winding down...

it's hard to believe that 2010 is winding down and a new year is about to begin.

where in the world has the year gone.

better yet, where has this decade gone?

apparently they've gone away with my youth....

but what is it that every older person says about about age?  that with age comes knowledge.

yes.  knowledge.

knowledge is great and all but damn, i'd love to have some of my younger days back.

ah well...we all know that isn't happening so onward through the holidays and 2011!

lee came home the day after thanksgiving so it freed me up from some of the dog duties.

they were a little happy to see her.

and so was i.

it's been BEYOND FREEZING in portland.  and some days, raining and freezing.  and walking 2 big dogs in pouring down freezing rain blows.

we even had snow.

with lee there i decided to head to the east coast early for the holidays.

i flew to raleigh yesterday.

first class.

damn, i love first class.  and for those who know me, know i've developed a real hate of flying.

but this, it makes flying almost tolerable.

well that and xanax.  lots of xanax.

and no i didn't buy a first class ticket.  i used miles to get the ticket.  and let me just say it was worth every mile i used getting the ticket.

first, you board early and do not wait in any line.

second, you get everything for free - unlimited baggage, blankets, food, drinks.  oh the drinks.  we even got cocktails before we took off.

right after takeoff we were served our first bevs with a bowl of hot nuts.

who knew i liked hot nuts?

and before i swallowed the last one, they were already coming around with more bevs and lunch.

lunch consisted of a cheese enchilada with rice and beans, a side salad, pita chips and cheese dip.

what surprised me was how good it was.  it was better than many mexican meals i've had.

oh and more cocktails came around.  actually, they never stopped.

to top it all off, they brought around freshly baked toffee cookies!

i was so full after all of this that i almost fell asleep watching "30 Rock" on my ipod.

the next thing i knew it was time to land and i had to figure out how i was going to stand up and make it to my next flight without appearing to be too intoxicated.