So DC was phenomenal. After a slight delay heading out there, but such is life :)
First off, Joe's mom flies overseas a lot for her job. A LOT. So we got spoiled with business class since she has crazy amounts of frequent flyer miles that had to be used by the end of the year. Hazzah! Also, his parents live next the Griswold's. No joke, that was the most atrocious yard I've ever seen. Inflatables and animatronics, and giant stockings hanging in a tree, and a santa hanging from the top branch of said tree. Not sure how they got him up there, but it was like a beacon letting us know when we were heading in the right direction to get to Joe's parents' house haha. Oh, and there was even Christmas music playing all day and all night. Not loud, we couldn't hear it in the house, but it was definitely there. Joe's parents just bought this house and moved in the week before we came out, so they didn't know until it was too late haha.
We left on the 21st. Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:20. When we were supposed to start boarding at 11:40, an announcement comes over the speaker explaining that it appeared some parking brake valve is shorting out some circuit breaker, so they needed to find a part and fix it. Awesome. So a few hours later they come back and say that they replaced the part, but the shorting out was still happening so they were just going to get us a new plane. Awesome. A couple of hours after that, we get told to go to this other gate. They moved us from a 767 to a 757, so there were only 2 cabins instead of 3. But that meant we got upgraded to first. Awesome! Really, there's not a whole lot of difference between first and business, but whatever. We got a fabulous dinner and desert and finally landed in DC around 11pm Eastern. Sleep!
Monday we had lunch at the Hawk and Dove, then toured the capital and got to go hang out in the House of Representatives. It was cool to see the place where things happen and see how the reps vote and everything. Then we walked around for a bit and got back on the Metro to go to the 'Rents house for dinner. His parents are excellent cooks.
Side note: I have to say, it was exciting to partake in public transportation that was functional and went everywhere and made sense. It was weird being back in my car after all of the trains :)
Tuesday we toured the White House, which was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Breathtaking. Then spent 4 hours at the Holocaust museum, which was really intense, and ended up at Old Ebbit's for some cocktails before meeting back up with the parents for the most spectacular seafood meal I've ever eaten at Kinkead's. I'm talking seafood chowder that just makes you want to cry, scallops that melt in your mouth... I did some serious stretching of the stomach that night haha. We all got dolled up for this dinner, which was way fun. Yes, Toni wore a skirt. I looked hot. But then we forgot to take pictures. We weren't allowed to have ANYTHING (no cameras, not even chapstick) at the White House, so we didn't have the camera on us. But that's ok. After dinner, we went back to the house and dozed on the couch until bedtime. Fat and happy.
Wednesday we had a lazy day. Slept until noon kinda day, which was mucho necesario. Woke up, had some food, played wii all day. Joe's parents have a wii, that's just cool. Although, I had been so busy with school, I was a little out of wii bowling shape, so I had a sore shoulder for a couple of days hehe. The traditional Christmas Eve Eve dinner is ribs. YUM! So we grubbed on ribs for awhile until no more would fit in our bellies, then dozed on the couch for a bit while we watched Christmas Vacation before bedtime. Fat and happy. (noticing a theme?)
Thursday. Merry Christmas! Joe and his parents went above and beyond to make this Christmas great. His parents got me this year's White House Christmas tree ornament, which is really neat. They also got me a hat/scarf/glove set, which are super soft and warm. Love them :) I also have a coffee mug from Lithuania, some rosewater lotion from Bulgaria that smells really good (see, his mom goes everywhere), as well as some chocolates that have taken a lot of willpower to avoid just inhaling the whole box. Oh, and Joe and I both got remote control helicopters, which has been highly entertaining with my dog since we got home haha. We got his parents some stuff for the wii (wii points so they could buy some old-school games, and a controller charging station), and we got his mom a teapot that is this really neat red-to-orange color. After presents, Joe and I went and did the mall. Then back home for a HUGE turkey dinner, we seriously spent like 3 hours eating that meal. Not sitting around the table talking about the meal, but physically eating. Then we watched A Christmas Story. Then sleepytime. Fat and happy.
Friday Joe and I did the National Archives, Natural History, and American History museums. Then back home for steaks. Then we watched V for Vendetta. Then sleep. Fat and happy.
Saturday we got up and went to Arlington to spend a few hours. Kennedy, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Robert E. Lee's house. Very cool and amazing. Then some shopping, and back home for "clean the fridge." Which means working on all of the Christmas leftovers. And boy did we work on it. I don't think I felt anything resembling hunger the entire time we were there haha. Then we just kinda relaxed and watched Big Fish, then packed and went to sleep. Still fat and happy haha.
Sunday's flight was flawless, we left on time, got our lovely business class full lay-down seats (I totally passed out watching an episode of "House"), had another yummy meal, and arrived back in Denver 20 minutes early :)
Had to go back to work today, but Joe's still off until next Monday. Gotta love teachers! But after I got off work we spent a little over an hour at the gym, and we're going back on Wednesday. Gotta work off everything we ate during our superb vacation week haha. Actually, we didn't do too bad since we walked around forever just about every day we were there. Mostly we decided this is the week we HAVE to start going to the gym consistently because I'm tired of my back hurting all of the time. And since I won't have to physically go to class 4 days a week this upcoming semester, Mondays and Wednesdays were easy to commit to. We'll add a 3rd day as we can, but we wanted to be realistic and actually be able to achieve the goal, so Monday/Wednesday it is!
Mack was with a sitter the whole time we were gone, a friend of mine from work. The friend took Mack to his parents' for Christmas day and they loved him so much that they told me if my friend's not available the next time I need a sitter, they are more than willing to take him haha. From the sounds of it, fun was had by all.
And now it's time for bed. Not so fat, but still way happy :) I have the most wonderful boyfriend, and spectacular future in-laws (always a plus!), and life is just great :)
Current Mood: 
satisfied
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
lazy
dorky
bouncy
amused
busy
ecstatic
angry
mischievous
accomplished
creative
exhausted