missionaryMAC

​I'm at the airport (LIM) for the first time this year. After tracking my 2024 airport stats , I decided the exercise merited repeating for the sake of comparison. Is 98 airport visits normal? Surely not, unless you're me and have a laminated packing list. But was it low? High?  Here's how the numbers shake out:  I made the most airport visits ( 18 ) in September and the fewest ( 4 ) in October. 2024: May (13) and March/December (5).  Ninety percent of my travel was work-related; 10% was personal. 2024: 80%/20%.  I departed & arrived 25 times with 16 layovers. 2024: Ditto, but with 17 layovers.  I did 28 airport pickup runs and made 23 drop-offs. 2024: 21 and 15 .  My travels took me to 13 unique airports, from ATL to STL. 2024: 22.   Topping out at 38 visits, my most common airport was STI (Santiago). 2024: Same.  My second most common airport ( 23 visits)? BZE (Belize City)! 2024: Santo Domingo.  My last airport visit of 2025 was...

​Christmas 2025 looked markedly different than Christmas 2024 . For starters, I had a certain guy by my side for the entirety of the 24th and 25th (OK, I did last year too, just sans ring). Secondly, a significant number of our missionary coworkers were out of the country, which meant setting aside certain traditions for a quieter celebration.  Somehow, we still managed to top last year and make it to FIVE events on Christmas Eve: 1. Nine AM Spanish service of lessons & carols at Iglesia Luterana de Pueblo Nuevo.  There were exactly 3 Dominicans there, in addition to missionary & seminary families: TRIPLE the number that attended last year's evening version.  Josh did 2 of the readings.  2. Lasagna lunch with friends at my house (per my family's Christmas Eve tradition). Josh made a compound butter for the turkey he'd brine & roast the next day while the lasagna baked.  There was salad & garlic bread, too. Regrettably, I didn't take a picture of ...