waking to car alarms

Lest there be any doubts, the car alarms blasting off the intersection at 8:30 AM this morning communicated that I was definitely back in the city. Mr. Ben and I have finished our whirlwind tour of our families & friends, which took us to Westchester, loaded with Christmas/Hannukah presents; to Washington DC, loaded with high-end cheese; and to a serenely otherworldly log cabin in the Adirondacs, where we just got loaded. Oh, it was wonderful, except for the travelling.

The best part was that the cabin is situated on a small wooded penninsula that, in the winter, juts into expanses of beautiful frozen lake. The family that built the cabin thoughtfully bought up the penninsula too, and when that family's young heir K-Ross gathers up friends by the bushel and takes us up there with him we can wander right off the land and onto the water. There is no more peaceful feeling than walking in complete silence and possible defiance of several natural laws into the middle of a lake before an audience of glazed fir trees.

Only twice did someone's foot slip through the ice, which, considering, seems pretty good. And neither time was it mine.

I also got to experience my parents' new apartment as a pretty impressive reimagining of the house I grew up in. That was a relief. And I was showered with enough quality gifts to make me consider rethinking my personal War on Christmas, including the So, So Cool Complete New Yorker, which has, on DVDs, every page of every issue of the magazine, dating back to its inception in the 20s. Played games (pinochle, Taboo), ate excellent food everywhere I went, took pictures, had blissful swattie conversations, and, despite talking about it a lot, managed to forget emotionally that I've just lost my job.

Also on the plus side, Mr. Ben had two opportunities to leave me for smart, engaging blondes we met while travelling. He elected not to, at least for now. We sailed through Scylla and Charybdis and here we are once again, safe on the other side, on the temptation-free island of Manhattan.

So here's to a better 06! Cheers to you all: may your sig figs stay faithful, may you stay interested, may your jobs be stimulating and your internal organs steady, and may you have nothing to regret. And if you hear of employment opportunities, feel free to send them my way.