Sunday, December 21, 2008
FREDERICK CHRISTMAS!
Yesterday was CHRISTMAS DAY for Kyle and I since I was headed home to Lancaster today. After sleeping late we both started our mornings with a bike ride. Kyle went outdoors because, well, he's stupid. I stayed indoors where it's warm and used the trainer. I started later and rode longer (mostly because I could still feel my toes a few miles in, unlike kamikaze Kyle out there) so much of my riding was to the tune of "It's presents time! Come on Jillian, it's Christmas! I'm going to start opening these without you! Come on!" I suspected ulterior motives, but he succeeded in getting me off of the bike a few miles early. Showered and back in pjs we exchanged presents. He gave me some bike equipment that I would need in the spring (light, tire, oil) and three literary nerd books that he had convinced me not to buy earlier in the week (Her Majesty's Spymaster, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde). 
I gave him a bunch of gifts related to maps (a WWII troop movement atlas, a book about Magellan, a decorative metal time zone chart that I found at an antique store, and a framed Gettysburg map that included the lovely kitsch touch of a plastic bubble holding soil from the battlefield). I also presented him with Sabrina's gift for the two of us - The Game of Life - and John Green's Paper Towns which I bought for both of us.
While we're excited to read the book itself we took our photo with John Green on the back for a very good reason: he is made of awesome. John Green has a huge cult following and we are totally part of it. To understand our deep love and appreciation for John and his brother Hank check out the website that grew out of their Brotherhood 2.0 project, where they communicated using daily, public, absolutely hilarious videoblogs for an entire year. (In their sidebar is a link to the original site if you want to start there, or search youtube for their Peeps and Happy Meal challenges.) I realize that once you discover the genius that is the Green brothers you might never make it back here, but I would forgive you. While we haven't contacted the brothers yet, we'd love to meet both of them on our ride across the country; our current route plan takes us through their home states of Montana and Indiana for just that reason.
Our other Christmas day excitement was the appearance of Hersh the squirrel. He earned his name and my amused attention by discovering an expired bottle of chocolate syrup in the trash, gnawing open the side, consuming vast quantities of the syrup, and then carrying the bottle in his teeth as he scampered down the stairs, across the fence, up a tree, and atop a wooden post, bobbling but never dropping his treasure. I suppose I'm glad that we could bring chocolate and joy to his holiday, and I wish you the same (minus the gnawed plastic).
| posted at: 03:34 |
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