So, other than being really busy with work–Mark especially–there isn’t a whole lot going on for me to blog about…but, since I’m sitting here at work with NOTHING to do, I decided I’d reach deep down and thing of something relatively interesting, so here it is:

We’re flying on a really cool new airline for Christmas! It’s the “Reeder family year” so we’ll be in Maryland. That’s a relatively long flight from LA, and it can get really boring without proper entertainment and comfy seats. So, I’m happy to announce the geniuses of the air Virgin Airlines are coming to America with Virgin America Airlines! Though I’ve never flown Virgin Atlantic, I hear only positive things. And, after searching multiple sites for the cheapest airfare for the holidays, we stumbled upon this gem.

I love their booking engine. It has a strip with each day of the week with the lowest one way fare for that day posted. When you click on the day, it shows your possible flight times with their prices. Kind of like Jet Blue and Southwest. So, it was relatively easy to see what days and times would work for us.

Then, upon further inspection of the site, you get a sample of their “mood lighting,” soft leather seats, personal entertainment screens, personal plugs–just like ones on the ground, like a three prong, USB and an Ethernet. I could actually bring my laptop and it will work the whole trip! Not that I would, since it’s Christmas and I’ll be on vacation, but I could. And use the cute laptop bag Mark got me last Christmas.

With the entertainment screens, you can even program your own playlist with more than 1000 songs on it. There are many, many movies to choose from, but they are pay-per-view. It does only cost $8 though, so a bargain by our standards.

I am also excited about the food situation. There are mini fridges in the cabin with chilled water so you can get it whenever you want–no more waiting for them to serve you. That’s handy when you can’t bring your own. Also, you can buy food from a menu, and they’ll bring it when you want it….not when they’re going down the aisle at their speed. This could be really great for me. I never seem to bring enough snacks.

Well, you can check it out yourself at www.virginamerica.com.

Instead of the typical friend or family filled 4th with BBQ and waterfights, Mark and I spent the day in a car….very exciting! We were on our way to Lake Powell for a long weekend with the Tate side of my family. Coming from Los Angeles, and going to the Utah side of the lake–not Page, Ariz. makes for a long drive.

One highlight–We stopped in Cedar City so I could see my adorable “niece” Kaylee who was wearing the cutest red and white striped dress–very patriotic. She seemed to like Mark too, especially when he held her in his arms and bounced his knee like he always does–annoys other people, but aparently babies like it.

Driving through small Southern Utah towns is interesting. You can’t help but marvel at how they live these simple lives of farming, ranching and running little stores or motels. The country is beautiful, however, with meandering streams and green meadows laid out for cows to eat at their leisure.

We made pretty good time and reached the Lake in the early evening. The rest of the family was there, gathered in front of the lodge sitting in camp chairs. After catching up, and eating at the little restaurant looking overthe lake at sunset, we were ready for the fireworks to begin. Interestingly, there is a sign when you enter the park nothing that fireworks are illegal. But, I guess if you’re a park employee that doesn’t apply because they do a “fireworks show” just up from the marina. It started slowly with one guy lighting them all. It was really exciting. But, it gained momentum and there were a couple of spots where there were a lot of fireworks at once. The best was after the “finale” they had a few left and one exploded near the ground. It started a small fire that got bigger and bigger. It was far enough away that we couldn’t really see how many people were down there and what they were doing, but it didn’t look like they were trying to put it out at all. It just kept getting bigger. This was more exciting than the fireworks show had been! But, finally, we saw them dousing the flames, averting a potential governmental embarrassment.

Unfortunately, I think I’ve been ruined in the fireworks show department…after years of over stimulation and amazing displays it takes a lot of fireworks in a good show to get me worked up…maybe after years of therapy I’ll be able to be content with a small show of patriotism again.

Here are some photos of our trip:
http://kirstenandmark.smugmug.com/gallery/3125052#P-1-15

Ok…well, maybe they aren’t trees, but they are plants that provide oxygen and vegetation to the world…well, our apartment.
The problem is, we can’t seem to keep them alive. No matter how hard we try, they only last a few weeks…some of the more hardy ones a little longer. It started with our house warming party a year ago. We received our first plant, and was actually a rosemary tree, shaped like a sphere perched on top of a long thin trunk. We (I) were so excited. Following soon after, we adopted a pretty little cilantro plant…Unfortunately we went out of town and when we returned, they were both sickly. Cilantro never recovered. Rosemary struggled ahead, dying a slow death of one brown section at a time.

When my dad moved from Burbank last August, we inherited his three plants since they wouldn’t like Vail, Colorado in the winter. Through all these months, they thrived. The little ivy-like plant was green and healthy, and the other two (I have no idea what kind they are) were actually growing….Suddenly, one day the ivy-like plant was dead. It dried up over night and was a crispy brown. We almost had a funeral.

But, I was comforted by the fact that we had 1. Kept it alive for so long, and 2. That we had two others still going strong. With them doing so well, we though we’d add some color to our family and picked up a bright blue/purple Hydrangea plant.

That was two weeks ago. It was so happy at first, with sun and water at just the right amount of heat…it was even growing a second stalk! A sad bit of news threatened our plant happiness–one of the plants in the hallway was discovered to have decaying/brown leaves on the bottom! It’s a bit dark there, so we hadn’t noticed, especially since it’s a very dark green. We’ve moved it to the light of our kitchen in hopes that it will respond to that a bit better.

And, now, the Hydrangea is all crumpled and curled. In the beginning, it would only get that way if it was very dry, now, it is just damp–not soggy–like the directions say. We’re keeping it in the sunniest part of our house….but to no avail. I’m afraid for our little plant.

My theory–our apartment gets TOO hot! Oven like…when we open the door in the evening, it’s stuffy and sticky. It’s all just too much for the vegetation. I really do have to water them every day, a lot, in order for them to not be dry.

So, since I love my plants and want them to live, we are giving them back to their rightful owner…this week we’re traveling up to see my dad and he is getting his plants back! We hope they will be able to survive the Vegas heat a little better….
Here’s to saving the planet!