Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's! (2010-2011)

We spent a week in Baltimore, MD with family and friends this year for Christmas and New Year's. It had been 2 years since I had spent an extended period of time in Baltimore. I feel like there were a lot more changes in the landscape there in previous visits than I saw this time. The White Marsh area had changed a while back so that wasn't new to me. Victoria and I were exhausted and lost a bit of sleep the week or two before heading off. We were looking forward to breathing a sigh of relief as our daughter requires a lot of attention these days. It was going to be nice to see someone else keep a watchful eye here and there.

I took Victoria out for her birthday to the Melting Pot in Towson, MD. It was good. I hadn't eaten duck before and it was really good. The lobster pieces too. We got the whole Fondue a la France "Big Night Out" special they were running. Definitely recommended (2 Run HR in my book thanks to the duck). It was good to have that extended time together as man and wife.

I took Charlotte out into the woods behind my parents house briefly Christmas day before heading out to my brother and sister-in-law's place for dinner with her family. Charlotte was cracking up at the sound of me walking on dried up leaves on the ground. She was bending way over to watch it as I carried her and it was admittedly off balanced enough that it was difficult to handle her pose and enjoy her laughter at it at the same time! She definitely wanted to see what was going on! It was a good memory as she was introduced to the back yard I have many fond memories of with neighborhood friends. I picked up a monkey ball off the ground for her to investigate as a keep sake.

Before coming to Baltimore I was a tad nervous how I might feel around friends I hadn't seen in a while. It went fine. Seemed easy enough. No awkwardness was felt on my part anyhow. Some close friends I hadn't seen face to face in 7-7.5 years. Time sure does move along.

After arriving back in Dallas, TX a friend at work asked how I felt about being home. I happened to be considering the odds of winning the Mega Millions Lottery jackpot of $355M. It's something like 176 Million to 1. I looked up the odds of being struck by lightning in the United States and it is 300,000 to 1. Someone quacked something about the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. There was a character who claimed to have been hit by lightning 7 times based off the true life of Roy Sullivan. One of the scenes that character pipes up is during the narration of Benjamin Button that is an appropriate answer to my friend's question:

Button: It's a funny thing about coming home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same.

Old man: Did I ever tell you I've been struck by lightning seven times? Once when I was sitting in my truck, just minding my own business.

Button: You realize what's changed is you.

As we left my parents Subaru when we arrived at the airport to return to Dallas I was reminded of the times my Grandpa Smith would get emotional as we said our goodbyes and left Sturgis, MI to return to Baltimore after Christmases or Summer vacations. The trigger: seeing my mom's well up with tears.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable trip seeing so many friends. There's something about seeing someone face to face that just tells you everything is all right that an email, phone call, or letter can't quite communicate.