The whirlwind tour
Most of you know the drill for holiday trips back home: squeeze in visits with as many friends and family members as possible, eat way too much, sleep way too little. This trip has been no exception. Ryan and I flew in to Detroit on Monday and spent the next few days with my parents. I helped my mom prepare a massive quantity of food for Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving pre-party on Wednesday. Our giant family celebration with my dad's 9 siblings and their kids is a thing of the past, so a separate gathering was held for everyone to see each other. The day of is now reserved for our immediate family, which meant I got a nicer visit with my brother and sister and their families. My nephews and nieces are great, I wish I got to see them more often.
I also dropped in on the MST class of '02 gathering. Not many people had shown by the time I had to go, but happily the ones I wanted most to see were there. It's amazing how grown-up we all seem, and yet that after a few minutes conversation it can be like no time has passed. I miss my friends - from high school, from college, from my old jobs. Every time I see them I realize anew the cost of moving away from Michigan. Oh, I still feel that Boulder was the right choice, I don't regret that choice, but I do regret not doing more to keep in touch. I vow not to give up on blogging after NaBloPoMo, because if we're all reading about each other's lives that that's something, right?
We are now in western Michigan visiting Ryan's family. They are great, and I can so tell where Ryan gets his quirks and sense of humor. Tomorrow is another fantastic Thanksgiving meal at his aunt and uncle's house, so we are spending the night there. Ryan's parents have property just next door. They just built a barn, and today I got the full walkthrough of the property and all their plans for it. It is very exciting, and I have been sneaking looks at magazines with articles about heirloom corn and skid steer loaders and raising chickens.
PS- I am shamed that I missed so many days. In my defense, Ryan's netbook has been on the fritz and I felt weird typing up a blog entry on someone else's computer. He is working very hard to fix it and thankfully he knows how to connect to the internet from a command line. I <3 my nerd!
I also dropped in on the MST class of '02 gathering. Not many people had shown by the time I had to go, but happily the ones I wanted most to see were there. It's amazing how grown-up we all seem, and yet that after a few minutes conversation it can be like no time has passed. I miss my friends - from high school, from college, from my old jobs. Every time I see them I realize anew the cost of moving away from Michigan. Oh, I still feel that Boulder was the right choice, I don't regret that choice, but I do regret not doing more to keep in touch. I vow not to give up on blogging after NaBloPoMo, because if we're all reading about each other's lives that that's something, right?
We are now in western Michigan visiting Ryan's family. They are great, and I can so tell where Ryan gets his quirks and sense of humor. Tomorrow is another fantastic Thanksgiving meal at his aunt and uncle's house, so we are spending the night there. Ryan's parents have property just next door. They just built a barn, and today I got the full walkthrough of the property and all their plans for it. It is very exciting, and I have been sneaking looks at magazines with articles about heirloom corn and skid steer loaders and raising chickens.
PS- I am shamed that I missed so many days. In my defense, Ryan's netbook has been on the fritz and I felt weird typing up a blog entry on someone else's computer. He is working very hard to fix it and thankfully he knows how to connect to the internet from a command line. I <3 my nerd!