I'm back...
Betcha didn't know I was gone, huh?
We drove down to the home of my ancestors (Jersey) on Saturday, 12/23.
My parents had decided to fly in for the holiday quite a while ago, but we only decided to go down recently. I hadn't been at a family Christmas in a few years - my parents hadn't been to one since 1999 (I'm not sure if it's been that long for me... I think I went to the one in 2000, but I'm not sure).
The trip took less than four hours, which was nice. We apparently missed stupid amounts of traffic because I could not get out of the house before 3:30pm. We also missed most of the rain. I slept a bunch while the BF drove. We checked into our hotel, ate dinner at a local diner, then visited a little, then crashed. I slept bad on the hotel bed.
Something I'd forgotten about Jersey people. We can talk endlessly, and continuously, about absolutely nothing. I hate that.
Sunday, I was pried from the bed by force. We went back to the diner for "lunch" (it was around 1:30pm, but we ate breakfast foods - I had fabulous chocolate chip pancakes). Then, off to my Aunt's house for the traditional Polish Christmas Eve celebration: Wegilia (which is pronounced more like "Vah-LEE-yah"). We got there early and sat around to shoot the breeze with my folks.
Then, 5pm, Wegilia! People showed up and there was lots of meeting and greeting for the first hour. Next hour, you mingle and nosh. Then you sit down for a dinner of mushroom soup, boiled potatoes, kapusta (so narsty), pirogies, and fish. My relatives were very sweet and cooked a batch of pirogies without the onions, bless their hearts! Then you exchange presents. My brother does an excellent Santa Claus and doesn't even need the belly pillow! There were something between thirty-five and forty people in attendance. So many childrens! Like little whirlwinds, all bouncing off each other, generating an increasing amount of energy!
I had brought an old article about the property my Great-Grandparents had owned (a part of "The Celery Farm" of Allendale, NJ) home from my Grandma's months ago. I finally scanned it in, OCR'd it, and turned it into a DOC file last week, so I printed it Friday night. I brought fifteen copies with me. That was a big hit.
And there was an article about my Great Grandfather in the local paper, written by Christopher De Vinck (my mother and her brothers and sister grew up with his family - their family lived next door to my Grandparents). Apparently, the young Mr. De Vinck was convinced my Great G was Santa Claus. If you know De Vinck's writing, when he's talking about Patty, John, Marie, Paul, and Walter, that's my Mom and her brothers and sister. The family bought a bunch of copies and the elders got to keep their copies.
We left on the late side, around 9:30pm or so. I slept much better the second night, having swapped pillows and re-arranged the covers.
Christmas morning, we went to my Grandma's for brunch and a little gift exchanging. We brought the box that my folks had shipped to us and I distributed my small gifts to my parents and my Grandma, then opened the box and unwrapped the presents from my folks.
Afterwards, we drove home (leaving about 1pm-ish, shortly after my parents left to visit my brother) and got back to the house before 5pm. Much fun was had mocking the people who only drive their cars on holidays. Once again, traffic was quite light and we mostly missed the rain, so driving was easy.
Very entertaining time. Good food, good stories, good times.
Home again, the BF and I exchanged gifts (fun!) and then I wandered over to one open house with tasty foods, then another open house with more tasty foods and cutie childrens, then home again, home again, jiggedy jig for dinner, football, and (finally) the Interwebs.
Thus, I'm back! Didja miss me?