Alone time in the lab

I love being in the lab on my own. I can listen to NPR without my headphones, I can blog, I can do my work without interruptions. I was enjoying that on Saturday for a while, and for part of today. The odds of being alone are greatly increased since my longtime labmate is away. He practically lives here and I almost never get time to myself here without him. Keep mind he often comes in to use the free fast internet service to watch movie previews or soccer matches, and often is not "working" but is here anyway. Last year he actually had cable and internet at his home because he had a roommate and miraculously I didn't see him as much. This year he is back to living on his own without those services and so he is here much much more. It isn't that I don't like him, but he acts like he owns the lab and so sometimes it is nice to be able to work without having someone else here.

We leave on Sunday to drive to the airport (which is 5 hours away) because it was the cheapest flights E could find, and fly out on Monday. At first I didn't mind flying on Christmas eve, that is until I saw the flight times. We get to his parents city at 11:25 pm! That means we won't really have any Christmas Eve at all :( This is a bummer to me because Christmas Eve is one of my favorite nights of the year. Our family usually goes to church, takes a tour of lights around town, then eats homemade cookies with eggnog and other yummy snacks and then we sit in the living room by the tree talking. As kids we even got to open a present that night from an aunt or something. It was always fun to be dressed up and all be together. This year I will be on a plane. Before we go I have a lot to get done, clean the apartment, wrap presents, pack, make some cookies, pick up a few more Christmas gifts, send out my late holiday cards, and write my b-day thank yous.