December Recap
December 30, 2008 Posted by: ERIN

I didn't intend to fall off the face of the earth (or at least the internet) for the entire month of December, but somehow between traveling and the holidays that seems to have happened. I'll do my best to recap the highlights of the past thirty or so days.

The month started with me venturing to the frozen north to visit my parents for ten days. Weather-wise I was very lucky in that my travels were uneventful, and let me just say that the JetBlue terminal at JFK is gorgeous. It was a real pleasure to be layed over there. Modern, sleek, and so many non-fast food places to eat! I can't wait to go back.

While I was in Rochester I got to spend lots of time with my parents, eat at my favorite places (including the Malley's house), go to the movies with Liz, decorate my parents' Christmas tree, and enjoy a bit of snow. And most importantly I got to see Joba! He is so big and sweet, and he has the smoothest, shiniest, softest coat of any Potcake ever. Here is a photo of Lizzy, Joba, me, and Emma taken after romping in the freezing, snowy backyard.

I had worried that a puppy who spent the first three month of his life frolicking on sunny beaches wouldn't take well to snow. But thankfully he absolutely loves the stuff, maybe even more than sand. He burrows right down into it and doesn't seem bothered by the cold one bit. As for me, I must admit I've really become a wimp as far as the winter weather, but at the same time it was fun to be all bundled up for a change.

Besides enjoying family, food, and dogs, one of my main tasks of the trip was to do some shopping for the field station. The cafeteria and linen room were in dire need of a variety of items, and since I would be in the presence of "real stores" for several days, I had the pleasure of doing the purchasing. There's nothing quite like going to Big Lots, filling several carts (they were overflowing), and then paying for it all with someone else's money! Certainly give it a try if you ever get the chance. All together I ended up with 24 bath towels, 24 hand towels, 24 washcloths, 24 dish towels, 6 oven mitts, 6 water pitchers, 10 tablecloths, 12 sheets sets, 288 clothes pins, 2 9x13" pans, and 3 whisks. Quite a haul.

I also got to do a little luxury item shopping for ourselves. I usually keep a running list of things that we want but can't get or order on the island, and then do a mass purchase for them once I'm back in the states. Most often they are food items, and this time was no exception. Soon we will be feasting on refried beans, barley, beef jerky, worcestershire sauce, mango chutney, almond extract, arborio rice, jasmine rice, fish sauce, and jalepeno jelly. But hopefully not all at once.

The morning my parents drove me to the airport it was 14 degrees, so I will confess I wasn't too too sad to be leaving. I was also glad to be getting back to my guys at home. I think Zipper, who has become quite the mama's boy of late, especially missed me. Tom did a great job of taking care of the garden while I was away, and I returned to the full force harvest of radishes, green beans, cucumbers, green onions, cilantro, basil, and dill. And it shouldn't be too long now for the beets, tomatoes, and sweet peppers.

Exactly a week after I returned, my sister Meredith, her husband Joe, and their beautiful daughter Louisa arrived to spend Christmas week with us. It was their first trip to San Sal, and it really made the holiday special. I'm going to post separately with all the pictures and details from our week together, but for now here are a few of the holiday highlights:

Louisa enjoyed our three-foot tree because it was just her size, I made everyone help decorate Christmas cookies, and we discovered that Zipper can open his gifts all by himself! Santa brought me an underwater digital camera, which I'm very excited to try out in the near future. And I also got several books on solar food drying, so I have visions of sun-dried tomatoes dancing in my head.

All in all December was a great month, and we're looking forward to the new year!