*Update from the road* Well,

*Update from the road*

Well, original plans had me getting home tomorrow… but, that’s not going to happen anymore. Let me explain. Well, actually, let me start at the begining.

On the 19th I flew into Houston, spent two days, including my birthday hanging out with Lauren before leaving on the morning of the 22nd. We drove for two days across the beautiful Texas landscape, through New Mexico and into Durango CO. We spent four great days playing in the snow, having fun. We went skiing, snow-mobiling, sleigh-riding, all that good stuff. Unfortunatly, the fun ended on Friday night. We were shopping downtown when Mr. Arolfo slipped on the ice and broke his leg in three places. That facilitated a trip to the hospital and surgery. He’s still there as we speak. This obviously complicates matters a bit. We can’t leave. I can’t get back to NH and so on. So, the tenative plan now is to drive back to Savannah with Lauren directly from TX. Which isn’t to bad. My dad is planning on driving my car down and dropping off my stuff. So that’s cool. I’ll give Pete a call and hopefully he’ll be able to be there when my dad drives in. Also, if Mr. Arolfo gets out of the hospital a day late, then Lauren and I have to drive the two days to TX then the two days to Savannah IN A ROW. That would suck. Hopefully he gets out on Wednesday. At any rate, the situation sucks but we’re all dealing. I’m trying to help out the Arolfos as much as possible and we’ll get through it. Oh, did I mention that classes start on Monday. Yah. More fun to the mix. We’ll see how it works out. Sorry boys, I won’t be able to hang out this week. I’ll let everyone know how everything is going if I can but I probably won’t be able to check back in until Savannah, which, if you’re doing the math, won’t be until Monday. Ok, gotta run. Wish me luck.

Well, I’ve only got a

Well, I’ve only got a few hours left here in NH and then it’s off to TX and CO. This will probably be the last post until after New Years. I won’t be anywhere near a computer. Which, is a good thing I think. Anyway…

My basic schedule… for anyone that cares is fairly simple. Tomorrow morning around 7am, FlightLine picks me up at drops me at Logan around 9-9:30. I check in, have fun with security and then leave on AirTran, flight 279 at 11:45. I fly into Atlanta at 2:30, have a brief layover and leave on AirTran flight 130 for Houston at 3:20. I should be in Houston at 4:30 local time. That would be 5:30 for those of you in New England or on East Coast Time. I spend three days in TX, celebrating my birthday with Lauren, then leave with her family for Durango CO on the morning of the 22nd. We spend Christmas there, have fun, ski, etc. Then we drive back to Houston on the 30th. I spend a few more days there, ring in the new year and then fly home on the 2nd. I get back into Boston at about 6pm that night. After that, it’s a few days of rest then I’m off for school again on either the 5th or 6th. Probably the 5th.

Ok, take care everyone. Have fun and stay out of trouble. Merry Christmas to all. Happy Birthday to me. Have a safe and happy holidays and New Years. Etc etc etc. Later.

One day to go. I’m

One day to go. I’m feeling better about the whole thing, realizing that somethings are just out of my hands. Last I heard from Canada, they were still figuring out how to proceed or if to proceed. As for me, I’ve gotten 98% of everything done. All thats left to do is repack my bag to make it a little lighter, find my old ski cloves and to remember to set an alarm for the morning. Also, my sudo-birthday present to myself from myself but paid for by my parents will be here shortly. At least that’s what ups.com seems to think so. Joy. I’ve also changed my schedule next semester for school. A “History of Jazz” class opened up, and since I need history credits, why not. I dropped poetry which is a shame because I wanted to take it, but I already had an english elective and it wouldn’t have helped me graduate. Plus this way it makes my course load a little lighter so I can concentrate on solid work in Studio and really beef up my portfolio. Its a compromise I can live with. Anyway, so that brings us to less than 24 hours till lift off. I really starting to get amped for this. I can’t wait to see Lauren, ski some powder and relax in the beauty of the Rockie Mts. I’ve been wanting to do that all my life. Ok, I’ll check in before I leave. Later.

Well, I’ve got half a

Well, I’ve got half a million things on my mind and another half million things to do. I’m worried about my grandmother, I’m worried about flying, I’m worried about money. I’m just not in the right mindset to “go on vacation” yet. Anyway. Today I’ve got so much to do. I need to make a bank deposit, go to MVP, go to B&N, pack, get my skies down from the attic, do laundry… the list goes on and on. To top it off, it’s snowing. Sorta. It’s “dusting” and won’t do anything besides make the roads annoying. How fun. So, today I run around, won’t relax and will worry about everything. Look out world… today… Matt’s a mess.

This afternoon, something horrible has

This afternoon, something horrible has happened. A little bit after I woke up this afternoon my mom got a phone call from her brother in Canada. He said that their mother, my grandmother, had just had a heart attack and that they were rushing her to the hospital. Through-out the afternoon, the relatives in Canada kept us up todate. Last we heard the situation wasn’t very good. My grandmother went into cardiac arrest, either from the heart attack or a blocked artery. They revived her and installed a temporary pace-maker until they could determine the cause and what to do about it. Hearing this, we started packing for Canada. Now, I’m scheduled to fly to TX on Wednesday and so, to be able to do this, I’d need to fly from Helifax Nova Scotia to Boston and then to TX. I realized at this point that I would need a passport in order to get back into the country. I don’t have a valid passport. I couldn’t go. My family packed up the car and just left moments ago on their 16 hour trip to Canada and I couldn’t go. This upsets me greatly. I had thought about getting a passport a few months ago but I neglected to do it. I would have been able to go if I had. Everyone else in my family has one except me. I’m upset at this point. I love my grandmother very much. Unfortunatly I don’t get to visit my Canadian relatives all that often, but I feel like I should be there at the moment. But, I’m here. Alone. I’ve made arrangments with a shuttle service to drive me to Logan on Wednesday. It seemed the sensible thing to do. I don’t quite know what to say. I’m in a bit of shock so you’ll have to excuse me.