Christmas in California / New Schedule for Chip / Aunt Passes Away / Shutdown
This year, Nicole and I spent Christmas with her parents and brother at their family home in central California. It was a short trip bookended by the ten-hour drive to and from. This time of year, driving from northern Oregon through the mountains to get to California could be dicey, but the weather cooperated and we survived. This was a special Christmas in that I believe it was the very first Christmas in my 37 years where I wasn't at home with my immediate family for the holiday. Seems bizarre--I know--but that's just how it happened. In all the years I've had the families of girlfriends in my life, it's simply never happened where we've gone to them for Christmas until now. I don't think it was a conscious or selfish decision; I think it's just a combination of economics and timing.
So anyway, the trip was pretty good! I spent most of the trip playing Minecraft with Nicole's father, who just happened to be into the game currently. That was a blessing to Nicole, who doesn't always get along with her dad. We brought our PS4 console and the VR headset with us so her family could experience it. We bought this game where you diffuse a virtual bomb with the help of everyone in the room reading off printed instructions, and to my surprise, the family got into it and seemed to enjoy it. It may not have been the bonding experience that it could have been if we'd all spent the whole trip chatting about everything, but it was still a good time just being together and seeing each other. I guess we'll potentially go back next Thanksgiving so maybe we'll be trading off Christmas. We'll see next year!
Beginning in January, we're going to try out a new schedule for when we get our dog, Chip, back from my mother for visits. Since last spring, Chip hasn't been living with us because of his extreme separation anxiety. It wouldn't be fair to Chip or our neighbors to have an anxious dog barking all day when we leave him alone, so thankfully my mom has agreed to have him full-time at the family home outside Portland. Up until now, we've been "borrowing" him back from my mom two weekends a month for a couple days. This has proven to be stressful as we have to pack a lot into those two weekends, and it tends to monopolize my time off. We've decided on a new strategy that'll begin in a couple weeks: Instead of the current situation, we're going to start taking him for a whole week once a month. This'll give him even more time with us (Seven straight days together as opposed to less than six split over two weekends) and it'll leave the rest of the month open to live our lives during the lead up to hopefully buying a house in 2019 and getting Chip back full-time. Hopefully this will work out for all of us.
My aunt, Diane, has passed away after a long battle with COPD and the hardships that brings with it. My late father's only and older sister, she was in her late 60s. Even though she's lived for decades within miles of us, we never really visited and weren't horribly close. She's always had medical issues so hopefully now she's finally at rest. She leaves behind two sons--my cousins--one of which joined me in October to be at our grandmother's funeral in Alabama. So yeah; it's been quite a rough few months for my father's side of the family. Before Diane's cremation, there'll be a viewing which will once again bring family together from all across the country. It seems to always be bitter sweet reunions.
So we're at the end of the year which means holidays and work vacations! This year, as I'm no longer working in the manufacturing factory at my workplace, I qualify for the annual office shutdown which this year lasts two-and-a-half weeks through New Years Day. It's been a very fast two weeks already! I had a big list of things I wanted to get done, but it seems we managed to fill almost every day with events and hangouts. I return to work only a couple days from now and although I feel like I've had a good piece of time off with my wife, it's just never enough. I'm still adjusting to the new work position I'm in, but every day seems to get a little better. Hopefully I can stick with it.
So anyway, the trip was pretty good! I spent most of the trip playing Minecraft with Nicole's father, who just happened to be into the game currently. That was a blessing to Nicole, who doesn't always get along with her dad. We brought our PS4 console and the VR headset with us so her family could experience it. We bought this game where you diffuse a virtual bomb with the help of everyone in the room reading off printed instructions, and to my surprise, the family got into it and seemed to enjoy it. It may not have been the bonding experience that it could have been if we'd all spent the whole trip chatting about everything, but it was still a good time just being together and seeing each other. I guess we'll potentially go back next Thanksgiving so maybe we'll be trading off Christmas. We'll see next year!
Beginning in January, we're going to try out a new schedule for when we get our dog, Chip, back from my mother for visits. Since last spring, Chip hasn't been living with us because of his extreme separation anxiety. It wouldn't be fair to Chip or our neighbors to have an anxious dog barking all day when we leave him alone, so thankfully my mom has agreed to have him full-time at the family home outside Portland. Up until now, we've been "borrowing" him back from my mom two weekends a month for a couple days. This has proven to be stressful as we have to pack a lot into those two weekends, and it tends to monopolize my time off. We've decided on a new strategy that'll begin in a couple weeks: Instead of the current situation, we're going to start taking him for a whole week once a month. This'll give him even more time with us (Seven straight days together as opposed to less than six split over two weekends) and it'll leave the rest of the month open to live our lives during the lead up to hopefully buying a house in 2019 and getting Chip back full-time. Hopefully this will work out for all of us.
My aunt, Diane, has passed away after a long battle with COPD and the hardships that brings with it. My late father's only and older sister, she was in her late 60s. Even though she's lived for decades within miles of us, we never really visited and weren't horribly close. She's always had medical issues so hopefully now she's finally at rest. She leaves behind two sons--my cousins--one of which joined me in October to be at our grandmother's funeral in Alabama. So yeah; it's been quite a rough few months for my father's side of the family. Before Diane's cremation, there'll be a viewing which will once again bring family together from all across the country. It seems to always be bitter sweet reunions.
So we're at the end of the year which means holidays and work vacations! This year, as I'm no longer working in the manufacturing factory at my workplace, I qualify for the annual office shutdown which this year lasts two-and-a-half weeks through New Years Day. It's been a very fast two weeks already! I had a big list of things I wanted to get done, but it seems we managed to fill almost every day with events and hangouts. I return to work only a couple days from now and although I feel like I've had a good piece of time off with my wife, it's just never enough. I'm still adjusting to the new work position I'm in, but every day seems to get a little better. Hopefully I can stick with it.