Just In Time For 2018

We flew back home last night, grabbed Roo Roo from boarding, and made it home just in time for me to hit the sack two hours before the new year. In my defense, though, I was on east coast time and technically did stay up until midnight. G is crazy and stayed up to ring in the new year here which, if we wanna get technical, was 2:00 a.m. eastern time and is just plain unnecessary. I have no problem drifting off into sweet slumber and then waking up in a whole new year.

This was one of the best holiday/family/friend vacations we've ever taken. It was good, quality time with the people we love and I think we needed that more than we had realized over the last few hectic months. That said, it's so nice to sit in my own house and blog in front of my own Christmas tree which will stay up at least until the middle of January. And I missed Roo a lot more than I expected. I'm sure this doesn't surprise you in the least because I focus quite a bit on fat, furry animals. But it surprised me. She's the youngest, cuddliest, friendliest bunny we've had in years and dangit if I didn't spend an hour on the floor with her last night, sweet talking her and loving her up.

So, I'm gonna be honest and tell you that we upgraded our flight home to first class. I'll say that this was only possible because we were flying on New Year's Eve, which ended up not being a desirable or busy time to fly, and thus the upgrades were cheap. I couldn't believe it. Permit me, if you will, to ramble just a bit more.

I've always thought of first class only as it pertains to the air plane. But, the experience begins way before that. Here's a view of the United check in area of the airport:

And here's a view of the premiere access check in. We bypassed all the holiday chaos, walked right up to the counter, were greeted by a pleasant, friendly representative, and had checked our bags in under five minutes.

I'll say, too, that the Dream Liner is no joke. We've flown economy in this plane before and the difference is remarkable. It's quieter; it has ambient lighting; it's smoother; and it's roomier. We had warm nuts and Prosecco before take off. NBD.

OK, thanks for letting me get that out. Part of me wants to take the time to reflect on how nice it was. G pointed out that it was the difference between "getting somewhere" and "traveling." I agree. Part of me, though, is focusing on the importance of mentally moving on so that I'll be able to face a lifetime of regular (read: plebe) flights that await me. (shrug emoji) But, it was nice. It was civilized.

We're going to a New Year's brunch at our friends' house later this morning. These introverts are just about peopled out at this point, so I think I'll spend the rest of the day staring at the tree, finishing The Crown, and taking down all the other Christmas decorations (except the tree, of course, because I haven't enjoyed it enough yet and need a few more days).

(By the way, check out yesterday's post, G's Reads of 2017, if you haven't already. While I spend an inordinate amount of time with my face in a book, I've dropped the ball when it comes to blogging about good reads, and it's nice to see that he picked up a bit of the slack.)

Happy New Year! I hope today is relaxing and rejuvenating for you!