Quotable
“I’m not sure where he wants to go in the city, I know he’s already been to the Eiffel Tower.” – From somewhat-extremely-inebriated-relative speaking of New York City…not Paris.
Thankful
Megan:
For ice cream cones on a Monday.
For huge sweaters.
For a snuggly dog.
For Dancing with the Stars.
For health.
For the baby and the husband.
For Justin Timberlake.
Lucy:
For dogs.
For ducks.
For my monkey.
For green beans.
For ice.
For jumping on the couch.
For popsicles.
Trent:
For video games.
For sleep.
For beer.
For the business.
For the family.
For silence.
Molly:
For bones.
For food.
For walks.
For water.
For nipple rubs.
*No one actually told me anything they’re thankful for. I just made it up. Except for Molly. She was adament about the nipple rubs.*
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I’ll be in New Jersey for the rest of the week, so I probably won’t have time to write, what, with all of the board games and beer pong.
In-Laws
All via email today….
Ashley: FYI, I looked online and the hotel bathrooms have a hairdryer.
Allison: Funny – I was going to ask if you are bringing a hairdryer and your straightner, Ash.
Ashley: I am bringing curling iron and strainghtner.
Mama Cindy: Girls — all hotels have hair dryers in the rooms now – standard feature. They also have coffee pots – I will bring tea bags…. Plus – our room will have a kitchenette —
*Note: I love my inlaws and they are the best, but they send many, many emails each day, especially as we get closer to the Turkey Day festivities. But I love them. I do!
How to phone home
I had a very long weekend. Very. Very. Long.
I won’t go into the sordid details here, because honestly, it really doesn’t matter all the crap that happened, only that all of this crap caused me an insane amount of stress and worry. The kind of stress and worry that makes you physically ill and unable to sleep. And before you all freak out, everything is fine. But I wasn’t sure it was going to be fine until about 5 p.m. today, so I’m still coming down from my extreme worry-high.
Last night I sat down with mounds of laundry that I had ignored throughout the past few days. I was completely drained and exhausted, but I’d been putting off this task forever, and since we leave for New Jersey in a few days I knew it had to be done. I flipped on the TV and hoped, even prayed, for a nice, simple romantic comedy. Hell, I’d even settle for some mind-numbing Nicolas Cage crap (which I almost did).
Then, as I flipped channels rapidly, attempting to put off my horrid task a few moments longer, I lingered on a screen that said, “Directed by Steven Spielberg” over a black background. An orchestra swelled over the speakers. And for a few moments I was transported back to 7-years-old. I was snuggled up to my sister on the couch of her sorority house over siblings weekend. She let us eat marshmallow cereal for dinner. We were underneath flannel blankets, in the dark chapter room, all light kept out by the plaid curtains. I would cower toward her when the alien came onto the screen, and we both cried when Elliot got sick.
And for a little bit, I wasn’t stressed. I just felt like myself again.
Getaway
My husband has one of those families that really can make you sick. Especially if you come from a family that grimaces through time together, sitting in uncomfortable silences, or basically ignoring each other all together. Trent’s family is one of those families you see on a early 90’s sitcom, where, yes, there are problems, but most everything seems to be solved within a half an hour, and days are full of laughter and fun. It’s a family where all of the “significant others” get just as excited for holidays together as the sibilings.
This weekend we decided to take a quick two-day trip back to the farm with our buddies Heath and Mikayla and Heath’s parents. I’m always amazed at how much fun people seem to have with Trent’s family, even when it’s their first experience. It always makes me feel so lucky to be a permanent part of the group.
So, after a long weekend full of wine, random games of croquet on the lawn, ping pong, beer, movies, football, all topped off with a pseudo-wedding where Trent wore a sombrero and Lee made us show our love to each other by exchanging baseball gloves, we headed back to real life in the city. And with the new Radiohead CD blaring from the car speakers and Lucy snoozing in her carseat, I mentioned to Trent that we should definitely try and carry on the tradition with our kids. I want them to have so much fun with our family, that driving home on a Sunday night is always a bit bittersweet.
