Christmas Time!

My freind Mandy and cousin Montana


NSSN 2009


My brief brush with celebrities


Family home time

During December I went home twice for Christmas. the first time was for the Wagemester Christmas. It was great to see everyone but it was very short. It was the first Christmas without my Aunt Christi. For those of you who don't know, Christi (Mom's Side) passed away unexpectedly while I was on vacation in Boston. It was a sad Christmas, but one in which we remembered and honored Christy for the life she led. There was crying and sad parts of course, but overall it was better to have everyone together, enjoying each others presence and the Christmas and Christi's spirit.

The kids enjoyed it of course, and I was able to catch up with everyone that I hadn't seen in awhile. It's a big family with at least 15 other first cousins, most of which are at least 15 years younger than I am. I ended up having to head back to San Antonio the next day. It was a crappy foggy day when I left and of course my flight was delayed. My connection was to Atlanta which apparently was worse. I was starting to get nervous when I heard the landing gear come out of the plane and I was unable to see the ground. the tarmac finally appeared when we were about 5 feet above it. Someone two rows ahead of me said "Oh, shit!" which is exactly what I and probably most of the other passengers thought too.

When we landed I knew I had very little time to get to my next flight. About 14 minutes in fact. I was on a mission to get to my next flight over in the next terminal on time. If anyone knows the Atlanta airport you want in and out as fast as possible. I ended up pushing in front of several rows but I was determined. When I got off my plane, the two members of the band 3 Oh! # were sitting right in front of me. 3Oh!3 is a fairly popular band, most notably known for "Don't Trust Me" and "Starrstrukk" with Katy Perry.

I was focused and could not be distracted by the celebrities but Nate from the band started walking in the same direction. I actually started talking to him quick while we were walking and told him I was planning on going to his show in San Antonio the next day. They were apparently trying to get to Oklahoma City for a show that night and then to San Antonio the next day. He was actually really cool to talk to. I told him I was looking forward to his show tomorrow and that I had to run to my next flight. I ran down the terminal, and then ran down one of the moving sidewalks pushing past people. I arrived to my flight 3 minutes early that left 5 minutes early and was defeated.

I re-booked myself on the next flight and decided that I should at least get a picture with 3Oh!3 since I had some time. I ran back to C Terminal and looked around for them. I finally found them waiting in line for Delta customer service. I went up to Sean this time and talked to him for a short while then asked if I could have a picture. I know it sounds cheesy but these were by far the most famous people I have met and I wasn't going home empty handed. They were very nice about it, and I wished them luck trying to get to Oklahoma City. I made it home slightly late but safe.

The next day Mandy and I went to Not So Silent Night 2009. It was an outdoor concert featuring 3Oh!3, The Fray, Owl City, Boys like Girls, Blue October, Jason Derulo and Jay Sean. I was basically there for 3Oh!3 and I enjoy the Fray from time to time as well. The show started at 3pm. I decided we should get there by 2 because I wanted decent position to see the band.

I should have known better but I think every teenage kid was there. We were definitely the older part of the crowd. The line when we got there already had about 1000 people in and stretched across several blocks. We finally get in and I was fighting for my square foot of space with all my might. We ended up staying till the end but I was dying because there was no way to sit down and The Fray started at 9pm so I was standing for the better part of 7 hours. I was glad we went home before The Fray finished because traffic was still good. The show was alright, but never again do I want to go to a concert where I have no where to sit and no personal space.

"Christmas-Take 2" started on December 20th with another early flight home, this time with a connecting flight through Dallas. I thought Atlanta was a terribly designed airport but Dallas is by far worse. It took us 25 minutes to taxi to our gate which was occupied by another plane and apparently we could not get out at any of the many empty gates right next to it.

Our plane sat for another 20 minutes, giving me about 15 minutes to get to my next flight which was in Terminal B and I would be fine. Come to find out when I got on the train to take me from terminal C to B that we would have to stop at Terminal A first. I was thoroughly annoyed with dyslexic qualities of Dallas and was on the train for 10 minutes. I get off my train and run down the escalator to get to my flight 8 minutes earlier.

The plane was still there so I am thinking I am in the clear. I was very wrong. I went up to the gate person and told them I was here. He told me the flight is closed. I pleaded with the man to let me on the plane but he gave me a lame excuse that they needed to weigh the planned which I decided was code for "We gave away your seat." I grudgingly went to the next flight for iowa which was in "another" terminal and was booked for that and made it safely back.

This time I was able to spend a whole week in Iowa It was filled with friends and family. My HS friends and I were able to get together for a Christmas shin-dig and i went to several family Christmases. I had a chance to hang out with my brothers which I was really excited about and I think they were too. all in all it was an excellent Christmas and it reminded me that I will be back to Iowa because I love my family, friends, and Iowa itself, snow and all.

New years week brought my first visitors. Actually it was cousins of mine who were coming down for a vacation but I was excited someone would be coming down that I could go out with. Paul and Robin and their two kids, Montana and Ciera (sp?) came down for a week long trip. Mandy and I caught up with them on New Year's Eve during the day. It was an amazing 73 degrees out and we went downtown. Mandy and I finally had a chance to go on a riverwalk boat tour, which was more entertaining then I remember it. We ended the night going to a rodeo.

You would think a rodeo would be in a fairly well known area. We had the GPS and I knew it was going to be an interesting trip when we started going down a county road. We ended up getting lost and driving through the most ominous trailer park in the middle of nowhere before we found our destination. We arrived a bit early for the rodeo and we were probably the 5th ones there. My cousin Robin already decided to not take responsibility for the whole trip if it turned out to be a bust. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We ate there and they had some of the best hamburgers and a few drinks before the start of the show.

It was starting to get cold and by the time the rodeo started it was in the high 40's. did I forget to mention this was an outdoor rodeo? Don't worry so did my cousin, Robin. We stayed for most of the rodeo huddled under blankets and sticking close to one another for warmth. My cousin Montana (11 years old) went out for the kid corral. Basically they released a bunch of calves with ribbons on there tails and the kids who got the first ribbon won a bike. It was the funniest thing I watched all night. Mandy I went home after that . We decided New year's Eve would best be spent watching a movie and ringing in the new year back at our place. Downtown would have been crazy and cold and we wanted nothing to do with it.

Alright another, even longer post. Sorry about that. I still want to talk about what's in store next for my next destination and this week's festivities. Hope all is well and I miss you all! Unless your a random person who has come by my blog then I don't miss you because I don't know you. Thanks for reading though.