There's Nothing Like Home for the Holidays...

I made it back to Michigan without incident. I was glued to the weather reports pretty much the whole time I was in Orlando and the day after, but the weather was fine so I got in on time. My sister was supposed to pick me up, which she eventually did, after several frantic calls to her, my mother, my father, and Mema. FINALLY I got a hold of her, and her and D-Wrek were there with Lancelot, who, of course, didn't give a rip about me.

So... Noche Buena, a.k.a. Christmas Eve, a.k.a. my Dad's birthday, was fairly normal. Well, as anything that involves my family can be "normal." There was one major difference, though, which was that my home church didn't have the 11 o'clock candle lit service so my parents went to my dad's church for mass at midnight and I just couldn't bring myself to go. Good decision, too, since they got home UBER late. Well, later than I wanted to be up anyway.

This year, we had a slight shift of the traditions, which I tried to deal with. We all know change is painful for me. lol. Liz and D came over around 4 and we did the gift thing then. I must've been a very good girl because Santa brought me everything I asked for and then some. Oh, and I took this lovely picture of Lancelot in his leather jacket... which he HATED.

I am a bad person. :) After that, we all headed to Abita's house (my abuela) for the Garcia Family Christmas. It was great to see everyone--aunts, uncles, and cousins, and the night was punctuated with random picture mails from Tanya, who was celebrating Noche Buena in true, outrageous, Cuban style. It was truly entertaining. Our night was fairly traditional--good eats including a dead pig, Marta praying for the animals, and a few gifts exchanged. I'm not sure if Abita knew who I was, but she seemed happy to see me, so that was a blessing.

Christmas day (which was 45 and rainy, by the way... NOT amused!) we headed to the Creek to see Mema and Grumpa and that crew. My Christmas was made when Grumpa knew who I was. It's always a gamble with him whether or not he's going to be on the ball that day, but he's usually pretty good when there are a lot of people around. He was just waking up when we got there, and I walked over to his bed and said hi and Merry Christmas. I reached under the covers to grab his hand, and he squeezed my hand so tight that I knew he recalled who I was. It was all I really wanted for Christmas anyway. We even managed a bit of conversation, and, before we left, he managed to say "Merry Christmas" and "I love you" to me. :D Between that and the dang cheesy casserole of joy we have every year, it was a great day.

Unfortunately, for reasons I will explain soon, I have very few pictures from Christmas. You see, the day after, the 26th, I organized a gathering at Rum Runner's, my favorite East Lansing bar. It's become somewhat of a tradition to hit it up at least once over Christmas break. So I hit it up, and a few of the faithful joined me--the weather was pretty bad, and it snowed. (Christmas? Rain. Day after when I want to play? Snow of death!) So I had the camera (which, by the way, I was borrowing from my mom) on the table, got up to use the restroom, and when I came back it was gone. Someone MUST have stolen it, although they also must've been pretty desperate because there were people sitting at the table THE WHOLE TIME and there were tons of other expensive electronics on the table as well. While it sucks to have lost the camera, I'm more upset about having lost the pictures. Who DOES that? Seriously.

I did manage to steal a pic from the night off Facebook, though, so here's me and a former resident of mine (waaay back in the Grand Valley days!), Christina. I love seeing her over Christmas. I hope it's becoming a tradition...

The only other events worth mentioning is what took place when I headed to the east side, the day before I flew out. Bob came to pick me up and drove me to Ypsi. It was amazing to see him, and we had a great catch up talk in the car. In Ypsi, I met up with Coot, Timmy, Trash and Gary. It was kind of a surprise, one that I welcomed happily. We had dinner at Champions (like Benny Hana) and then went to the nori bong. Yes, a Korean-style sing-room straight outta Seoul. Bob didn't make it past dinner because he had to meet with another friend, but he missed an amazing time. We sang until our hearts were content, and Gary documented. I don't know where the pictures actually ARE, but I'll try to track some down. It was a great night, and a perfect way to end my stay in Michigan.

I came back to Miami for New Years this year just to... see. I ended up having a fun, if not somewhat awkward, night. But when you're dealing with my life, there's always gotta be some awkward, I suppose. I went to Crazy Pianos with the Rent-A-Husband and crew (he even had friends saying with him for the Orange Bowl game so it was me and a herd of boys) and a co-worker of mine and HER friend (who was in town from Philly) met us there.

There was a British guy at the table next to us who was OUT of control and hilarious, and a former co-worker was there as well, so it was great to see her. I just danced and sang and rang in the new year as it should be done: smiling and celebrating in a new pair of underwear.

Here I am, with Adam and Kim.

What? I like noise makers!
And awkward head gear...

I'd post more pictures but my bra is showing in most of them. NOT classy--I was having issues with it all night. Whatever, I'm over it.

My holiday break was lovely and long, and my first day back to work I was greeted with this:

That was taken in the parking lot at school. It kinda makes being at work by 7 am worth it.

Oh, if you'd like to see the rest of my Disney pics, click here for the album.

Happy 2010 everyone.

Much love.