents in Providence, Rhode Island and my ‘home-away-from-home’ Antiochian parish in Pawtucket over Christmas, which I enjoyed immensely. Got to spend some good time with the kids, introduce them to new books - also deeply enjoyable. But then came the trip home. We discovered at the airport that one of the kids’ passports was missing and that one of his toys was missing. And then we took off his outer layer of pants when he refused to go to the bathroom at the airport, so he would have something dry to wear if he had an accident. And then we lost that. Got into the Minneapolis airport where I discovered to my chagrin that I had scheduled our taxi service for the wrong day. Jessie and I decided I should cancel that cab ride, take one home myself from the airport, drive one of our own cars back to the airport and pick everybody else up. She called me once I got on the cab to confirm the plan, but I set the phone down in the cab and only realised I’d left it there after the cabbie had driven off with it. Then I went in the house and discovered that the only one of our garage door openers that worked was back at the airport with my mother-in-law. I had to Skype-chat them from the office computer to tell them the situation. Long story short, we all got back in one piece, but about twice as tired and cranky as any of us needed to be. And I did ultimately get my phone back; the cabbie was indeed an obliging gent. But that is how I spent my New Year’s Day.

I sincerely wish, gentle readers, that your New Year’s was better than mine! Best wishes for health and prosperity to you all!