Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas in Review

Aloha!!!

Many of you have posted a "Christmas in Review" type of blog, and while usually, I try to stay away from those, I just had to tell you about my Christmas.

This year, I decided to go and spend my Christmas with my Grandma, Great Grandma (who is 100), my Uncle Aaron, his family, and their friend Debbie.

It was AMAZING to say the least. There is something that puts me at ease when I am with my family. There is nothing quite like it, and sadly I don't think I'm ever 100% myself when I am away from my family. Anywho...

Before I get into the awesome parts, let me tell you a story.

Blanche has been giving me trouble (I think it's about time to retire her... :( ), so I decided to rent a car from Enterprise--who I have rented from many times before. I have always enjoyed their customer service and the friendliness of the staff.

I made my reservation with them online a couple of weeks before because I knew that holidays are a busy time for them. When I went to get my car (thanks for the ride Susi!), there were NONE at all. I asked where all the cars were, and they stated that many of the renters from the day before hadn't returned their cars on time. I can understand that, so while being a little put out (I had a time schedule to keep), I was willing to wait. However, as the man checked me in (I think his name was Brad...) he asked where I was going. I stated I was going to Page, which is just a hop skip and a jump over the Utah-Arizona border. He told me that I was only allotted 100 miles a day. I told him I understood, and that I wouldn't be going over the mileage, as Page is only about 150 miles away.



He told me he bumped me up to unlimited miles because Arizona was far away, which bumped my price up to $100 more than I was originally budgeting for this trip. I told him that I wasn't going to go over my miles and I assumed that since he printed off my statement, that he took it off and it was all good. He told me he would call me when my car was there.

An hour later I got a call and went back to get a car. He gave me all the paperwork to sign and asked if I needed insurance. I told him that my insurance covered it, but it didn't seem that he heard me. He asked me again, ad when I repeated my answer, he kept pushing me to get the insurance with them. After I bluntly told him no, he rudely asked what my deductible was. When I told him, he told me that was too high, and that I was mistaken (which I wasn't). In the end, had me initial the paper work and literally ran away from me while I was asking if he had taken off the unlimited miles, which I found he didn't.

I was shocked. I have NEVER been treated like that...EVER. However, since I was so low on time, I just jumped in the car and left. I am STILL upset about it and unfortunately, after my experience with them this time, I don't think that I will be renting from them again. I'm going to talk to the manager when I get there tomorrow to see if he can rectify some of this...so hopefully he will. :S

Anyway let's move on.

After driving to Page and getting here just before dark (you never want to drive to Page in the dark from St. George. There are a TON of deer, and the drivers are just plain SCARY). It was good to see my grandma and great grandma. My great grandma asked me if we could sing one of the songs that I sang at her 100th birthday together. It is called "Welcome to my World" and is sung by...a lot of people. Most famously Elvis and Jim Reeves.

If you ever get the chance to sing a song with a 100 year old person, you should definitely do it! :) It was so cute to hear her sing with me! :) If I can get a digital copy, I may post it. It was ADORABLE! :)

I also got the chance to make eggs benedict for the first time! :) It was super delicious. Next time, I will make my hollandaise sauce last. As I was trying to keep my sauce warm, it broke and I ended up not being able to save it--even after seeking the help of Google. Oh well. It still tasted delightful! :) Poaching eggs wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I found the secret is the temperature of the water. If it is too hot, the egg will cook too quickly and the yolk will cook outside of the whites. If it is too cold, it takes the eggs forever to cook and the whites are more likely to disconnect from the yolk. You need the water to be at the temperature just before boiling. There will be little baby bubbles forming on the bottom of the pan. :)

For Christmas dinner, my Aunty Stacy made beef wellington. This was the first time I was trying it, and it was delicious! We also had asparagus with bacon and a bearnaise sauce, Arkansas dressing, and rolls. It was really good. We chatted with the family, and ended up watching John Wayne movies. I haven't really watched many John Wayne movies, but the one we saw was pretty awesome. Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson were in it. I think the name of it is Rio Bravo. Anyway. It was super cool.

All in all it was a great Christmas. I got a lot of awesome presents, and got to spend time with some of my favorite people. It makes me sad to leave...but I know that they are just a hop, skip, and a jump away. :)

I'll leave you with the lyrics to the song me and my GG sang together. :) Wish me luck at the rental car place!

Welcome to My World
by: Jim Reeves

Welcome to my world
Won't you come on in
Miracles I guess
Still happen now and then

Step into my heart
Leave your cares behind
Welcome to my world
Built with you in mind

Knock and the door will open
Seek and you will find
Ask and you'll be given
The key to this heart of mine

I'll be waiting here
With my arms unfurled
Waiting just for you
Welcome to my world

Waiting just for you
Welcome to my world

1 comment:

Leonani said...

I miss your AZ Fisher family. Did I spell that right? :S Your eating adventures sounded most delectable. :) And I am now looking up this song to hear it. I can totally hear GG singing w/ you. So cute!! And congrats on her centennial!