I'd told my parents I wasn't coming home for Christmas. Between the cost of airfares over the holidays, and the chaos of traveling, I'd decided to just chill in Canada for the two weeks of our Christmas break. I'd checked airfares a couple of times back in October, and they'd risen from $200 to more than $350 for a ticket from Seattle to Denver. It was just on a sort of random whim that I checked again at the end of November. Expecting them to be more than $400, I was very surprised to find a round-trip ticket for $180! So I bought it.

I didn't exactly tell my parents about it though. I almost did once or twice (by accident) but I somehow recovered, and they didn't catch on. So I was going to surprise them and just show up for Christmas! I wasn't sure if this was a really good or a really bad idea. I could just picture my parents arriving at home to find me in the house. You know there's that moment between when you see someone and when you recognize them - that's what worried me...

Though how I was going to get to the house was beyond me. We live a little more than walking-distance from the airport. I could rent a cab, but that would nearly offset the bargain on the cheap ticket... I tried to think of people I know in Denver - but I don't know anyone in Denver. Then I remembered my cousin. Maybe he would pick me up. That solved, I promptly forgot about it...

You know how there's that period of time after you pack that you remember things that you forgot to pack? I spent that time in the car on my way to the airport. I had to preach that Sabbath in church, so I didn't pack until I got home that evening. I packed my suitcase, threw it in the car, and we headed for the airport. The conversation went something like this:

Toni: "The reason Justification is so widely..."

"Oh, you know what I forgot?", I randomly interject.

"What?"

"The house key..."

"Do you want to go back and get it?"

"No, we're already across the border"

Unfortunately, we were already across the border at this time, and it would be very difficult to explain this to the border patrol. So I had no idea how I was going to get into the house. A few minutes later:

Jacqueline: "So we were going to..."

"Oh, snap! I just remembered I need to call my cousin!"

Ya, I tend to wait until the last minute. I called my cousin about 12 hours before I was going to arrive in Denver to arrange a pick-up. He didn't answer, so I left a voicemail...

We spent the night in Seattle at Jacqueline's aunt's. At 4AM the next day we headed for the airport. I spent the next three hours with my neck craned to the left, talking about fly-fishing with a geologist from Alaska. I've never been fly-fishing.

When we landed in Denver, I still wasn't sure how I was going to get to the house, or once I got there, how I was going to get in with no key. Maybe I could stay with my cousin - but for all I knew, he could have moved away... I checked my voicemail, and there was a message from Justin, my cousin, telling me he would work something out for me. What a relief!

Justin was working, but his girlfriend, Lucianna, and a couple of other friends were able to pick me up and we went shopping and hung out all afternoon. When Justin got off work, Lucianna called my parents and arranged to meet them for dinner. This wasn't uncommon, so my parents weren't suspicious. Lucianna really got into this idea of surprising my parents, suggesting I dress up as a waiter and come to the table to take the order. I suppose we could have had a lot of fun with this, but I was pretty uncertain about how this would be received - whether we'd have a great time, or be spending the night in the hospital because one of them had a heart attack... So I decided to just walk in with the rest of the gang.

When we arrived at the restaurant, my parents had been waiting for a few minutes. We all walked in together. Both mom and dad looked at me as they greeted everyone else. But it didn't register. Then they did a double-take.

Mom was so happy she cried. Dad was so happy he just grinned. Nobody went to the hospital, so I was happy. It was great. I couldn't have done it without the help of my cousin and his friends, so if you guys read this - THANK YOU!

Well, Shannon, since I'm back in the States for Christmas, that means I get Silk Nog! Right now there's three quarts in the fridge. I also get to see my dog, Shadow:


But most importantly, I get to spend time with friends and family. I love you all, and hope you have a very happy Christmas!