A Long December

December 2007 was (and still is) pretty great. Early in the month we had our first snowfall here in Philly, and as a result I get all happy, but not as happy as Grom. Here's the wintery scene from my front door.

snowy courtyard

My dog glows in the dark, that's normal right?

The Big 2-9: Bridget and I consolidated our birthday parties and rented out the downstairs at St. Stephen's Green. It was a great night, but flew by way too fast. The shots may have had something to do with that...

drunk dancing

Keith and Bridget: Best picture of the night

Dusty comes home: After a year in London, the boy is back. My little brother is famous for talking in his sleep and being difficult to wake up. When he was a toddler, we used to call him spaghetti man because once he was asleep, you could literally hold him upside-down by his ankles and not wake him. He's like a rag doll, and can sleep anywhere. That informs the following two embarrassing stories. Sorry Dust, these bear repeating:
I went to London with Dust to help him find an apartment and get settled in. Our first night there, we were staying in a youth hostel above a bar in Camden Town. We hit the pubs for a little while and around midnight, I decided to turn in. Dust said he was going to head down to the basement lounge to check his email and watch some tv. Around 4am I woke up and hung my head over the top bunk to check that he had gotten to bed alright--no Dusty. Hmmm....so I get up and wander down to the bar in my pajamas, thinking maybe he's befriended the late night crew and is still at the bar--empty. I check the lounge in the basement and still no Dust.
At this point mild panic is starting to set in. Where could he have gone? It's our first night in London, we don't have phones. Surely if he went home with a girl he would have at least left me a note so we could met up at breakfast...WTF? As I stand pondering how I am going to tell my parents that I lost him six hours into our stay, I hear a dull pounding from the bathroom in the lounge. I'm still half asleep, so I stand there and listen. It sounds like someone is kicking the base of the door.
"Dust?"
"GAIL! GAIL, I've been stuck in here FOREVER!"
"Um, you want me to get help?"
"YEAH- THAT WOULD BE GOOD!"
And that is how Dusty spent his first night in London locked in a water closet in the basement of a bar.

Me, Dusty, Dad

Fast forward one year: Dust has finished his degree in audio engineering, fell in love with a German girl, traveled to 10 countries and picked up a convincing cockney accent, BUT, below that sophisticated European makeover, beats the heart of Spaghetti Man. It's his first night back in the states so my Dad, Dust and I go out to celebrate. After a few shots at the Green Room, we make it back to my place around 3am. I volunteer to sleep on the couch and leave my bedroom to these two characters. I fall asleep on the couch while my brother is sitting in the chair next to me. Around 7am, I hear the following conversation but I assume I am dreaming:
Jackie (my roommate): "What are you doing?!"

Dust: "I thought it would be warmer"
"But, you're sleeping on metal"
"Well, where should I go?"
"Downstairs, there's a bed, with blankets!"
"Oh ok, mumble mumble" (still sound asleep)
As we are getting ready to go to breakfast, Dusty can't find his clothes anywhere. He finally comes across them in the kitchen and thinks I have moved them there. Later, the whole story comes out when I talk to Jackie. It seems that Dusty fell asleep in the chair and then Spaghetti Man decided to wander into the kitchen, strip down to his boxers and curl up on top of the washer and dryer in the pantry.

You could see how it could happen. It does look cozy.