Post Holidays

I'm home again after a lovely holiday, so I thought I'd review just for my wonderful readers. This is relatively random rambling, so be prepared if you're going to read this whole, long post.

After all the frustration and drama with the cable company fiasco, which worked out, ultimately, I was looking forward to a nice break and visit with my family, and that is just what I had! My younger sisters and I all made it to the parents' again for Christmas, and PJ and I stuck around for New Year.

The first thing I did to begin recovering from the cable situation was bake cookies. If you didn't know, I'm now officially the Christmas cookie baker for my family. I always make sugar cookies and "Christmas Crinkles" (aka Chocolate Crinkles if you look up the recipe, but PJ always called them Christmas Crinkles) for the family as soon as I get to the parents'. Usually I do them in stages, one per day, but I decided to do them all at once this time. It actually went better than I expected and wasn't too overwhelming. I did save the decorating of the sugar cookies for the next day though; I didn't feel like doing them all by myself (decorating is much more fun with someone helping), and no one else was home yet. Mom helped me finish them up the next day. The cookies turned out better than ever, I think, and everyone enjoyed them, as they always do. As I told my older sister, I like people to like me for the cookies I bake!

Having the whole family together for the holidays is always interesting. We fall into old habits, old ways of interacting, yet they're different. We're adults, but my sisters and I still act like kids sometimes; it's strange how that happens. We have more patience with one another, and less patience at the same time. Overall, we keep it together pretty well, I think, and enjoy the family time regardless. We watched a lot of movies, visited our grandparents in their nursing home, and prepared for Christmas.

The Christmas morning went pretty well. We always have a battle about what time we will do the gifts, but we always work it out somehow. Dad and PJ always want to open gifts early so we have time to relax before heading out to my Dad's family's Christmas gathering. BB would like to sleep in--she does love her sleep!--and open gifts a little later in the morning. Mom and I don't particularly care, but we don't sleep late, so earlier kind of makes sense to us; we try to stay out of this discussion if possible. Everyone was extremely thoughtful with gifts, as always. They seemed to like what I gave them, and I loved what I received! My parents gave me a waffle iron (I love waffles!) and a Blu Ray Player (since I had a cruddy old DVD player), among other things. BB and PJ gave me some great DVDs, some of which I've wanted for a long time and one or two I didn't even know I wanted until I had them.

The larger family Christmas gathering was nice. My sisters and I used to dread them because we weren't comfortable chatting with our own family members and always stayed together in a corner somewhere, not really talking to anyone. Eventually, we all figured out how to be more social, and we embrace these opportunities to catch up with and chat with family members we don't see often.

New Year was a non-event, as usual for my family. Most of us feel it's just another day, not one requiring special celebration. We eat traditional foods and stay up until midnight; we switch to one of the network stations just before 12:00, but it was one that didn't show the ball dropping, so we missed that anyway. No big deal to us. I had no huge problems in 2013, but I plan to make some changes this year, so we'll see.

I came home yesterday, and it's nice to be back. I like spending the holidays with everyone, but it's nice to get back to my routine. Also, I guess I kind of missed Squeaky....

Last night, the tech from the cable company came to install the phone. The appointment I had made was for this afternoon, and it was only by checking my account via the website that I learned that the appointment had been mysteriously changed to yesterday evening (I'm glad I checked!). The tech was here for about an hour, he was extremely chatty, and he flirted rather awkwardly with me the whole time. Squeaks hid in the kitchen, but at least she didn't completely abandon me! Despite the somewhat uncomfortable situation, I'm glad the install hurdle has been jumped. I called the parents last night to give them the new number, and the line buzzed the whole time. I don't know if it's the old phone I was using or the phone line itself, but it's extremely irritating, and I hope it doesn't continue. If it does, I guess I'll be entering a new battle with the cable company. Yay. Fortunately, I'm only planning to use the home phone if my cell phone is having problems, but I don't want an annoying sound in the foreground of my conversations when I do use it. That almost defeats the purpose.

So, there it is, the extremely long coverage of my holidays. Sorry about the length, but I did warn you! Now we'll start getting back to normal. For now, Merry Christmas!

"Little" Sisters

My baby sisters are all grown up!!

I know, I know, this is not exactly the day they suddenly become adults (they're now 28, after all), but their birthday always makes me think of when we were all little and how much has changed since then. Their birthday, far more than my own, makes me sentimental, a little sappy, in fact.

Recap for those of you don't know my family. I am one of five children, the middle child, technically, and my two younger sisters are twins. "PJ" is eleven minutes older, but we always say that "BB" just wanted a little alone time before joining the rest of the world (she probably wanted to make a grand entrance). They are not at all identical and, personality-wise, are extremely different. However, they go together like peas and carrots (HA! I had to do that one for some reason), and I cannot imagine one without the other. And I can't imagine who I'd be without them.

They were my only playmates when we were young. We grew up in a house just off of a highway, with no other children around, so we had no one to entertain or be entertained by except each other. The best part of having two siblings was that there was always someone who would want to play if I wanted to, and they could entertain each other if I didn't. I always had someone to fight with, boss around, and laugh with. We had as many issues as any collection of siblings, but the fact that we're still so close shows how we came though it...alive, relatively sane, with great senses of humor.

I took my role as "big sister" extremely seriously in spite of the fact that I was practically a baby myself when they came along (only 18 months). I don't remember ever not having little sisters. They taught me so much and keep teaching me new lessons all the time. Here are a few of them:

Patience: With two little sisters who are enthusiastic, natural performers with high embarrassment thresholds, and a tendency to tell every little detail of every story they wanted to tell, I learned to be patient. It didn't happen quickly or easily, but I now think I have quite a bit of patience.

Confidence (or disregard for strangers' opinion): Again, because my sisters love to entertain and don't mind doing so in the middle of a busy grocery store or when walking down the street. Seriously, my sisters regularly break out into song for no reason; it's like living in a musical sometimes! I used to be extremely embarrassed at moments like those. I couldn't imagine what horrible ideas other people had of us. Then, one day, I realized I didn't particularly care what they thought. Not only were they strangers whom I'd never see again (probably), but my sisters were having fun and, eventually, so was I. Once my sisters' "embarrassing" antics stopped bothering me, I stopped worrying so much about embarrassing myself. I'm not saying I never embarrass myself--I definitely do--but it doesn't affect me as much now as it once did. I don't dwell so long after the fact.

Willingness to accept affection: I used to be extremely uncomfortable with public displays of affection, even hugs. Unfortunately, my sisters have always been extremely affectionate and fond of human contact. Hugs, snuggling, holding hands: they couldn't accept that I didn't want any of it during my teen years. Over time, with their persistence, I once again enjoyed receiving hugs from friends and family. I don't necessarily offer the gesture, but I don't mind participating. (Weird way of putting it, but that's me!)

Courage: My sisters (all of them, but this post is about the youngers) are among the bravest people I know, and they have made me extremely proud of them.

PJ battled for her life as an infant after a complication and ensuing surgery, but her innate stubbornness pushed her through and continued pushing her. PJ has always been the renegade of the three of us, never willing to settle for less than she had planned, never willing to take action unless she had decided on it first, never willing to be told what to do, but we always knew where she stood. She's still that way to some extent, but she's mellowed. She takes advice and suggestions, but she will do what she knows she needs to do to succeed. At the beginning of this year, as many of you know, PJ joined the Army to play her flute (and about a million other instruments) for the band. She was having trouble finding a way to play professionally, so she found a way to do so and serve her country. Joining the Army was probably one of the scariest choices she's ever made, but she has thrived. She made a decision, stuck with it, and proved doubters (*cough*drill sergeants*cough*) wrong. She tackled the physical requirements, the professional requirements, and the personal concerns she's run into, and she still has a positive attitude. I could have never done it, but I knew she would.

BB has always been the most loving, giving person I've ever known. She has tons of friends and thrives when she has people around her, people who love her and she loves. When she graduated from college, she could have stayed in state, near family and many friends. Instead, she chose to follow her life-long dream of living in New York City. She wanted to perform on Broadway, live in the midst of all that craziness and culture, and have a busy social life. She didn't know many people in the city at the time, had few job prospects, not even anywhere to live for certain, but she went. And she has been enormously successful. She realized she didn't want to perform for her living, and she found a great job that has enabled her to live in a pricey city for around five years and still have fun outings with her friends (and give her family members a place to stay when they visited!). Now, she's made another difficult decision to move back to her home state, return to college, and become a teacher. That's another life-ling dream she's had, to teach history and drama (she hopes). Big moves, big dreams, and she's made so much of them.

My little "thithters" don't lose their dreams; they find ways to make them happen! They are amazing in so many ways, and I hope I grow up to be a little more like them someday.

Happy Birthday, PJ and BB!!! I love you!

Do Better!

Any of my regular readers know by now about my work woes. Don't worry about me too much. I'm a little worried, but I'll get by, and I'm sure I'll find something decent if start putting in the legwork to do so.

It's funny that I'm thinking so seriously about this now because I feel I'm doing my best as a teacher this year. While I'm putting less evening and weekend time into grading, I'm using more of my between-class-time (when not grading) planning for my classes. I'm creating PowerPoint slideshows to guide my delivery of non-discussion information and preparing better to teach, rather than relying on discussions of readings, as I've most often done in the past. I'm trying more to instruct my students on various aspects of writing itself in different ways, as I've not done quite the same way in the past. Doesn't it always happen that way? Just as I start to figure out a better way of doing something when it's about time for me to move on.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. In fact, it's often one of the first issues I bring up when talking to someone I haven't seen in a while (if I've done this to you, I'm sorry...I'm trying to cut it out). I'm trying not to obsess or worry, but I can't seem to help it.

Yesterday, while with my parents and one of my sisters, I visited my grandfather. He has a little trouble remembering certain things, but he generally does a great job of remembering at least some of what is going on with his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Just before the visit ended, he asked me if I was going to be teaching. I reminded him that I had already been teaching for a while and mentioned that I might have to stop teaching soon to find a steadier job. I thought he would be disappointed or encourage me to stick with it. My grandparents have all been proud of my academic achievements in the past and admired the fact that I was teaching. Instead, he offered the most supportive advice anyone could have. He said, simply, "Hey. If you can do better, you do it."

I agreed and joked that it would become my new motto. Upon further thought, I don't think I am joking. That should be my thought process moving forward in the job hunt. The whole point in trying to find a new job is to do better. Otherwise, I might as well stay where I am. I will begin this job search soon (as I've just discovered I don't have any classes at one of the places I teach), and I will remember to "do better."

I love my grandfather, and I am reminded regularly how wise, loving, and amazing he truly is.

Reunited...

And it feels so good! (I just had to do it.)

This past Saturday, I attended an extended family reunion. This was a reunion of my dad's immediate family in Ohio--my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins' children--that we have every summer, but expanded to include my dad's mother's side of the family as well--Dad's cousins and their families. We had beautiful weather, a perfect location at a park with features to keep the younger members busy, and a bunch of people, some of whom came from all over the country. I know we had people from Kentucky, Minnesota, and Texas, and those were only the people I talked to directly. I had a good time and met a number of family members I had only heard of before, and many I hadn't.

                                                                              Here are all the attendees! That's quite a group!

Reunions for the younger generations are interesting events in that they are often not so interesting. When I was a child, we had reunions every year for the extended family on my dad's father's side. For me, those events were somewhat torturous. I didn't know anyone except my own aunts, uncles, and cousins, and I wasn't especially close to any of them. I would play with the other kids, but the venues chosen for this event were not exactly conducive to fun times for youngsters. I didn't want to talk to the "old" people I didn't know but who seemed to know me. As little as some of you may believe this now (apparently I've worked on this over time), I was not especially social as a child. I didn't know how to talk to new acquaintances, especially adults, and I'd rather spend time by myself or with my parents and sisters than with family members I rarely even saw. I dreaded these events.

Now, I'm much better. I didn't know many of the people at this reunion, but I managed to meet and have conversations with several. At such events, I tend to introduce myself by family relation rather than by name: "I'm so-and-so's daughter." Then I'll give my name; I find the process is easier that way. I've figured out, over time, how to make some small talk, which is really useful at reunions. Actually, talking small is even easier at these kinds of events because we could always bring the conversation back to family members, gossip, etc. I also noticed, at first, I clung (clinged? clang?) to those people I know, even if I rarely speak to them: aunts I don't spend time with, cousins I don't visit with regularly, uncles who can be ridiculous, and not always in good ways. It took me a little time to become more generally social. I also developed a habit of speaking to everyone as though I already knew them and they knew who I was, making comments and jokes to break the ice. I guess it worked.

I'm glad I attended this reunion, and I'm grateful my dad, grandpa, aunts, and uncles were able to see the people they knew when they were younger but haven't had the chance to see for many years. I also was able to appreciate the fact that I have learned how to deal with such social situations much better than I have in the past. I'm not quite the introverted, anti-social hermit I think of my younger self as! (And, yes, I do think I was sometimes exactly that bad.)

A Muddy Good Time!

As my regular readers probably know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer early last year. She went through surgeries and radiation therapy and is free and clear of cancer at this point. However, her experience scared us all and woke us up to the realities of cancer. Thus, my family developed a desire to become at least somewhat more involved in efforts to raise money for breast cancer research. We didn't want to just send money somewhere, though; we wanted to DO something. A few months ago, my brother-in-law discovered an event that takes place throughout the year and around the country called the Dirty Girl Mud Run. He told us all about it, and my sisters, niece, mom, and I jumped on board.

The Mud Run took place this weekend (as those of you with me on FB already know), and we had a BLAST!!! Everyone who registers to run the course pays a fee (much of which goes to breast cancer research), except, of course, survivors or breast cancer. The Run is for women only, 5K (about 3 miles) long, and involves twelve obstacles participants must overcome, most of which involve a significant amount of mud. The obstacles themselves weren't too bad for the most part: some were giant inflatables to climb up, over, and down; some were simply large tanks of mud to walk or crawl through. The toughest two involved crossed ropes (much like cargo nets), one horizontal and one vertical. The horizontal one we had to find a way to climb across for about 20 feet, which was difficult because the middle sagged, so almost any technique used to traverse it only worked well for half of it, either climbing up or down. The vertical net(s) we had to climb up and down like rope ladders. Even those two obstacles were only rough because ropes can be difficult on the hand, feet, and back.

In the Run, participants can choose to forego an obstacle for any reason without any kind of penalty (it is a fun, non-competitive fundraising event, after all). My team made it through every obstacles and went the entire length of the course! My mother, a cancer survivor, did everything except the two rope obstacles and surpassed even her own expectations (she climbed over a wall that was five or six feet high!). In fact, we all exceeded our own expectations. I do not exercise regularly, but I guess I'm not in too bad of shape. I didn't feel to tired or winded at any point in the Run, and I expected to fail spectacularly at some early point, but I didn't! I did almost go completely under the mud a few times, but that just added to the experience. We all made it through in decent time, had a ton of fun together, and helped the fight against cancer in some small way.

I'm still finding mud, but I would definitely participate in this event again, and we're seriously considering it for next year. My dad and brother-in-law were disappointed they couldn't participate, but I think they had fun watching, and they took a bunch of pics and videos that may appear here and will definitely make it to FB. My brother-in-law (an extremely active man) was so impressed with use that he's trying to encourage my sisters and I to participate in other muddy events like Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder... We'll see...

Now, go play in the mud!