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argurotoxosMy mum, dad, and me left for Maine Friday morning. Rather than trying to cram even more presents into the car, we celebrated our own little family Christmas Thursday night. I got my mum a mouse pin and my dad the first season DVD set of The Pretender. My parents gave me a bunch of anime merchandise - including the Hunter x Hunter Greed Island OST [Original Soundtrack], the first Hikaru no Go OST, an a Hiei keychain - as well as a few non-anime items. But my big present from them this year was the complete DVD collection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ^__^
The only memorable event on the way to Maine was our lunch stop at Denny's. We used to eat at Denny's all the time, but stopped after service became really slow. Hoping that service had speeded back up, we decided to give it a try again. Turns out service was still incredibly slow, but while we were waiting, my dad decided to play around with his tomato juice. Complaining that it was too thick, he poured some of his water into it. Then the taste wasn't right, so he added pepper. And tabasco sauce. And steak sauce. My mum was appalled, but I tried some and it was still drinkable. In the end, my dad drank it all. XD
Not much else happened Friday. We got to my grandparents' house - which is where we always stay when we go to Maine - and talked for a while before heading off to bed.
On Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Kate's apartment for dinner and the first round of present opening. I dunno why, but my aunt and grandparents decided to spread presents out over three days this year. o_0 We also watched one of the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, 'Tapestry'.
Christmas was the big present opening day. I know I won't remember everything that was given and received, but there were a lot of books. My aunt gave me a book about the history of Batman and my grandparents gave me a mystery set in ancient Japan and some other small trinkets. Both my dad and I received Sudoku books.
The rest of the day was spent chatting and catching up with each other and watching my dad's Pretender DVDs. We finished all of the first season before I left for New Hampshire on Thursday.
It rained on Boxing Day, leaving us with almost no snow and a whole lot of mud. My aunt had bought some random things from the $1 Store for all of us and thus concluded our present opening for the year. XD Once that was done, we watched more Pretender, talked, and just enjoyed each other's company. It's really nice to just sit back and listen to your family chat, even if you yourself aren't really participating in the conversation. Sometimes it is the little things in life that matter the most.
When we weren't watching The Pretender on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was listening to Nightwish like crazy ('Feel For You', 'Ever Dream', 'Bless The Child', 'She Is My Sin' . . .) and reading the Hunter x Hunter manga online. Even thought I've seen all the anime, I had just been reading the manga with the Viz releases and the most recent twenty or so chapters from nexGear. I hadn't realized how many things had been added to the anime, like Gon and Killua's fight over money in Celestial Tower and parts of Killua and Gon's visit to Whale Island. Vice versa, the fight between Hisoka and Kastro in the manga was absolutely incredible. And pretty twisted, even for Hisoka. I guess I understand why they cut it, but it would have been awesome to see that fight animated.
However, I didn't stay totally indoors during those two days; I did take two small trips with my parents. On Tuesday, my mum and I went to the small grocery store and found . . . Moxie! (Kingdom of Loathing reference and weird-tasting soft drink! XD) And then on Wednesday, we all took a short hike in the woods, which we really needed what with all the sweets and cheeses we had been snacking on since Friday. *grin*
Thursday was my last day in Maine, though my parents stayed until New Year's Day. My mum and grandpa drove me to the Amtrak station in Portland and I bought my ticket for Haverhill, MA.
The train was quite nice and I'd take it over a bus any day. It was also pretty empty, though I imagine it'd be fuller if it weren't the holiday week. There was a plug on the side for laptops, but I didn't use mine. Instead, I played a few Sudoku games and started re-reading Lord of the Flies. There was a snack car, but I didn't venture up to it, mostly because I was unnecessarily worried about somehow missing my stop.
Only two other people got off at Haverhill besides me. I had expected there to be a station -- nothing as large or comfortable as the one in Portland, but a station nonetheless. Instead, there were a few wooden benches sitting under a roof and a large parking lot. Plus, it was raining. It almost felt like being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, except for all of the obviously urban buildings. So I plopped myself onto one of the benches and hoped that Tomo hadn't gotten lost . . .
And that's it for part one! Part two will be posted tomorrow, but I want to say thank you now to Tomo's family, Kun's family, and Shampoo (and Justin and Musashi) for letting me hang out, spend the night, feeding me, and being such cool and welcoming people. You guys are awesome. ^_____^
The only memorable event on the way to Maine was our lunch stop at Denny's. We used to eat at Denny's all the time, but stopped after service became really slow. Hoping that service had speeded back up, we decided to give it a try again. Turns out service was still incredibly slow, but while we were waiting, my dad decided to play around with his tomato juice. Complaining that it was too thick, he poured some of his water into it. Then the taste wasn't right, so he added pepper. And tabasco sauce. And steak sauce. My mum was appalled, but I tried some and it was still drinkable. In the end, my dad drank it all. XD
Not much else happened Friday. We got to my grandparents' house - which is where we always stay when we go to Maine - and talked for a while before heading off to bed.
On Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Kate's apartment for dinner and the first round of present opening. I dunno why, but my aunt and grandparents decided to spread presents out over three days this year. o_0 We also watched one of the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, 'Tapestry'.
Christmas was the big present opening day. I know I won't remember everything that was given and received, but there were a lot of books. My aunt gave me a book about the history of Batman and my grandparents gave me a mystery set in ancient Japan and some other small trinkets. Both my dad and I received Sudoku books.
The rest of the day was spent chatting and catching up with each other and watching my dad's Pretender DVDs. We finished all of the first season before I left for New Hampshire on Thursday.
It rained on Boxing Day, leaving us with almost no snow and a whole lot of mud. My aunt had bought some random things from the $1 Store for all of us and thus concluded our present opening for the year. XD Once that was done, we watched more Pretender, talked, and just enjoyed each other's company. It's really nice to just sit back and listen to your family chat, even if you yourself aren't really participating in the conversation. Sometimes it is the little things in life that matter the most.
When we weren't watching The Pretender on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was listening to Nightwish like crazy ('Feel For You', 'Ever Dream', 'Bless The Child', 'She Is My Sin' . . .) and reading the Hunter x Hunter manga online. Even thought I've seen all the anime, I had just been reading the manga with the Viz releases and the most recent twenty or so chapters from nexGear. I hadn't realized how many things had been added to the anime, like Gon and Killua's fight over money in Celestial Tower and parts of Killua and Gon's visit to Whale Island. Vice versa, the fight between Hisoka and Kastro in the manga was absolutely incredible. And pretty twisted, even for Hisoka. I guess I understand why they cut it, but it would have been awesome to see that fight animated.
However, I didn't stay totally indoors during those two days; I did take two small trips with my parents. On Tuesday, my mum and I went to the small grocery store and found . . . Moxie! (Kingdom of Loathing reference and weird-tasting soft drink! XD) And then on Wednesday, we all took a short hike in the woods, which we really needed what with all the sweets and cheeses we had been snacking on since Friday. *grin*
Thursday was my last day in Maine, though my parents stayed until New Year's Day. My mum and grandpa drove me to the Amtrak station in Portland and I bought my ticket for Haverhill, MA.
The train was quite nice and I'd take it over a bus any day. It was also pretty empty, though I imagine it'd be fuller if it weren't the holiday week. There was a plug on the side for laptops, but I didn't use mine. Instead, I played a few Sudoku games and started re-reading Lord of the Flies. There was a snack car, but I didn't venture up to it, mostly because I was unnecessarily worried about somehow missing my stop.
Only two other people got off at Haverhill besides me. I had expected there to be a station -- nothing as large or comfortable as the one in Portland, but a station nonetheless. Instead, there were a few wooden benches sitting under a roof and a large parking lot. Plus, it was raining. It almost felt like being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, except for all of the obviously urban buildings. So I plopped myself onto one of the benches and hoped that Tomo hadn't gotten lost . . .
And that's it for part one! Part two will be posted tomorrow, but I want to say thank you now to Tomo's family, Kun's family, and Shampoo (and Justin and Musashi) for letting me hang out, spend the night, feeding me, and being such cool and welcoming people. You guys are awesome. ^_____^
