Cleveland: A week and 3 days

So I've started to settle in to Cleveland a little and I'm enjoying myself. As I said in my first couple posts, my aunt and uncle arrived here a couple days after I did and I'm really glad they're here. I enjoy spending time with them and my family. It gives me a chance to just sit down and relax for a while unlike my last winter break.

I'll put that little bit in perspective. I'm staying here in Cleveland for 16 days of my winter break, then I head back to Fairbanks for a few days before I start Spring Training for my RA job. While in Cleveland, I'm relaxing, spending time with family, reading, and getting the chance to explore a new area. I'm DOING things with my time or intentionally not doing things.

Last year I was in Valdez for 28 days before coming back to Fairbanks for the opening of the dorms for students. Starting the day after I got back I worked 40 hour weeks at the schools in Valdez doing IT work for the entire break. My average day consisted of: wake up, go to work, come home, nap, eat, play video games, sleep. It was hellish, but I made some good money and had been used to waking up at 7am.

And I like it.

Christmas was a fun time too here. Everyone was super excited to open presents and I have to admit, I really like the stuff that I got from my family. Sport socks, a 15-plug surge protector, brain teasers, and a Nook Tablet. I. Love. New technology. This handheld device does a million things that I love. I can use it to remote-desktop to my computer, listen to music, browse the web, play games, and read. Its been so long since I've had the time to just sit and read and now I realize that I missed it. I missed it so much that in the 5 days since Christmas, I've read 5 books: 2 books from different Halo series and the entire Hunger Games Trilogy. That series is really good and I can't wait to see the movie now that I know what the books are about.

As for Cleveland, I've seen a little of it. My favorite trip I've taken so far has been to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens because they were amazing. Something like a living museum. I promise to have pictures up eventually, but at the moment I'm too lazy to get them off of my phone... One of the drawbacks to consistently doing nothing I suppose. I also haven't spent much time on the computer (hence the super late blog update) which I suppose is a good thing considering my conditions here. It's better to spend what time I have not being on my computer.

I head back to Fairbanks in 6 days though and I'll be glad to be there. I miss the cold, the people, the dorm, the classes, and my job. As of late I've also missed the time zone... Q has been keeping me up playing Scrabble until the wee hours of the morning. I'm the competitive sort of fellow who won't just stop and forfeit a game. In our Scrabble series (with the rate that our current game is going at...) The score will sit at 3-2 with me in the lead. I'm losing this game.... BUT I will win the whole thing using that obviously rational 3am brain I have... (Elika and Denali: you can't judge that :P)

So that's my life in a nutshell for now.

Cleveland: Day 1

So I made it to Cleveland, OH yesterday at about 1pm local time (so that's EST instead of AKST). That means to me, it felt like 9am. My flights were pretty bad as well, but they weren't horrible. The Fairbanks-Anchorage flight wasn't too bad though. While I was waiting at the airport I realized that there were about 9 other RAs on our flight so I could hang out with them while I waited to depart. Plus, Q was coming in on the flight that I was going out on so I got to see her for a bit as well before I left! It was a good day at the airport to see people! As for the flight, there wasn't anything of note really, so I'll call it decent.

The second flight though.... Man that flight was bad. I was on a 5 hour trip from Anchorage-Chicago and in the airport (prior to boarding) they were asking for volunteers to take another flight set because the flight I was on was overbooked on LAP BABIES. Yes, apparently that happens. Now think of the implications of that sentence.... My flight was at max capacity for babies. For a 5 hour flight that started at midnight. That flight was filled with crying and the entire front of the plane smelled like baby poop. Needless to say, I didn't sleep that much on that flight.

The Chicago O'Hare airport was pretty interesting when I landed and I took the time to seek out the USO there while I was on the ground. For those who don't know, the USO is basically a little hangout area with comfy chairs, nice people, free food/drink, and free internet for military dependents, active duty members, and retired servicemen of all branches. Its basically their way of saying thank you for being a part of our military and having to travel. I really liked it there too. As for the Chicago-Cleveland flight, my gate was switched 4 different times from across the airport and I almost missed my flight. It was rather annoying... I don't know how the flight was though because I passed out almost immediately.

Now I'm in Cleveland! Its really warm here... And rainy. But I don't mind. My family hasn't changed that much either since the last time I saw them at the beginning of June. My brother Connor still tried to fight me while I was sleeping, my mom still does mom things, my dad still throws laundry out the back door. You know, Verfaillie family stuff. I do have my own room here though, so that's nice. I also had a haircut when I woke up at 2pm and I'm convinced that eventually I'll piss off my parents by sleeping on Alaska Standard Time while I'm on the east coast. But now I'm off to go shopping with my family in stores that are actually cheap to buy things in and where the selection of stores to shop at may exceed 10.

And I probably won't post everyday, but I'll update on my adventures when I can.