Most of this post was written while waiting to board my flight from LAX to DFW today and the rest was written after I got on the plane but before takeoff. Just another random stream-of-consciousness offering from yours truly!

Here I am, sitting at the airport again. The American Airlines terminal is all done up with Christmas trees everywhere which was a bit of a surprise to me even though it is just three days until Christmas. That made me realize that I haven’t flown anywhere for Christmas in years. Dan and I flew to New Zealand on 12/21/08 and spent Christmas there, but that was four years ago. Right now there are Christmas songs playing on the sound system at LAX. Since I haven’t been able to get into the Christmas spirit this year due to a variety of factors I haven’t been listening to the 24/7 Christmas stations this holiday season. I know I’ll regret missing the music when it’s gone, but I just wasn’t in the right mindset for it this year. I do have a few Christmas songs on my iPod, but not that many. I probably need to bulk up my holiday playlist before I board my first flight. I have no idea if there will be a movie shown on the way to Dallas. I should check that on the American Airlines website since LAX finally has free wifi. It’s really nice. I know I there won’t be a movie on my flight from Dallas to Tallahassee because the plane is very small. I’m not sure which model, but it just has one seat on one side of the aisle and two seats on the other side. Fortunately I like flying in small planes. I’ll definitely have to update the video library on my iPhone before I get on that flight because I’ll be solely responsible for my own entertainment. I decided not to bring my iPad with me on this trip because I didn’t want three different electronic devices on my carry-on bag (the iPad would have been in addition to my laptop that I’m using right now and my Kindle which I plan to use on board if I can stay awake). But when I was in the security line this morning I found out that you no longer have to take Kindles and iPads out of your carry-on bag when putting them through the x-ray machine. That would have been nice to know ahead of time. I remember the first time I got chastised for not putting my Kindle in a separate bin when going through security. Since then I’ve usually just been packing it in my suitcase (wrapped up in t-shirts for cushioning) to avoid the hassle of another electronic device that has to be scanned separately (although my laptop is small enough that I’ve been able to get away with putting it and the Kindle in a bin together). I’ve been neglecting my reading lately in favor of watching episodes of “Doctor Who” on Netflix Instant on my iPad, but I have several books on my Kindle that I’m looking forward to reading. While they aren’t exactly the most intellectual fare I’m sure reading them would be more beneficial to my brain that watching television. (Although I love “Doctor Who.”) So I packed my Kindle in my carry-on today rather than my suitcase in the hope that I’ll be alert enough to do some reading on the plane. I wouldn’t be surprised if I fall asleep before the plane takes off, though. I only slept three hours last night and I was so out of it when my alarm went off at 2:30 AM that I almost dismissed it as a mistake and went back to sleep. Luckily about ten seconds later I remembered why it was set so early and was able to drag myself out of bed. Yesterday was extremely busy for me for several reasons. On Thursday night I was supposed to bake two batches of cookies to take to Tallahassee with me, but I had a little mishap that prevented it. I was browning the butter for my favorite chocolate chip cookies and I think I cooked it just a little bit too long because when I poured it into the bowl with the brown sugar the mixture smelled burnt. So instead of risking bad cookies (and potentially wasting eggs, flour, and chocolate chips) I just threw the butter/sugar concoction into the trash and decided to start over the next day. This was a problem not only because it was my last full day in town, but also because my calendar was already really packed. The first thing I did that morning was force myself to get out of bed at 5:15 AM and go to my last spinning class of the year. I was still really tired when my alarm went off, but I would have been mad at myself if I had missed it due to laziness. I went to spinning classes all five days this week which was a little intense, but I’m glad I did it. As is usually the case, the week before Christmas has been characterized by good food and lots of it. I’ve been doing a pretty good job of monitoring my intake and avoiding sweets except for the potluck on Tuesday and the Ruby’s outing on Wednesday. And I wasn’t able to turn down a piece of chocolate when one of my co-workers walked around with a box personally offering goodies to each person on Thursday morning. But when someone delivered a huge slice of chocolate peppermint cake to me later that day I was able to successfully pawn it off on someone else. The cake sure looked good, but I was glad to avoid the calories. But back to my explanation of yesterday. I went to work after my spinning class, but I was already so stressed about getting everything done in preparation for my trip to Tallahassee that I decided to leave early. I felt a little guilty leaving before lunch on the last day of the year, but my boss took the day off so it wasn’t really a big deal. I rushed home, threw a load of laundry in the wash, and started baking cookies. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to whip up two batches of cookies (chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodle blondies), but I guess I’ve had so much practice recently that I’ve developed muscle memory. I had left the butter out on the counter to soften overnight, but it’s been so cold in Los Angeles recently (lows in the upper 30s) that it didn’t actually get soft enough. I’ve found that setting a bowl of butter on top of the stove while the oven is heating up works wonders. Well, that and putting the bowl in direct sunlight! I had to brown the butter for the chocolate chip cookies in a saucepan but I was much more careful this time around after burning it the night before. I didn’t quite let the butter get as brown as I could have, but I didn’t want to ruin it again. The two pans of cookies were out of the oven and cooling on the counter in plenty of time for me to leave the house for my afternoon engagement. Dan and I went to see “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” yesterday afternoon and I was really looking forward to it. I guess I’ve been looking forward to it for years now and it’s finally here! Dan really liked the movie, but I wasn’t as big of a fan. I still enjoyed it, but I guess it wasn’t as good as I was hoping. I’ll still go see it again with my dad when I’m in Tallahassee. Dan and I didn’t see the movie in 3D or the new High Frame Rate (HFR) format so I think my dad and I will have to do that to see if it increases the enjoyment for the film. It was so strange seeing Hobbiton on the big screen again. Even though it was more than five years ago it seems like just yesterday I was standing on the hill in front of Bag End, looking out over the farm where Hobbiton was filmed. I felt like I could step into the screen and be right back in Matamata. I wonder if that feeling will be even stronger with the movie in 3D? I guess I’ll find out. In the past my family used to go to the movies on Christmas Day so hopefully my dad and I will go see “The Hobbit” again on Tuesday.