The Kookaburra's Kackle: South to North Country

Thursday, December 31, 2009

South to North Country

Yesterday Seth and I packed up the car, strapped Lorenzo into the back seat, and drove the 640 miles back to upstate New York. We made it in good time, only stopping for gas and to gawk over a very elaborately decorated house in Williamsport, PA, which I'm sure made the Little League Hall of Fame jealous.

Williamsport, PA. I want my future home to be this well covered in Christmas lawn ornaments. My favorites are the Santa Ferris wheel and snowman merry-go-round.

The week in Raleigh was super busy and I wish I had more time to stand back and take it a bit slower. There were lots of errands to run and many old friends to visit. It was really nice spending a little time with my nearly three year old nephew, Carter. However, for a few moments I thought he was really attached to me, but Mom had to burst my bubble by pointing out that the likely reason for this fondness was because I was the key to accessing Lorenzo, whom he adored. When I would see Carter in the morning after returning from the gym, he would run up to me and say, "Aunt Michelle (though it sounded more like Aun Shell), can you turn on lights so I see Lorenzo (which sounded like Lenzo), please?". Lorenzo was definitely a hit, especially when he would slip out of my room and we would have to chase him down the hall...

Carter helping Mommie with her makeup

This is where Andrew gets his fashion sense

Tuesday, the day before we left, was particularly busy--we got up early so we could spend the morning in Carrboro, just outside Chapel Hill. We picked up Monica Gray on the way and while Seth met with an old professor of his for brunch at Elmo's, she and I hung out around Weaver St. We had tacos at Armadillo Grill, shopped for some local specialty beers and chocolate and visited Christina for tea at her lab (we both used to work for the Drs. Pfennig). During this time Seth was also able to catch up with a friend, the maintenance man for his old apartment complex.

Gray and I on Weaver St in Carrboro

In the afternoon we drove back to Raleigh. Andrew, Jennifer, and Carter had left that day so it was pretty quiet, but we soon took off to briefly meet up with an old friend of Seth's from the Carolina Ballet (this was my first time meeting her, and her new baby), who has been living in Hawaii for the past 8 years. In the evening we had a fantastic Tex-Mex dinner with my parents (the Last Supper, I suppose) before finally having coffee with some of my closest friends from middle school and high school. It was all so quick, I wish we had more time! However, it was certainly good to see everyone and know that not much has changed the past few years.