Our Christmas and Anniversary Trip in Photos and what we came home to find on our doorstep

Our plane from Vegas to Providence (Southwest!)-
The very first book I ever made circa 1980, I think-Christmas Eve. 4 a.m. I was the only one awake. David was sick and stayed in bed for several days. A Lego Christmas-
Dewey The Wonder Dog opens his own Christmas presents-
Another Kelly Classic (lol). Spent Christmas afternoon and evening at my cousin Bev's house in Foxboro. I always love seeing family and friends. I'm sad that I only was able to see them that one time, but am grateful that at least I got to see them. I can't wait to see them again soon!!!

Alas, no pictures of the wonderful time I had teaching at Susan's Studio in Whitman and at Ink About It in Westford. Thanks guys! I can't wait to do it again!!!
Our Anniversary on New Years Eve in Cambridge. David and I decided no store bought this year. So, we made each other books for our Christmas presents.
David made color copies of all of the cards that both he and Tristan have made me over the years and collected them into a book-
We had a ton of fun in one of our favorite cities, Cambridge, MA. I snapped this photo at Zoe's in Harvard Square (thanks to the clerk at the Harvard Bookstore for recommending Zoe's!)
David took this one of me-
and this one (wait, wait! I said to him. Take a picture of this!)-
An unexpected snow storm led us to leave Massachusetts a day early for Tivoli, NY to visit David's family. It worked out pretty well!
A view from the Hudson-
I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus...
The snow we hit on the drive home (eeps!!! The Taconic was a wee bit scary to drive in. Even worse was when we got off the road to get gas and went several miles out of our way to find the gas station closed. We made it safely home. A 3 hour tour, I mean drive, turned into a 5 1/2 hour drive.)
We didn't hear as much Lego Love on this trip. It was more Dewey Love-
and Tucker T. Remlik Love (thanks, Sharyn!)-
Mom and Tristan at the Enchanted Village at Jordan's Furniture in Avon, MA. Mom relived her childhood. I got the pictures to prove it!
Ah, Corita Love-
Make Way for Ducklings decked out in their Christmas Best in Boston-
Tristan (wearing my hat!!) in the Public Gardens-
Tristan and my hands on the flight from Vegas to Los Angeles-

Most people when they're on vacation return home to find a stack of bills and a load of dirty laundry. We come home and find an eviction notice and that David's computer is broken.

I mailed the rent check overnight express paying $17.50 to the building manager's home address on the 28th of December. It was received on the 29th and a notice was left. I phoned the building manager today to inquire about the eviction notice and the fact that I damn well mailed the rent check and have the proof in writing and he said he never bothered to pick it up. He received the notice and KNEW that there was something there for him. By law, we have the right to not only leave the check in the mail box but also to MAIL it. He left on the 24th (and didn't give us notice that he was leaving until that day. He was already gone when I went to leave the check.). I wasn't going to leave the check in an unsafe location (a mailbox that is on street level for anyone to see/stick their hands in/even break the mailbox off!), so I did the next best thing and used the US Post Office and mailed it overnight Express. He never picked the envelope up so before they could send it back, so WE went to the post office today to pick it up. I went over to the building manager's apartment and opened the envelope up in front of him. He accepted the check but I can't tell you how much it angers me. What if we had come home and all of our stuff had been out on the street??? oy. I have been paying rent on the first of the month every month on time since April 1st, 1996 when we moved here. Our previous landlord tried to do the same thing when Tristan was a baby. They held onto our check and told us it never came (our rent is low and we moved in before they changed the rent control laws). They did all sorts of things to us not realizing we would fight back and find out our rights. It came out in the disclosure that they had our rent check all along and they dropped the case, but we had to spend over $800 fighting them, not to mention the work (money) that David lost in doing so. Not to mention the stress. It also bothers me psychologically because we feel we can never go anywhere for very long without having to worry about someone coming in here. It's harassment, plain and simple.

Now those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time know that I like to post my real life adventures as a renter here. I'm not posting for comments, sympathy or anything else other than to document the fact that this shit happens.

As someone said to me, hopefully this will be the worst thing that happens in 2010. We'll get the crappy stuff out of the way right away. :) *Fingers crossed*