Well I haven't posted much on here like I said I was going to and my sisters are making me look bad with their updates, so I'm attempting again.

The holiday season was great, but all too short. I enjoyed seeing my family and getting to catch up face to face. As most of you know I'm terrible at calling, emailing, snail mailing or generally staying in touch in anyway so the time together is a great way to reconnect. While living far away is a hinderance to a lot of things, friendships, relationships, familiy, etc. It does have its perks.

One of which is the travel, I like to travel. Living far from home since 2002 has given me the opportunity to travel quite a bit. One thing I have learned over this time is that the journey can be just as good as the destination if you do things right. I think the airport is a cool place, even if most people wouldn't agree with me. I've come to find plenty of ways to pass the time at an airport. Here is a short list of activities and distractions that I've gathered/used over the years that help to pass the time at the airport. Take from it what you will:

1. Puzzle books: (Sudoku, crossword, word search, etc.) the classic choice for most travelers
2. Books/Magazines(if you just like to look at pictures): If you like to read you can bring your own or every airport has a book store, alot that you can read and return for at least a partial refund.
3. People watch: my goodness, this topic may be a blog post all within itself some day
4. Museums: Yes museums, many ap's have museums or art galleries displaying local art or info about the local area, many of these are geared toward kids which is fun for all ages(Chicago)
5. Watch the planes: If you're an aviation nerd like me you try and name all the different kinds of planes
6. Eat!: While this does get expensive ($3 water=bad) you can try lots of different things and I try to never eat at the same place twice. Unless they have a Qdoba!
7. Talk to people: You can meet all sorts of neat people while traveling, but be aware of body language the worst thing you can do is talk to someone who doesn't want to talk. Also have an escape strategy, sometime you can pick some "different" people to talk to.
8. Help people out: Give that mom with 3 toddlers a hand at the security check, help the elderly lady put her luggage in the overhead compartment, that sort of thing. I get pissed at how many people can't do a little thing like hold open a door for someone.
9. Listen to music/watch a movie: an iPod or computer can be your best friend on the road
10. Nap: A lot of people can't do it, Jeni ; ), but I can sleep pretty much anywhere so I jump in the "time machine" and sleep away the layover.

Well these were my "Top 10" hopefully it will be helpful to some of you, maybe when someone gets a chance to visit me!