I spent today doing laundry and trying to figure out what to get Patrick for Christmas. He told me he doesn't really want any particular thing for Christmas, so with that in mind, instead of buying him some random DVDs off his Amazon wishlist, I put aside $100 for our future (car/apartment/whatever). And I'm going to add to it a little each month. Not a very satisfying present, but it's better to have a little nest egg than to have a bunch of stuff, right?

I'm not good at keeping secrets, so Patrick already knows about his present. I hope he doesn't think it's lame! Or that I'm being psycho and smothering him. I don't think so...I mean, if we're going to buy a car together, that suggests some kind of permanency to our relationship, so saving money for our future makes sense. Plus he has to stay with me to redeem his present. Ha ha, sneaky!

Well, I'm back in stupid, cold Boston (tickets for a Sunday return were way too expensive, what with it being Thanksgiving weekend). Here's what happened after I wrote last:

Thursday:
We headed over to Patrick's family's house mid-morning. Sat around on the couch doing crossword puzzles and talked to his older brother, Jay, while his older sister, Kate, worked on making scalloped potatoes and sweet potatoes (everything else was from Draeger's, like last year).

Turns out Jay's car (the family's old van) got smashed into while it was parked in San Francisco, so he's probably going to take Patrick's car (which actually belongs to his dad) sometime soon. That means Patrick and I will have to buy our own car sooner than expected (we were thinking we'd need to get one in about a year, when his younger sister, Meg, turns 16). So we spent a good deal of time during the visit discussing what kind of car to get. We have quite a few differences of opinion. I want used, he wants new. I want an automatic, he wants manual. I want a cute little European sedan, like a Jetta, he wants something to haul around his sports stuff in, like a Subaru Impreza. Luckily, we're both flexible, so I'm sure we'll reach an agreeable compromise.

I like talking about the future with Patrick :) But paying off a car loan will be less enjoyable...Does anybody have advice on buying a car for the first time?

Anyway, back to the recap. We ate a tasty dinner around 3, then sat around watching TV for a while and eating even more food (Patrick has amazing stomach capacity!). After awhile, we went back to Patrick's apartment, where we watched more TV and ate some of his apartmentmates' leftover pie (chocolate silk, mmm).

Friday:
Patrick was nice enough to come see Love Actually with me. As he said while I was blubbering on his shoulder during the closing credits, it pushed all my cry buttons. I liked it, even though all that crying made me want to take a nap afterwards...

Later on, we went to dinner at Osteria, a nice little Italian restaurant in downtown Palo Alto. It was surprisingly affordable (about $11 for pasta dishes and $15 for meat dishes). We started with tomatoes and mozzarella, which had an interesting pesto-y sauce that was good for dipping the sourdough bread in. My entree (tortellini with prosciutto) was only so-so, but everything else was great. Patrick had some good pasta carbonara. And then we split chocolate-hazelnut flan (Patrick generally shudders at the thought of flan, but he agreed that this was pretty good). I definitely want to go there again!

Oh, and there was this cute little boy at the neighboring table who kept turning around and laughing and making faces at me during dinner. His family got a kick out of it and said he was flirting with me. Luckily, Patrick didn't kick his toddler ass :)

Today:
We woke up at 6:45 this morning (what's with me and the early flights? They suck!). We had the normal sad goodbye in front of the airport. I hate that part! Now I have to wait three more weeks to see him again. But we're lucky compared to Matt and Noah; they had long-distance relationships in college, and they didn't get to see their girlfriends every month.

My flight home wasn't so great. It was one of the old planes with no TVs, and on the second leg of the flight, there were a bunch of babies who kept screaming. But at least they were cute to look at when they weren't crying. And I didn't have any annoying little kickers in the row behind me, so it could've been much worse.

And now I'm home again, and winter appears to have come to Boston while I was gone. Oh well...

I'm in California! My flight last night went pretty well, despite being over 6 hours long. The in-flight movie was Legally Blonde II, which I was secretly hoping for (everybody around me groaned when they announced it, but I was happy). It wasn't that good, so I'm glad I didn't have to spend money to rent it.

I had a little boy (maybe 8 or 9 years old) sitting next to me on the plane, and his dad was next to him. The little boy fell asleep on me, and it made me happy :) The dad apologized and tried to make the little boy sleep on him instead...he doesn't understand that I don't get to be around kids very often.

I had pasta on the plane, as usual (I'm wary of airplane chicken, since it has a better chance of giving me food poisoning, right?). The dessert on American Airlines flights is so good--it's like really moist fatty white cake with lemon frosting and coconut and toasted almonds on top. And it's a little frozen, which makes it taste better. Horror of horrors, the little boy didn't eat his, and when I volunteered to eat it for him (he asked if anybody wanted it!), his dad gave him a look, and I didn't get to eat the extra dessert. It went in the trash. That was the saddest part of the flight :(

Anyway, I got in safe and sound last night, we went to bed, and now it's Thanksgiving! I love my Patrick :) He makes me laugh so hard, and it's nice waking up with somebody next to you in bed (but less nice when they steal the blankets every night, Patrick!). We're going to go over to his family's house (which is just a few miles away) soon, and start eating. I wish I could've come earlier so we could've cooked something and brought it with us, but no such luck. Maybe next year I'll be a good guest. Or maybe next year I'll convince Patrick to come to Thanksgiving in Colorado instead :)

Only a few more hours until I head off to California for Thanksgiving! I just read my entry from last year, where my flight was delayed and I had to be switched to a different airport and everything. I hope things go smoothly this year! I'm flying with American this time around, which is far superior to ATA. But the security lines will be longer.

The best part is that next Thanksgiving, I might not have to travel at all! Or at least I'll be able to do my travelling with Patrick, which would be much better than alone. I'm so lucky to have him, even if we live far away from each other (it's good to remind myself of the positive things in life every once and awhile).

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

I bet I piss off my neighbors by laughing so hard at the TV. I like laughing, and without Patrick around, I don't get many chances. And I sneeze loudly too. But not loudly enough that my neighbors can hear it through the walls. I mean, jeez!