usa rail pass. third segment: chicago to grand rapids.

life has certainly thrown me for a loop this week...let's play a little catch up.

last friday (christmas eve), after spending 2 days hanging out in pjs with my niece, my brother took me to a metra station to get into downtown. after about 2 minutes of browsing through the raunchy romance novels that they had at the station (random, i know, but i love those romance novels!), they announced that the train was going to be about 20-30 minutes late which was going to put me getting into the station a little too late...

kyle came to the rescue and drove me into downtown to union station. i was able to grab a burrito and be on time for my train. i had a small world moment when i ran into my friend mark from the corps of engineers as i was walking to my gate. life is good like that sometimes.

i ended up sitting next to a really interesting guy from memphis who, after a few years of pursuing the music life, is now doing archaeology work. pretty sweet! i made it home just fine to hugs from my family before quickly going to bed.

on christmas day, i awoke with the news that my grandmother in denver (who had been very sick) had passed away. merry christmas. we opened presents, ate a bit of lunch and then my mom and i took my dad to the airport. the next few days were just kind of a blur. i stayed in my pjs most of the time and went on a few jogs around the neighborhood. i did manage to meet up with my friend matt from college. we went ice skating in downtown and got dinner and drinks at some of my favorite places in grand rapids. that was delightful.

airport picture my aunts went gaga over.

but, early early early that next morning, my mom and i flew back to denver for the funeral. the service was nice, and it was good to see family i hadn't seen in quite a while, but the circumstances were less than desirable.

on the bright side, i might be inheriting a banjo which i spent quite a bit of time tinkering around on. it may or may not make its way to california!!

on our way out of denver, a big snowstorm blew through the area...but we didn't have any delays, thankfully.

i've spent new years relaxing around town. i met up with kate for a delicious lunch at san chez cafe, saw tron in 3D with my parents and plan on an early night.

happy new year!

here are some highlights from the family photo session...

dad, me, mom and aunt leslie.

mom and aunt leslie!

my camera has a smile detection mode.

sassy cat. that's the cat's name.