Did You Miss Me?

I'm back! Did you notice I was gone?

It was great to take an unannounced break from blogging. I wasn't planning on it, and then it just seemed like the right thing to do.


Here are some things I loved on my holiday:

1. Family.

"Scheme-ish people are all around me! I mean squeamish. But scheme-ish too..."
- my brother makes me laugh.

"That is like playing with food in my country..."
- my Peruvian brother-in-law, on our nephew's new ZhuZhu pet.

"When I am old and rich and own my own garage, I will get some Chia pets in my head."
- same brother-in-law, on dealing with going bald.

Crokinole tournaments are fun - especially when the entire family is cheering for the same person to lose. Twister is fun, especially when you play with five twenty-somethings and a 3 year-old. Hopefully the photos your aunt took of your bum sticking out of the strange tangle do not end up on a Christmas card, as she suggested.

And if a cousin ever offers to show you photo of their field research collecting Bot flies, say no. Unless you already know that Bot flies are parasitic larvae that are roughly a quarter of the size of their mousey hosts, and that collecting them means anesthetizing said mice so that the larvae leave and you can measure and photograph them, and the massive holes they leave behind. Shudder, gag. Can't unsee those images.

Watching movies with Grampie is always fun. I love his laugh. But he is more deaf than he lets on.


2. Holidays, themselves.

I don't actually care that much about New Year's. Realizing we missed midnight by five minutes didn't phase me at all. And it was nice to have a small group of friends over, especially after spending the last seven (SEVEN) years at major parties.

Christmas gifts; I can hardly remember what I received, only what I gave. Which is, I guess, how it should be...  What I care about on Christmas is time spent with my family and eating good food(s). I have mixed thoughts right now on the whole sacred/secular duality of Christmas. Too many thoughts and not enough certainty to dive into them on the blog at this point, though.


3. Friends.

I feel incredibly blessed and encouraged by the overwhelming amount of support and surprise people have expressed about my birthday art show.

Last year, I ran a big student conference. This year, I showed up and helped out (a little bit). Mostly, I caught up with old friends. And it was glorious. I loved hanging out with the "older" moms. They aren't actually old. They're just the women who were married when I met them. As opposed to the girls I once mentored who now have husbands and children. They are the "young" moms.



Okay, that's my recap. If I have forgotten anything super-important, I will write it later. Now that I'm back!