Thanksgiving: aka I love my Family

I have had a great Thanksgiving week this last week. It has been a wonderful change from New York – just what I needed. Sunny days in California; great exercise; good food; awesome company; and Family – people who understand me :-).

Highlights: running in Janelle’s huge-house acre-lot neighborhood; biking on Janelle’s awesome road bike*; hiking with Janelle around Stanford’s dish; playing tennis with Janelle; celebrating Janelle’s birthday with her and 9 others :-); playing Mah Jongg with Grandma; eating 2 fabulous dinner’s at Webster House where Grandma lives; helping cook (and eat) Thanksgiving dinner with Janelle; playing Pictionary with my family and getting whooped by the boys (Ken and Jeff); Thanksgiving dinner reprise; biking to Gram’s and gossiping with her over lunch; Sunday dinner with the whole family – our tradition; 9 hours of sleep per night; and last but not least: having turkey for 6 meals :-).

*Happy day! Janelle’s old road bike is just sitting in her garage. She hasn’t had the heart to get rid of it because although it’s older, it is a really nice bike and still in good shape. She was bullied into getting her new bike – the newer fancier model, but she couldn’t tell much of a difference with her old bike! So… she said I could have her old road bike – yippee!!! Such a treat – I’m so lucky. It’s a great quality bike, and now I’ll have clip-in pedals and a road bike to do triathlons with. So happy! She’s going to mail it to me in Austin :-).

So, to start at the beginning – I took the dryable laundry in on the way to work Monday. I decided I could do the non-dryable at Janelle’s so that I never had to actually GO to a laundromat again – woohoo! I also picked up a chicken salad sandwich from a deli and took pictures of “Jane Street” – makes me smile every time I go to work because it’s Grandma’s name. Then had a regular day at work, with my exercise of course. Home, then had a Cuban sandwich for dinner which was tasty. While waiting for takeout these 2 guys at the bar flirted with me and talked to me. They were from Venezuela originally, but had been living in Florida and had just moved to New York (temporarily). So we had some things in common :-). One was cute, his friend though was drunk and less cute. I had fun chatting – he said to come back before Saturday, but alas I was going out of town. I guess Saturday he was moving back to Florida. Just when I was making connections! Anyway – stayed up late packing, but with great anticipation.

Tuesday – had to leave home at 9am to get to Newark. Although I had to lug my bag down 2 Aves and 2 Streets, take a subway, then a commuter train, then an airport tram – it was pretty slick :-). I made it. Got there around 10:30 for my noon flight. Actually although my flights were long, they were event-less and surprisingly on time for holiday travel! Guess I beat most people :-). I slept, did work, wrote emails, read. Great thing about this free Starbucks month of internet – tmobile is also in most airports – nifty! I went through Dallas which is part of what made the day so long. But I teared up because it was Texas… I was like “Ah, I promise I’ll be back soon!”. God, it’s time to go home :-). But I made it and gained time (going west), and made it only slightly late to my Aunt’s birthday dinner at her house! The lateness was due to an annoying and slow shuttle driver. And dinner was informal – Chinese food. But there were 11 of us :-). Normal day at Janelle’s house. I was overcome with happiness upon arrival – hugged everyone, even my cousin’s wife’s Mom. People I know, who know me! Family! Non-New York! Yay :-). I realized quickly that everyone had their own life around me, but that just gave me some time to myself to relax too. No shortage of things going on there though :-). Janelle opened presents, and we had a wonderful Chocolate Crème Brulee ala Jeff, my cousin. It was fantastic :-). Great way to start a vacation!
Wednesday I got up and ran around the fancy rich neighborhood (after lots of sleep). I felt free – it was in the 60s and sunny and beautiful. I can’t really complain when visiting Janelle. She is a great cook, gives me free time to do my thing, includes me on family things, always has a stocked kitchen, and makes me feel at home :-). She lives the good life too – not working, but doing fun activities and exercise almost everyday, plus lots of good wine at night :-). I love my family. Anyway – after lunch Janelle dropped me off at Grandma’s where Gram had set up a Mah Jongg game with her friends. She’s been teaching me to play with these awesome tiles from China (beautiful) that used to be HER Grandmother’s!! I think I inherit them – they are beautiful. And it’s such a fun game. There are some weird intricacies that I have to be reminded of, but it’s mostly like Gin Rummy which is so fun. I love games. So then Gram and I just visited the rest of the afternoon – talking about family, gossiping, telling stories. She asked me about my life – and I love that my family knows me enough to ask the real questions. I am open – I answer everything :-). And she told me neat stories about her life, moving around in the air force, and even Grandpa wooing her way back when! Love that :-). My Grandma is so sweet and kind and selfless and just lives for her family. She’s my favorite person in the world :-). So after visiting, we go down for a nice Webster House dinner. Awesome fresh warm soft rolls, soup, salad, entrée, and dessert for every meal. And pretty healthy too! This time the entrée was chicken with some veggie – can’t remember. And dessert was odd – a spice bread with sweet-marinated pears. But overall tasty :-).

Then Thanksgiving! I was in my pajamas most of the day helping my Aunt cook. Ok, I didn’t do too much (she’s so organized, my aunt). But we talked a lot and hung out – it was great fun. In the afternoon I decided to go for a bike ride and borrowed Janelle’s nice bike – a road bike with clip-in pedals! Ok, I didn’t clip in, but it had the low handlebars and everything. Took a bit of getting used to, but it was really fun to ride! And I went around another really cute woodsy neighborhood where tons of people were out walking around on Thanksgiving. Just put a smile on my face :-). And cute houses… So came back and had a great Thanksgiving meal – this time w/o my cousin’s family so it was just Aunt Janelle, Uncle Ken, Gram and me. But we had great things – cranberry salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey, stuffing, rolls – I think that’s it. Then we had an apple tart for dessert – I helped with that. Although we also had a sweet potato pie a friend of Ken’s had brought over which was pretty tasty! Although I always love the apple things :-). So, nice quiet evening – I think we watched a neat Netflix movie with Scarlett Johansen and Helen Hunt – “A Good Woman”.

That night I finished my book – The Kite Runner. I read faster toward the end because it was really interesting. It is a FABULOUS book and I highly recommend it. A poignant story, and neat to hear about another culture and country (Afghanistan). So go read it if you haven’t! Love good books :-).

Ok – Friday entailed another run around the neighborhood on a sunny day. I could really get used to this idle time – sleeping a lot, exercising, eating a lot :-), playing games! Fun times. Then I borrowed Janelle’s bike again and biked the 3 or 4 miles to Grandma’s house!! We had leftover turkey together for lunch, and did more visiting and gossiping. Again, my Grandma is awesome and fun to hang out with. I had to leave before it got dark with the bike, so I left around 4 to get back to Janelle’s. Turns out the gang came over for Thanksgiving dinner reprise – Jeff, Michelle, Paola (Michelle’s Mom), and their boys – Luke and Hazen. Big crowd, but fun. And of course the food was all good again :-). That’s when we played Pictionary. So fun – love games! We randomly picked teams, but Jeff and Ken ended up together which was a mistake. I was with Michelle and Paola and Janelle were together. Let me just say Ken and Jeff are VERY intelligent and both awesome at games. They shouldn’t have been put together. Us other teams were 1/4 of the way through the board when they zoomed ahead, getting clue after clue, and basically won without us moving again at all. It was fun overall, and we had some laughs, but never again with the boys together! Some good almost clues: “smoking a bone” and something about tits that Ken said :-). Fun times.

Saturday was good, again. I hung out for the morning, then Janelle and I played tennis! I had brought my racket and was happy to play, although of course I sucked from lack of practice. I need to be more consistent! I only got 1 game off of Janelle in 2 sets. She was playing well. But it was a beautiful day, great to run around the courts again. Being on a tennis court does something to me – it’s like “I belong”. A confidence booster automatically! Then we basically got ready and went to hang out at Gram’s for the afternoon. We played some fun games – Rummikub and Sequence. And chatted. Then Janelle and Ken and I joined Gram for another great dinner at Webster House. This time we had salmon and spinach – yum. And Ken raved about their apple and fennel soup. And the dessert was only ok – strawberry baked Alaska. But another fun night at Webster House! And we watched Ocean’s Thirteen back at home, although I missed 1/2 hour of it – my eyelids were more interesting.

And Sunday – last day! I did work for the morning while Janelle played her weekly tennis game. Then we had a quick lunch and headed out for a brisk hike! The trail was paved, but it was we thought around 6 miles. It was surrounded by grass with cows, and trees. Felt pretty rural for being close to Stanford and a populous area. Neat views :-). But it was nice to just get out and hike and stretch my legs (despite right knee pain which I think is a pulled muscle). And of course – Janelle and I had a great hour and a half around the loop to talk :-). I love my family. We had good conversations – about life, cooking, managing things, kids, biking in other parts of the world, friends, priorities. It was fun to chat with her :-). Good to talk. And we talked about Grandma’s upcoming 90th birthday celebration next June. Anyway – I felt close to her and just happy. Exercise and good company – what more could I ask for? Then we came home and got ready for Sunday dinner! A tradition in my family – everyone gathers for a nice Sunday dinner. When I was little we always used to gather at Grandma’s house. Janelle had broccoli, a pear, cheese, walnut salad, and turkey burgers. Everything was tasty. Oh yeah – and the cheese and olive and mushroom empanada appetizers – yum. And wine of course. Everything was delicious! And of course the company – with Jeff’s family – was great. Fun times. And we had a surprised yummy dessert – Jeff cooked a peanut butter and chocolate tourtine (sp?). Very rich and beautifully plated and awesome :-). A definite treat for me!

Hope Gram had a good time – I know visits mean a lot to her. It was great to be able to see her everyday! And spend some quality time with her :-).

So today – went for my last run around the neighborhood (although my knee was hurting – ugh). It was chillier this morning, although still sunny. I could see my breath in clouds! And then came back, got ready, packed, and pretty much had to leave for the airport! Another long day back, but not too painful. It’s easy to keep myself busy :-). But will get home late…

And yes, there was some loneliness and overeating. But on the whole – a fabulous relaxing holiday which was just what I needed.

So family is awesome. Particularly my family. To me family is everything – closer than friends (although I’m working on it). I am close with them and we are similar. I could go to any of my aunt’s houses and have an awesome time. And to my 13 cousin’s houses too, although I know some of them less well. But we are all awesome and good people. And I am glad we are close – they have made me who I am – my whole family structure and culture. Of course my Mom had a big hand in that of course, but I’m saying it’s just who my family is – how my Grandma and Grandpa raised the 4 girls. We are close, and all well-educated, and all know “the good life”. My Grandpa’s famous quote. So I realize while my family doesn’t know what I do day-to-day, they KNOW me. They know who I am from the inside. Because I am them. We understand each other’s interworkings, and ways of operating and organizing and thinking because we are similar. And that’s comforting! Maybe disturbing too :-). But for me it was a breath of fresh air. With friends there is always an adjustment period – getting used to each other’s habits, or finding each other’s limits or tolerances. I know where I am with my family. And they know me. And we are just automatically close because of that even if we don’t talk very often. It’s very neat that way. And I noticed things Janelle does that are just like my Mom. Or me. We are all control-freaks :-). And you don’t have to explain your view of the world or explain you are genuine. She knows. She knows you like wine with dinner. Our models are similar :-). And that’s comforting. So even though I wasn’t going home to Mom’s house, I still felt some level of just happy comfort and understanding being at Janelle’s. And maybe THAT is what I am thankful for this year :-).

And thankful I’m only in New York 1 more week baby! Austin – I’m coming home soon :-).