So, let's see if I can give an update on what's been going on the past few weeks.
The weekend of the 22nd-ish I spent the night in St Louis, for our annual trip to the Braggin' Right's game. Illinois won yet again, 8 years in a row. The hilarious thing about this year's game - we're awful. Even in a year when our team is awful, we still end up beating Mizzou.
Christmas and the days around it were a whirlwind yet again. Christmas Eve Eve was spent in the western burbs, once we were actually able to find it. There's just something about the western burbs - I always end up getting lost on my way. It doesn't matter if I've been to the specific location before, I get lost. It sucks. Well, the western burbs do. Anyway, that was Matt's dad's side of the family. It was a small gathering, but good to see that side of the family. Matt's grandma even commented to him, "I like your lady-friend" :D
Christmas Eve was spent at Matt's mom's side of the family in Oak Park. The main attraction to this gathering is the music played and songs sung after all of the hullabaloo that comes with Christmas is finished. That side of the family is pretty musically gifted, everyone usually sits around in the main room while Matt's uncles & aunts play instruments and sing. I'll be honest, last year, I was a bit taken back by the entire thing, I thought it was a little bit weird. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Should I sing? If I don't, will everyone think I'm the weird one? In any case, my finding it weird was mostly because I've never been a part of a family that does much more than sit around and watch television or play cards during the holidays. This year, it was probably the part of the holidays that I was most looking forward to.
Christmas Day was spent in the Rock with my dad's family for most of the day. After that, we headed to my mom's to see her, my brothers and my nieces and nephews. And finally, after that, Matt's immediate family (mom and dad) wanted to have our own Christmas celebration, so we headed to Kenosha from Rockford. We had a nice dinner and opened gifts. Among sweaters & a picture frame collage, they gave us a huge Illinois metal bucket, filled with a ton of Illinois stuff - really cool gift that I look forward to putting to use.
A few days after Christmas, Matt, Jen and I headed up to northern Wisconsin to spend a few days at Matt's family "cabin." Cabin is in quotes because it's pretty much a house. There are 3 BRs, 2 bathrooms, a fully functioning kitchen with every appliance imaginable, a laundry room, etc. I'll hold off on posting the recap from the cabin though. I'm hoping to have pictures soon, once I have those, I will post that in a different post.
Finally, today is my first day back at work since 11 AM on Christmas Eve. Wow, it sucks. Not quite as busy as I was anticipating, so I guess that's good (I mean, I even have time for this big ol' update)... but, I really enjoyed my time off.
2 comments:
Nice summary. I especially liked the part about the time that you spent with Matt's mom's side of the family. That sounds like a cool time, although I'd be the one sitting there not knowing what to do.
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