(no subject)
I'm in an entertained mood tonight. Don't know why. But more than likely because I told myself I'm really going to bed about 4 hours ago. I'm flying back to PA for Thanksgiving, kinda kick back with the family for a while. It's been so long too. What now... 3, 4 years? Feels that way. I haven't seen much of my family since the cordial kicking out via my mom. That's not to say that it's a terrible loss... I never really interacted with them much save maybe my aunt. Makes me wonder just what to expect... oh and there's the whole thing of them meeting my girlfriend for the first time.
Multiple times I've gotten to know her family to this point. They pretty much came off as a typical southern family should... lots of cooking and hospitality. They were at least very welcoming, even though I'm not the most outgoing around other people's families. I'm really not... never have been. But since this'll be her first time meeting mine, it should be quite the trip. And there's a lot of things I've been wanting to show her in PA also. How much of that we'll actually get around to... I don't know. There's just too much there to see in one weekend. Especially one in which everything will be closed.
I'm sure though that most of you reading this have been through the "meet the familiy" phase of a relationship before. Has yours been awkard maybe? Perfectly comfortable. I'm going to probably guess this one will be awkward, whereas meeting her family was sort of "in the middle". We all have that quirky family member after all... I wonder if that one applies to my mom, the same way it applies to her dad >_>.
Oh, and just a side note. One great thing about Colorado I've noticed is that the downtown Ft. Collins area is VERY enthusiastic about two things. One being local business, the other being bikes. Ft. is very bike friendly... in fact many of the business cater to those who ride bikes to work/school. They're everywhere. In fact, I hate it. Because everytime I drive around the area I'm afraid of hitting one of them. That and the fact I think I really should be taking an interest in getting in shape... I'm actually (I never thought this would happen to someone like me with insane metabolism) but I'm gettin some pudge around the edges. Maybe the aging process is catching up to me, or the fact I've been exceptionally and inactive lately.
But the thing about the local business... in a world where Wal-mart is dominating much of the country and driving small business into oblivion, this little town in the middle of nowhere with no real marking on the map thrives just fine, all the businesses support each other, and I'm lead to believe that the prospect of a Wal-mart being built in the general area was by majority rule, unfavorable. I have to admit... it definitely provides a much more...I don't know... friendly atmosphere. I love everytime I go to the downtown area how you see all these small stores and shops that have been around forever, and they thrive. The corporate shadow is very vague in that spot of town. It's somewhat refreshing...like walking into a portal to the past.
Not to mention, we have many, MANY local breweries in that area as well... I took the tour already of the New Belgium brewery (very well made beer, too, if you've ever heard of Fat Tire. Yeah, those guys.), then there's a strictly homebrew grill/bar that just makes their own called Coopersmith's. There's a few others I have yet to try, but so far I can safely say that I now enjoy an American beer or two... but I guess since I usually define "American Beer" as crap like Coors, or Bud, I'm going to just call them Ft. Collins Brew. I never was big on beer, but I have come to enjoy this much. I still like Heineken and Guinness as far as popular brands go...
Hm, oh yeah my dad forgot how old I was. He sends me this e-mail saying "Happy 22nd, you're ooooooold". ... I'm 23 dad. Geez.
Multiple times I've gotten to know her family to this point. They pretty much came off as a typical southern family should... lots of cooking and hospitality. They were at least very welcoming, even though I'm not the most outgoing around other people's families. I'm really not... never have been. But since this'll be her first time meeting mine, it should be quite the trip. And there's a lot of things I've been wanting to show her in PA also. How much of that we'll actually get around to... I don't know. There's just too much there to see in one weekend. Especially one in which everything will be closed.
I'm sure though that most of you reading this have been through the "meet the familiy" phase of a relationship before. Has yours been awkard maybe? Perfectly comfortable. I'm going to probably guess this one will be awkward, whereas meeting her family was sort of "in the middle". We all have that quirky family member after all... I wonder if that one applies to my mom, the same way it applies to her dad >_>.
Oh, and just a side note. One great thing about Colorado I've noticed is that the downtown Ft. Collins area is VERY enthusiastic about two things. One being local business, the other being bikes. Ft. is very bike friendly... in fact many of the business cater to those who ride bikes to work/school. They're everywhere. In fact, I hate it. Because everytime I drive around the area I'm afraid of hitting one of them. That and the fact I think I really should be taking an interest in getting in shape... I'm actually (I never thought this would happen to someone like me with insane metabolism) but I'm gettin some pudge around the edges. Maybe the aging process is catching up to me, or the fact I've been exceptionally and inactive lately.
But the thing about the local business... in a world where Wal-mart is dominating much of the country and driving small business into oblivion, this little town in the middle of nowhere with no real marking on the map thrives just fine, all the businesses support each other, and I'm lead to believe that the prospect of a Wal-mart being built in the general area was by majority rule, unfavorable. I have to admit... it definitely provides a much more...I don't know... friendly atmosphere. I love everytime I go to the downtown area how you see all these small stores and shops that have been around forever, and they thrive. The corporate shadow is very vague in that spot of town. It's somewhat refreshing...like walking into a portal to the past.
Not to mention, we have many, MANY local breweries in that area as well... I took the tour already of the New Belgium brewery (very well made beer, too, if you've ever heard of Fat Tire. Yeah, those guys.), then there's a strictly homebrew grill/bar that just makes their own called Coopersmith's. There's a few others I have yet to try, but so far I can safely say that I now enjoy an American beer or two... but I guess since I usually define "American Beer" as crap like Coors, or Bud, I'm going to just call them Ft. Collins Brew. I never was big on beer, but I have come to enjoy this much. I still like Heineken and Guinness as far as popular brands go...
Hm, oh yeah my dad forgot how old I was. He sends me this e-mail saying "Happy 22nd, you're ooooooold". ... I'm 23 dad. Geez.