Family

**Note: this blog was supposed to be automatically uploaded on 11/30/13 - but for some reason it wasn't and I'm only now realizing it. **

I'm writing this while sitting at my sister's house, watching Pitch Perfect with my sis, BIL, nieces, and cousin Brent. This is significant, because my sister has INTERWEBS THAT WORK! So I can post the pictures from our Thanksgiving extravaganza!!

Let's start with this . . .

 

We were impatiently waiting for everyone to get to mum's house - and we were hungry! That's my sis on the right and my mum in the middle. Here's a better picture of the three of us . . .

And a picture of all the cousins who were present. . .

If you look closely, you'll find my brother, who always makes stupid faces for pictures. Klassy. We celebrated my cousins Kim and Karen turning 50. And I have to say - they make 50 look AMAZING!

It's become a tradition that everyone helps bring down all my mum's Christmas stuff from upstairs. There is a whole assembly line to pass it down the stairs.

 

Today, mum and I are meeting my dad and his wife for breakfast. We will also be putting up another Christmas tree. And this evening we will be going to basketball games. I'm so excited to see 2 of my nephews play and my niece cheer!

One final note - this marks my last post for NaBloPoMo. I think I'm motivated to blog more often, though writing EVERY day got to be a bit much.

Food Coma

Yesterday was amazing. So much food. So much family. So much laughter and gossip. So much abuse I took because the Packers played abysmally. It was AWESOME!

I have amazing pictures I'd like to share, but my mum's internet is So! Freaking! Slow! that I can't even get my computer to stay connected for more than 3 minutes. I'm typing this on my mum's computer, and these two small paragraphs have taken nearly 15 minutes to pump out. Because . . . So! Slow! Internet!

Also. I'm still in a food coma. Which is perfect.

Home

Yesterday, I came home. To Ohio. I confuse friends and family quite often when I refer to both Wisconsin and Ohio as "home." But really, both are home.

My mum lives in the same house I grew up in. We moved in when I was 5, so she's lived here 42 years. I lived here for 17 years. And though I only visit 2-3 times a year, I still have it memorized. I can walk through the house in the dark and easily find my way around. I know which steps are creaky. I know just where to set the heat vent in the guest room so it's the perfect temperature. The house isn't "just a house" - it is home. But it also wouldn't be home without my mum.

Since the accident, I've been unsteady. I didn't just want to visit home, I needed to visit home. And from the moment I walked in the back door, I could feel myself becoming steady again. Turning the knob on the back door was familiar. Walking through the house to find mum was familiar. Mum's reaction to my surprise was exactly what I expected. Her hug was an anchor that made me feel grounded for the first time in weeks.

Later today - siblings, spouses, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, partners - a whole house full of people will pause for a moment and give thanks for the many, many blessings we share. This house, this home will creak and sigh under the weight of food and drinks and laughter. In its own way, it will provide a steady place for us to celebrate, keeping us warm and safe and protected.

I'm so thankful to be home.

SURPRISE!!

I can't believe I did it!! I've wanted to blog and tweet and facebook that I was surprising my family for Thanksgiving - but I couldn't. I successfully surprised my mum (and really, my whole family!) by driving to Ohio today. To get here, I left at 6am, dropped 3 students off in Chicago, drove past a car completely engulfed in flames and drove through 45 minutes of nearly white-out snow in Indiana. WORTH EVERY BIT!!

*sigh*

I needed to see my mum. Really, really bad. I'm so happy to be here.

 

Thanksgiving Brain

It was so freaking cold in my office today that I took down this wall hanging/blanket

And wrapped it around me like a dork.

I also discovered I am not the only person with Thanksgiving brain. No one wants to be in class. I'm so excited that tomorrow I don't have to actually teach any classes - because, UFDAH, that would suck!

Anticipation

I am so ready for Thanksgiving break. I'm ready to sleep in. I'm ready to grade until my brain hurts, because I can stay in my pajamas. I'm ready to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm ready to make my amazing cornbread stuffing. In fact, that may be the ONLY thing I make, because, have you seen the price of turkeys?

I'm ready for 4 days of being completely selfish about what I do with my time. This is one of the BIG advantages of being single! I can read when I want. I can crochet when I want. I can watch Dr. Who for 14 hours straight, or take a nap. Or take 4 naps in 1 day.

I've decided I'm not putting up a Christmas tree this year, since I'd only have it up a couple of weeks and it's just not worth fighting the cats over. But that means I have more time to wrap presents! I have to finish making the presents - but then I can wrap them!

I may not shower the entire weekend. Because I probably won't leave the house. I may watch cat videos for most of Friday. And Saturday I may watch the entire Harry Potter movie montage. Or maybe I'll bake Christmas cookies and watch Scrooge.

The point is - I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE HOLIDAY TO GET HERE!!! Seriously, every person I interacted with today has already mentally left for Thanksgiving break. The fact that we have classes until 5pm on Wednesday is ridiculous. The good news for me is that once I get through my 3 classes tomorrow, I'm sort-of home free.

Ooohhh - pumpkin pie. I need to make and consume pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie with a side of cornbread stuffing sounds absolutely perfect.

Grading

I have graded and graded and graded today. I'm caught up except for 1 class of papers. Not bad. Once I get through that batch, I'm done grading papers for the semester and will move on to grading speeches, presentations, outlines and bibliographies for the rest of the semester.

There are only 2 1/2 weeks of classes and a week of finals left of the semester. Ufdah. Finals run through December 20th. Who has an exam from 3-5pm on the 20th? That's right, this girl! My students are completely irritated that I won't move the exam time/date. I've tried explaining that I'm a peon who's on contract, and that I really like my job, so I play by the rules. If they want to move their exam time, they have to go through the Dean of Students' office. That's right, I'm a big meanie.

Whenever I feel like complaining about not being able to travel to Ohio until December 21st, I try and remind myself that I'm blessed I get such a long break for the holiday! That is one of the advantages of working in academia - the built-in breaks. It makes working a 50-60 hour week during the school year worth it.