“Home is not where you live, but where they understand you” ~ Christian Morganstern

Well, where did I last leave you in the adventures of Theresa?  hmmm... oh yes, Christmas.  I have had a Christmas very similar to Hanukkah in which I get presents several times over the course of a few weeks :)  It has been great!

After Christmas dinner at Eva's I went out with Hans, Magnus and Sara for drinks with Hans' friend Andreas (the giant).  Apparently, it is very common to go out and party with your friends on Christmas night in Sweden.  It is kind of similar to our Thanksgiving Eve parties... everyone is in town and very happy... so lets go drink!  We went to this very short bar which was in an old cellar but really cool.  The short thing didn't affect me so much but Magnus and Andreas had to stoop over when they walked around! Here are some pictures:

 Sara (Hans', pictured here, girlfriend) requested that this one makes it on the blog ;)

 This is what he normally looks like.

 Magnus and Sara

 Andreas the giant

 The fam!

 Artistic shot over a glass of beer... blame Magnus

 Hans bought the table a bottle of champagne.  He is so cool he even had them pour one out just because he can... just kidding!

 But he was very generous and we all enjoyed a few glasses.

 Me dancing at the table... yes, that is my dancing face.

 Andreas the giant... I think this is his American look.

 Sara, what are you doing?

 Zoolander...

Blue Steel!

Then there was some real dancing... where we stood up I mean.  Andreas had to dance a little bent over at times because of the ceiling! It was a lot of fun and a lot of drinking which then led to raiding the fridge when we got home!! yum :)

The next day I went to Stockholm with Hans and Sara and then to the airport to try and make it home to NC.  I am sure you have all heard of the chaos that is the north east... mainly Newark.  Well, that is where I was supposed to fly into!  I was concerned but optimistic, usual Theresa mode.  I got to Arlanda, the Stockholm airport and it said my flight was only 1 hour delayed! Great! I got on the plane and my view was this:

 Then we sat on the plane for 2 more hours while they de-iced it... decided if we would make it to Newark and in general were really bitchy.  I don't understand why the flight attendants were so rude! We were all very nice, no one caused a scene but if you asked for anything or needed help they were super rude! Wankers.

 I managed to fall asleep, mostly because there was nothing else to do.  I had finished my book.  The movie screens stopped working about 3 hours into our flight and there was nothing to eat.  I woke up and looked out and saw this! Sooo pretty!  Then I looked over and saw someone's screen worked, they had it on the flight map but it was showing us going to Ohio.  Weird I thought, it must be a little off... why would we go to Ohio?  Then when we were about to land (this was the longest flight ever it felt like) the pilot said "well the weather in Cleveland is bla bla bla, local time is bla and our flight was 9 hours something minutes, well over an hour longer then it should have been."  WHAT?!?!? CLEVELAND?!?!?

 We sat here for about an hour deciding if we could just refuel and go to Newark, or maybe Philly or maybe they would just dump us out here and say good luck.  Which is what they ended up doing.  

I then stood in the ticket line for an hour or so with a million tall blonde Scandinavians and tiny little Asians, whose plane was also diverted here from Tokyo.  It was a mad house and I realized it was exactly what you see on TV! I was in that situation!  Weird.  I managed to get on standby for a flight to Raleigh at 7 or so... but I was second standby.  If I couldn't get on that flight I would have to wait until SATURDAY for a flight!!! WHAAAAA!  I almost joined a car ride of some other girls from my flight who were going to the east coast but decided to take my chances with standby.  I was feeling confident, went through security where NO ONE was in line because they were all still at the ticket counters.  Then sat and waited... and waited and waited.

I started feeling more and more tired... confused about what time it was... where I was and if I would get home.  I started out sitting up, reading and being coherent.  When I had an hour left till my flight I was at the point where I could barely mange to order a pizza (I couldn't remember what type I ordered), sagging in my seat and giggling uncontrollably at sarcastic comments made my airline people and goofy cleaning people.  I could barely hold conversations on my phone and was getting a little nervous about getting on the plane as the waiting area filled up more and more.  THEN I saw this:

 A BEAUTIFUL sunset... Clearly a sign that it would work out!  I had to wait for a long time to get a seat and then I had to gate check my bag of glass! eep!  I sat on the plane with a very nice guy who at one point said "you are getting visibly more tired" which didn't make me feel very good.  I finally arrived in Raleigh and could barely make sentences and Mamma and Pappa picked me up and took me home to bed!  I passed out and slept for a very long time.  Sadly, due to the time change, I woke up wide awake, but tired at 6 AM!  

Then I went to see my two best friends for a brunch.  It turned into a puppy spree for Jenny and a lunch from The Bake House!  Here is Jenny with Valerie's family's puppy:

He had to wear the cone of shame because the got fixed and ate an acorn or something.  He had belly stitches.  Very adorable but teething and tiny puppies definitely have the sharpest teeth!

These ginger bread houses were at The Bake House and absolutely adorable!

Then we went to my parents house, played with Mamma's poodle puppy Julia and exchanged gifts! It was really nice to see them both, but way too short lived!  I won't see them again until JUNE!!!!! Which is horrible.  They got me great presents and I think they enjoyed their glass gifts from me.   The rest of the time I have spent trying to get over my jet lag and cloud mind and spending time with Sam and my family.  

Yesterday, Alex and I went for a ride and then to Raleigh to buy me a deeply fabulous outfit for New Years Eve!!! I can't wait to see Sam's band play and visit all my Virginia friends!  I hope you all have a good New Years and see you in 2011!!!!