Hello, 2012

Going and being home for Christmas break is always strange and wonderful.

I don't feel like my life is in Holt Michigan, anymore. I mean, it's NOT in Holt, Michigan any more. Few friends still live there, and when I go I'm transported back to my high school days staying at my parents house and sleeping in a twin bed. Only now, they have cable. In both scenarios I don't have a car so mobility is a problem. Not that I'd drive much, anyway because I've sort of forgotten how to drive in anything but sunshine and rain.

But I love being in Michigan. A big part of my heart is still there and most of the better parts of who I am are there, too. Plus, with a little creative scheduling and very nice parents, I managed to see quite a few people.

It wasn't nearly as snowy as I wanted--I think it was near 50 when I first showed up. I felt like I brought the Miami weather with me--and brought the Michigan weather back to Miami, unfortunately--which no one in Michigan was mad about. A little snow fell here and there, and I certainly spent a good deal of time being cold, so I guess it felt a little bit like Christmas. Downtown Lansing even looked a little festive.

Hello Capital City!

And here's the snow on our bush in the front yard, from later in the break. I thought it was pretty.

Winter wonderland, indeed.

I spent a good deal of Christmas break, as I said previously, watching rented movies and Netflix. I saw several "classics": The Deer Hunter (intense but amazing and Christopher Walken is the terrifyingly captivating), A Clockwork Orange (Di. Stur. Bing.), Amadeus (long but fascinating, despite the guy from Animal House playing the title character). I saw Young Adult in the theater which... wasn't what I expected but I connected with it anyway. There were some moments the resonated with me, but overall it wasn't as funny or witty as I had imagined it would be.

Christmas festivities were fairly traditional. Cuban side for Christmas Eve, ate some Cuban food, took the traditional cousin's picture (we look better every year, I swear), and loved on some family. Here are the Garcia girls.

Christmas Day with the Palos was also some good lovin' on family time. Both uncles were there, and two dogs (Bubba and Cody, Mema's dog) and a tiny tree, too. We had brunch and the traditional cheesey/bready casserole of joyous life, which is only edible once a year 'cause of how terrible it is for you. But it's so worth it.

Another aspect of Christmas I really love is the tradition: food, family, our own little twists and turns on the days that make my family mine. They're beautiful and probably strange to some, but they're mine. Ours. And they're comforting.

I also got to spend some quality time with my good friend Coot in A2, Ann Arbor. We went to a U of M basketball game against Penn State (I think). Here we are, pea and pod-like as ever. :)

The halftime show at the game was, like, Mr. Fantastic or something, a "magic" act of sorts. It was pretty cool--the guy and his assistant did some traditional tricks--making flowers appear, an endless hankerchief chain, but she also wore about seven outfits and changed into them in seconds (or second, really). That part of it was pretty awesome. Here they are after she has just shed her dark wig and long dress.

Christmas in our family isn't just about the birth of Jesus (although it is) but the birth of my father (Christmas Eve) and my Tia (Boxing Day). My Tia Maki was actually in from California this year, so that was exciting, and we took her out for lunch on her birthday, along with our traditional cousin's lunch. We went to Olive Garden, where I haven't been in ages, and I remembered the glory of those bread sticks. Hallelujah! Molto benne!

The other major festivity was my friend Timmy's wedding. It was on New Year's Eve. Normally, I head back to Miami for NYE, but this year I stayed for the wedding and it was a good life choice. Timmy's a college friend and VanCooter, so the wedding and ensuing reception was peopled with creatures I hadn't seen in ages, since I left Grand Valley in 2004. A NYE wedding is a GREAT idea, by the way--everyone needs something to do, and is looking for a good time. Blam, reception. Good times.

Here's a photo of our table (well, the most important people at it anyway).

Missed these VanCooters like crazy. I was so happy to bring in 2012 with them. :)

Upon returning to Miami, I returned back to school--both kinds. Teaching and taking. I'm excited about my sememster at FIU; I'm actually taking a sociolinguistics class, which is the aspect of linguistics I'm most interested in. Sure, structure is great and necessary, but it just doesn't turn my gears the way looking at actual usage does. So yeah... excited.

I've also had a bit of theater so far in 2012. I got tickets to see the musical Next to Normal from school on opening night. The musical won Tony's and two Pulitzers, so I was excited to see it, but when I looked up the synopsis I was struck--it's a musical about mental illness. Yep. A rip-roarin' rollick in the human psyche.

The music was great, though, and the story was good, but intense. I expect musicals to be a bit light--y'know, love story, some tap dancing, stuff like that. But this wasn't. It's extremely clear why it won two Pulitzers--the writing and subject matter are pretty great. The performances were great as well, and it's a small cast (only six actors, I think) so everyone was really cohesive and acted (and sang) their hearts out. I'm glad I read the synopsis before I went, though, because I was prepared for the intensity. Everyone around T and I was bawling (like, BAWLING) and we were fine. It was kinda funny... but not at the same time.

So far, 2012 has been treating me right! For all of my holiday photos, click here.

Much love.

Artsy Fartsy November and December

Well, here it is, Christmas break, and I haven't updated since before Halloween. I need to get better about this thing... especially since I can't really remember what happened to me if I don't write it down.

October held one more surprise for me. Halloween morning, the weather seemed befitting of the day--it rained heavily the night before, and there was some serious flooding on the day. I heard it all over the news and had the fleeting thought that, I should turn on my phone, but didn't do it at that that exact moment and therefore forgot. I drove through a small lake on South Miami Avenue, fearing I would stall out, and got to work only to discover that not a single other car was in the parking lot. I feared the zombie apocalypse had finally come, and walked to my room to discover that there was a puddle in the middle of the room and the power flickering on and off. My neighbor was there and let me use his printer, but by this time I figured I'd better turn on my phone and find out what the heck was going on.

There were three texts on my phone and one voice mail, all trying to relay the message that school was, indeed, cancelled. Greeeeaaaat. So, lucky me, I had a very special Halloween day off like a Halloween miracle.

Sometime in the past few months (I can't remember where, exactly, this fit in) some of my other female coworkers and I went to a place called Painting with a Twist. This is an art studio where you get a personal paining class and you can bring wine and food while you paint. You walk away with a painting that you did yourself.

It sounds a little intimidating, sure. I have very little artistic talent, at least in the visual arts, and I really did not think I could paint a picture that would look like anything not painted by Jackson Pollack. But I did! Here's the before...

And, after some wine, some snackies, and only a little bit of stress, here's the after! (Note the bottle of wine in the pic, lol!)

Not only was painting fun, but it was a beautiful metaphor for life. Every time I got freaked out that I'd messed it up irrevocably, a teacher would come over and tell me just to let it dry a little and paint over it. You can't make a mistake because it's art, and if it's "wrong" or you don't like it, after a little bit of time you can just fix it. That's deep. I can't wait to go back and paint something else!

Even though it's a terrible picture, here we are together, my paining and I. I even wore my "art teacher" smock/shirt-thingy so I could get into the spirit.

The painting is currently hanging in my bathroom.

November brought the birthdays of two very special people. My Mema, who turned 86, and Sister Fanny, who turned 80. Sister Fanny is just one of those people that makes me happy. She has been a Salesian Sister longer than I've been alive and she still is so happy every day. She makes copies at school and runs a little after-school store, but more than that she tells jokes and just makes everyone happy.

There was a "surprise" party for her at the convent in Naples, and some of us went over to help her celebrate. There were even mixed CDs to rock out to on the drive. We ate (and ate...) and toured Sister Pat's new school, which is lovely, and played F-A-N-N-Y, which is similar to Bingo (okay... it IS Bingo but with different letters). Here's the birthday girl, who made out like a bandit!

November and December were artsy months for me. It was Art Basel time again, and a girl from work got us into an Absolute Vodka party for an Art Basel event. It was sort of a fun girls' night out and I felt super classy and artsy. The evening ended in some falafel from a food truck, which is a win on several levels.

The next weekend was an Art Walk, a free event I've written about here before. It's a night when the art galleries in the Wynwood district downtown open their doors for people to wander through. Some, I'm sure, actually buy art, while poor teachers like me and my friends simply walk around, take pictures, observe humanity, and feel classy. There are food trucks too, which is sort of a budding culture here in Miami; a budding culture I fully support.

The exhibitions are always interesting, at the very least. This was sort of a camouflage deer event happening and I found this little guy and this little corner to be very appealing.

This was a wall near the deer that I just thought was amazing to look at. I couldn't stop staring.

There's all kinds of art at Art Walk including plants. This one trapped The Aussie!

Art Walks are one of the free, great, cultural events in Miami. It's always a good time, especially when you go with the right people.

The official beginning of the holiday season for me was an early viewing of Love Actually and The Polar Express. I somehow seemed to get a little Christmas spirit early this year--normally I don't get it until I'm back in Michigan, if then. Also, the Weavers had an ugly sweater party in early December, which helped to foster some Christmas joy.

My sweater was borrowed and HIDEOUS. It had about 15 tiny bells on the front, which rang every time I moved, creating this high-pitched whine that nearly drove me crazy. Some of the other sweaters were equally terrible, including the winning one which was a lovely depiction of a tiger.

The part inspired me to take some awkward family photos, with the hosts. I'm thinking Christmas card next year?

Last year at work we began a tradition of having a Christmas party at the convent. It was a great way for the faculty and staff to come together outside of school and just relax and be. Last year, I really enjoyed myself and this year I did too. First of all, I discovered that the convent has a nice little backyard area, which they used to barbecue. I had no idea that existed last year! I didn't make it past the craft room. lol

I had lovely conversations while I ate with several people that I don't really talk to much at work--not for any reason in particular, just because we're not really in the same cirlces. It was nice to get to know them a little better, which is one of the reason why this party is so nice. It helped me get into the holiday spirit, even though it was pretty warm outside.

So now I'm back in Michigan for both Christmas AND New Years. This will be my first NYE in Michigan in a while, and I'm going to a friend's wedding so it should be a good time. So far, my time here has been spent relaxing and knitting (and knitting and knitting...) and watching movies with my mom. It was even sort of warm when I got off the plane, so maybe I brought a little of Miami with me. You're welcome, Mitten. :)

Much love.

The official birthday breakdown

You only turn 30 once. And, sadly, some people don't make it that far. So I figured since my 30th was this year, I'd better go all out. I'd gone back and forth on ideas for a party for a while. I wanted a prom, but then I thought a quince would be fun, and funny since I never had one, and then it somehow just developed into an 80's prom, which, it turns out, is the BEST birthday party idea EVER.

Some wonderful friends allowed me to use their house for the party, so I went over earlier in the day to set it up. We had a dance floor, food area, picture area, and even a gift table, just like a real prom. The theme was Vogue, like the magazine, and the invitation was a Vogue cover I made of myself, Vogue-ing like Madonna, with all the details. NOT gonna lie--it was awesome.

I also made covers for several of the guests, to use for decorations. We posted them all around and they were great conversation pieces (plus, I'm now a master user of PhotoShop, which is good for, y'know, a journalism teacher), not to mention witty and hilarious. ;)

Then came the photo area, set up like a Vogue cover, where the Prom Committe and I (complete with buttons) took the first photos of the night.

The colors, if you hadn't guessed, were silver, black, and teal. I dressed to match. The table for favors looked a little something like this, with the favors being slap bracelets. Totally 80's.

The dance floor was awesome--we just set up a projector to project crazy colors and crap on the ceiling, and some sweet 80s jams were rockin' all night. "Don't Stop Believin'" was a huge hit, along with "I Had the Time of my Life" and a little "Lady in Red." Classics, my friends. Classics.

No prom would be complete without a crowning of the King and Queen, so of course people voted on winners. I, to my chagrin, won Queen and my friend Matt won King, mostly, I think, because of his awesome hair. Here I am, celebrating my win...

Here are Matt and I doing our King and Queen dance, complete with Dirty Dancing-style moves...

And this is our official King and Queen photo.

The whole party was just so fun. People went all out in dressing up and we were just dancing and talking and taking random pictures all night. I highly recommend it!

Now, of course, it was a prom and proms don't really have cake, but this was a BIRTHDAY prom, and you can't have a birthday without cake, homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! My favorite!

Themed parties are key to life, and this one was no exception. It was exactly how I wanted to bring in my 30's--smiling, laughing, and dancing until I hurt. Thanks to everyone who came to help me celebrate, even the randoms. It was awesome.

My actual birthday was on the following Wednesday, when I had class at FIU. I didn't really celebrate much on the actual day, but I did make birthday brownies for my class (even though I had to sort of ghetto rig them) and I called it good. Poor college kids are grateful, so that was happy.

The next weekend was Labor Day weekend, and I hadn't been home since, I think, Christmas, so I went home to see my family and pick up Lancelot, who was in Michigan at his "summer home" while I was in Italy.

I got in later than I was supposed to, but my Coot came and picked me up faithfully and the next morning, bright and early, we headed to the season opener for U of M when they played Western. It was a bit too hot to tailgate, although we gave it a solid try, and the game ended up getting rained out, but it was still great to spend time with my Coot and see some college football at the Big House.

The Big House has been redone since I was there several years ago for an exhibition GVSU game. Now it has lights (!!) and a new press box area.

It also now has big, clear, beautiful scoreboards, with closed captioning that can provide some funny commentray (if you read it) during times of boredom.

And, while I don't care much about football, I DO love tailgating and marching bands!

The game started slowly with Western scoring early, but U of M showed them who was boss at the Big House before too long. At one point, though, during the second quarter, it started pouring. I mean, seriously pouring--we all got soaked! Here I am with my seat buddies, after the downpour...
We still look cute, it's true. Eventually, the game restarted and I saw an awesome half-time show that was based on MTV. It was, however, slightly depressing because I'm sure most of the members of the band weren't even alive when the songs they were playing came out. Tra. Gic. Eventually, the rain started up again, this time with thunder and lightning, and they had to evacuate the whole place.

Coot dropped me off at a Panera, where my parents met me with Bubba and we all went on our merry way.

I spent the rest of the weekend bonding with my family and Bubba. I was so glad to see all of them, especially Bubba and my sister, whom I hadn't seen since Christmas. My family took me out to Mitchell's for a birthday dinner (scallops, YUM) and we snapped a quick picture.



All in all, I got to bring in my 30s with some of my favorite humans, both in Michigan and here in Florida. I can't really ask for much more. To even have had 30 years is a gift; someone in my graduating class passed away last year and that is a total mind cruncher. I am so happy about where my life is at this point that I don't even feel stress about "the big three oh." I'm just happy to have been where I have been, seen what I've seen, and experienced all I've experienced.

The week after my birthday celebrations, Frank Warren, founder and creator of PostSecret, a Sunday morning tradition as faithful and sometimes moving, as church, was speaking at the University of Miami and then, a day later, at Lynn University. The Weave got a friend and me a ticket, and we went to see him speak. Here's Frank, on stage at Lynn.

The event was moving and fascinating, and it just made me so happy. The best thing Frank said, and something I will probably always remember, is that, in Hebrew, the word "secret" means, "come closer."

Really, I think, that's what PostSecret is about--by sharing a secret anonymously, you connect yourself to someone else who feels the same way, or has had the same experience, and you realize that, for all our differences, we are really more similar than different. The world really is a tiny place, and each human is just a part of this interconnected, beautiful, fragile network of others. A good lesson to begin a new decade.

So here's to my 30's. I'm embracing them with my arms open, ready for whatever shows up.

Much love.

Hello 2011

Well, Christmas and New Year's are officially over and we're well into 2011. So far, so good, it seems. But first, a recap of Christmas.

A couple days before, Mom, Dad and I took my cousins, Megan and Tiffany, out for lunch. It was great to see them and spend time with them, considering I never get to. It's crazy to think that Tiffany could be one of my students... and I remember when she was born. I=old. But I'm not so much worried about Tiffany, she seems to be making good life choices. Megan, on the other hand, doesn't watch Glee and listens to Lil' Wayne, so we had to have a chat. She has since informed me that she has watched Glee and I gave her some Florence + the Machine, so she could be on track to good life choices. :) That's what big cousins are for, right?

There was also the annual trip to Rum Runner's, where Eric and I celebrate our anniversary because that's where we met, realized our mutual love of piano bars, and became friends. And now he's in Miami and I'm so happy about that fact. It's kind of magical, how life works out... :)

The night was also slightly magical because a dream of Eric's and mine came true. The piano player did the "Bedroom Intruder" song, which was basically amazing and hilarious. In fact, I think all of our requests got played (the serious ones, anyway). Key. And I got a video of it... also key!


Christmas Eve we did the Noche Buena thing, which I never even knew WAS a thing until I moved to Miami. It's also my dad's birthday, so that's pretty cool. The piggy was better than I ever remember it being and seeing the fam was good too. It's sort of a somber gathering these days, with everyone getting older and, it seems, farther apart, and my grandmother being, on a good day, somewhat cognizant. Still, it was a gift in and of itself to even see everyone, and spend time with them, and talk for a little while. I'm lucky that I get to see them at holidays, even though we live far away.

Here's the traditional cousins picture... I remember when Liz and I were the only tall ones in the picture!

And this one might be my favorite, my dad in his new beret lookin' straight pimp. Holler.


That night, we did Christmas at our house, with the cool, new edition of texting back and forth with Steve, Raquel, and J.P. in Texas. It was kind of cool, actually. The miracle of technology at work. I must've been a good girl this year because Santa was good to me, hooking me up with a GPS that will certainly be useful and help me break my addiction to GoogleMaps. Even Bubba got in on the action, opening his present (almost) all by himself.


The next morning, Christmas Day, we drove to the Creek to have Christmas with Mema. It was a little sad, not having Grumpa there physically, but we all know he was with us anyway. Brunch was delicious; I've missed the cheese casserole Mema makes. It's a good thing we only eat it at Christmas because it's pretty aweful for you, but oh man is it delicious. Grumpa used to love it.

Bubba and Kody got along well, and Kody was actually quite the little doggie mode, posing in his favorite spot.

Brunch and family time was great as always, and we did the traditional family photo. I played with the timer on the camera and after a few tries, finally got it right.

As you could see out the window, it was a white Christmas, but it was mostly leftover snow. I think it started to snow a little bit as we arrived, but it didn't snow much on my trip overall. Sad day. I did borrow the really nice camera and I was taking pictures all break, trying to familiarize myself with the camera and see if I could get some good shots. I ended up with this one, which is kind of my favorite. I don't know what kind of plant it is, but I took it in the backyard.

The day after Christmas we had VanCooter Family Christmas. Trash and Gary picked me up and dropped me off at Coot's house, where I played with his iPad and watched the Lions win (what?!) and waited for the rest of the VanCooters to arrive. We went for hibachi, which is becoming a tradition, and then we went to the Wayne County Festival of Lights. Here we are at dinner...

And here are some of the lights:

The festival of lights was at a park. Basically, the displays were set up throughout the park, and we drove through and looked at all of them, oohing and ahhing at the elves playing baseball, the brontosaurus eating leaves, the elves skiing, and the tall Advent candles in a wreath. It was actually pretty cool, but extremely difficult to photgraph, even with a fancy dancy camera. After the lights in the park, we went out to Livonia to the house of some people who love Jesus so much they have a huge light show every year that goes along with music. Most of this music is of the Christian Christmas variety (I dig) but when we got there, the show happened to be almost over and the song playing was "Happy Birthday Jesus" which is even worse than you imagine it to be. Anyway, it was still pretty cool to see. I imagined all the other people in the neighborhood, thinking their lights were awesome, and then realizing... fail. The House family (yes, we went to the Houses' house) wins.

After Christmas, I went shopping at the Howell outlets with my mom and dad, where I got some work clothes. The key is that I could buy short-sleeved spring stuff because I live in Miami where I can still wear them. KEY! I also got to see Bob for a bit, 'cause he came to Lansing one day. We went to Beaner's, excuse me, Bigby (lame) and chatted. It was necessary that we catch up, so I'm glad we got a chance to.

I also saw a couple of movies over my break, namely Black Swan and Tangled. was super intense and I'm not sure I "liked" it, per se, but as a work of art, as a film, it was pretty spectacular. It was well acted, well directed, well filmed. The story was interesting; it all worked. I'm just not sure it worked for ME. I do love some Natalie Portman, though, so that aspect was a win. Tangled was super cute, and I love fairy tales where the princess saves herself, or even saves the prince. I think that's how fairy tales should be anyway--instead of teaching little girls to wait for Prince Charming to save them, they should save themselves and hope Prince Charming can keep up. If he can't, peace out princey.

I came back to Miami the 30th, in order to spend NYE here. Michigan New Year's just doesn't cut it, probably because everyone I'd want to spend it with there is so spread out, or visiting people because they also have time off, that Miami is just a better choice. This year, a friend had a party at his place, and I headed there. It was a small gathering, but the new year came anyway, and the ball dropped, and champagne was drunk, and merriment was made. I meant to take pictures of the evening, but somehow ended up without any. Fail. But I suppose all I wanted was to ring in the new year with people who make me smile, and I certainly did that. Let's hope my year is filled with such a gift.

Much love.

Holiday Happiness

Since we last met, I've celebrated Thanksgiving, finished a semester, and gotten into the holiday spirit, which is a rarity for me.

I spent this Thanksgiving as I did last year. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning, followed by cooking, and then a trip to FIU, where my friend and fellow piano bar lover and Michigander, Eric lives. Last year, he made a delicious Turkey and this year he did the same. There were a couple other misfits there--those who didn't or couldn't go back home to their families, and we shared a delicious meal together. Check out our spread...

There was beer bread, salad, butternut squash, rolls (which were really buns, lol) mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, and, of course, turkey. I dunno, maybe it's because it's been my way for the past few Thanksgivings, but I kind of like spending the day with people who are bound by the similarity of not having a place to go; I like just opening an invitation and allowing any misfit or out-of-towner to come in. It's the second best thing to being with family.

After dinner, Eric and I played American Idol Karaoke on his Wii. Not gonna lie--it was pretty awesome. I feel a new tradition coming on... especially since I was pretty decent at it.

My semester at FIU ended much as I had hoped it would. I got a B and B+, which is really what I was aiming for. I think a B in two classes and a full-time job is more than remarkable, and I'm quite proud of myself. I did learn quite a bit, although it's sort of tough to work phonetics or language acquisition into normal conversation, but I'm working on it. Next semester I'm excited about the classes I'm taking; one of them is a historical linguistics class, which I'm so interested in I already started reading the text book. It's okay--I'm a nerd. I'll own it. :) Five more semesters to go!

The week of finals at FIU was stressful, but I had a few holiday gatherings to look forward to. First, I went to a "cookie party" which I'd never done before but turned out to be kind of cool. Everyone brings a dozen or so cookies and the recipe, and then everyone sort of trades. I made almond cookies, otherwise known as Mema's Best Cookies in the Whole Wide World, but they didn't turn out like hers do. It's okay, I guess, she DOES have several decades of practice that I don't have. I think my problem was the eggs... Here's hoping they're better next time.

Our becoming-annual Dadeland Family Christmas Party was the following week , plus the yearly Christmas luncheon, where I win booze. It's what I do. This year was no exception--I won eighteen Guinness (score!) and enjoyed some holiday merriment with friends I'm blessed to also call co-workers. I was getting to think I wouldn't win anything--it was down to the wire and all the Garcias had won, as had most of my department members, AND most of the people at my table, but luckily I pulled it out at the end. Yes!

The family party was a good time. All the usual suspects were there--beer and cheese soup, hot schnocolate, beer, Christmas cookies, pie... oh yeah, and some cool people were there too. :) It was a delicious and fun evening, and we even managed a bit of flippy cup, where, I believe, the girl's team was the big winner, although some may object to that.

Here's some of our reverie... Eric and Sparty, who made the rounds in his Christmas shirt and green bow.

And our annual picture by the tree, which turned out super cute thanks to an awesome photographer... ;) Don't we look festive and full of holiday cheer?

And I couldn't resist posting this, possibly the cutest picture of Lancelot that I have. He, of course, enjoyed the party, possibly more than anyone else, considering his big, brown eyes, still wield great power over other people, even if they no longer work on me.

The Aussie had a bonfire that same weekend, with all of her "Shakespeare" friends, but I joined in anyway considering my great love for the bard, my boredom, and my overwhelming desire to procrastinate instead of pack. I had met some of them already at other various gatherings, and knew I was in for a nice evening when I walked in and started quoting "Sassy Gay Friend" to a dog named Ophelia, and people knew what I was talking about. And then we made s'mores, and performed the monologue from The Sandlot in tandem with another guest, which was basically awesome. Too bad I smelled like fire for, like, three days afterward. lol

I left to come to Michigan on the 20th, and arrived with only one small incident. Chicago, which had been bombarded with what airline folks like to call "weather," had to re-route a few planes, which were sent to DTW. And arrived just before we did. And were taking up ALL THE GATES. For me, the worst part of any plane ride is the minutes between landing and getting off. I hate it. You're there, where you wanted to be, but you're still so far away. Needless to say, sitting in the airplane buckled in, on the runway, for an extra half an hour was NOT enjoyed by anyone on the flight, especially at 11:00 at night. Still, I arrived, I'm in Michigan, and all is well. I'm home for Christmas.

Since I've been home, I've been playing. Tuesday I saw Black Swan, which I still think I'm recovering from. Definitely worth seeing, and definitely stays with you for a while. I think I liked it; I certainly think the performances were outstanding, and I love Natalie Portman. That's about all I can say about it. lol. Yesterday, a few Holt kids went to Beggar's Banquet for 1/2 off bottles of wine and some nibbles and laughs. It was great to see The KG, who is a baller, and my sister as well. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here, and a New Year's back in MIA.

Much love.

Bienvenidos A Miami

Well, here I am, back in Miami and back to my "real" life. Leaving Boston, and family time in Michigan went by quickly, and now... life calls. I've been dealing with FIU stuff, which is annoying and lame, but whatever. I guess that's what I'll be dealing with for a while--a school that I'd LIKE to give my money to but which makes it difficult to do so.

My last day in Boston was spent in the boy's dorm, watching the boys trickle out one by one. It was sad to see them disperse, but all things must end, and they, too, had real lives to get back too. So they left, and we watched them go, and then... we were free. That afternoon, not wanting to sit in my room and contemplate the return of reality, I went shopping at Filene's Basement with a few co-workers. I discovered nothing exciting, except the most HIDEOUS "necklace" ever, which, at retail price, cost over $550. At the Basement, it was about $250. But price doesn't indicate beauty 'cause this thing is NOT okay!

Really? REALLY?! What IS that? Out of control! lol

After the Basement, we made plans as a staff to get takeout and eat it up on the 9th floor of Shelton so we could all really hang out and be together one last time. I got Thai food and split a bottle of wine, and it was a fun night. There was laughter, senior pictures, Flip Cup, Apples to Apples, inside star gazing, and Apples to Apples. Oh yeah, and we managed a group picture, too.

Aww! I'm going to miss everyone, and Boston in particular. Best of luck, friends. I'm sure the Freedom Festivities continued until the wee hours of the morning, but I did not participate in them because I had a huge day the next day. Not only was I heading back to Michigan, I was going to meet my brother.

This part is hard to say because it's still so surreal sometimes. All my life, until this past September, I thought I was my mom's oldest, but I'm not. It turns out, I have a brother named Steve who lives in Texas with his wife, my sister-in-law, and their new son, J.P., my nephew. It took a while for this news to sink in, absorb, roll around, and take hold in my mind. I still sometimes can't believe it. But it's undeniable that he belongs to us, and we to him. I can't explain what it's like to meet someone for the first time, and yet know that they just... belong. He belongs with us, but we barely know each other. There's so much of each other that we've missed, but so much also for us to look forward to. Finding out about him has been horrible and wonderful, strange and natural, awkward and comfortable, and a whole plethora of oxymoronic emotions that I can't really describe accurately. They don't tell you how to do this in the guidebook--you kind of just have to figure it out, this new definition of "sibling" and "family" and even "love." I'm at the point now where I see him as an amazing gift; I mean, think about it like this: ever since I was a little girl, I wanted a big brother with hot friends who could beat up every boy who was mean to me or didn't like me or just looked at me the wrong way. Now, he may have missed out on some of the beatings so many guys in my past deserved, and the friends are yet to be determined as hot (not holding out hope 'cause he's a bit older than me), but I got the big brother I wished for. That's pretty crazy.

I know Steve didn't want to meet at the airport for the first time, but my flight was delayed for a little over an hour due to a missing co-pilot and then a mechanical issue that caused us to have to switch planes. This meant a lost hour, so we ended up meeting for the first time, at Gerald R. Ford International Airport which sounds awful, but was actually kind of perfect. You see, I've always loved airports--they're great places to both say hello and goodbye to someone, both of which Steve and I did. I love to travel and so does he, although I never thought that trait came from our mother. He even works at an airport himself. So while it may not have been the greatest of places to meet a long-lost relative, it was what it was, and it was totally appropriate.

After our union (because you can't very well have a REunion with someone you just met), and meeting his wife Raquel and my nephew, we piled back into the Suburban, like so many family vacations, and headed to see Lake Michigan, where any first time visitor to Michigan should spend at least some time. I hadn't seen it in ages and I'm so glad I got to see it again. It's such a beautiful body of water, and the perfect back drop for our first sibling photo.

We enjoyed our day on the west side, the weather was beautiful, and, well, my family grew. Here we all are at dinner.

The next day, we went to see my grandmother (they had all gone two days before, when I was still in Boston) and go to Frankenmuth. I haven't been to Frankenmuth in years, probably since I was fifteen or so, and it was much like I remembered it, although without the hologram store and doll house store, which were always favorites of my sister and I.

We went to go to Bronner's, a HUGE Christmas store (and a real CHRISTmas store, not just Santas and reindeer), and to go to the Michigan Military Muesum, where my grandfather has a display. He's not there all the time, as many brave military men and women have donated to the museum, but Stan, the guy who runs it, made sure Grumpa's stuff was there so Steve could see him. It's still sad that they never got to meet; they would have liked each other. Anyway, here's his exhibit.

He was a handsome bugger, he was. And my grandmother, due to my mother's prompting, got herself another handsome bugger, although he's a four-legged one. My mom found Mema a cute little dog, much cuter in person that in pictures, and he and Lancelot, while not exactly best friends, at least tolerate each other. They even pose for family pictures!

We had lunch at Zhender's, which is famous for their chicken. So famous, in fact, that they have a giant evil mascot chicken that I spent the meal trying to avoid. Thank God it only came to the table while I was in the bathroom, and I only had to wait about an extra half a minute for it to be completely out of my way. All this, mind you, after the waitress promised to keep him away. Lies.

The following day was spent chillin' at my parents' newly decorated house because Steve, Raquel, and J.P. didn't return to Texas until that evening. I finally got a chance to give J.P. the sweater I'd spent time knitting in Boston. It fit (wahoo!) and was the first time I've actually SEEN something I've made on an actual baby. Although he lives in Texas, I'm sure he'll get some use out of it. :)

Meeting Steve and family was, and may always remain, an experience I can not accurately articulate but I do know that my heart and my family have grown to include him and his, and I look forward to building our relationship and sharing our lives.

The rest of my time in Michigan was spent hanging out with my parents, although I did get to have Beaner's, go shopping, get my eyes dilated, and see Abita. My parents and I (and Lancelot, too!) had a lovely weekend in Traverse City as well. We went to a couple of wineries, walked around downtown a bit, went on a few little walks, got our feet nice and muddy. It was fun. Here are my dad and I near the lighthouse in TC. The ground was SUPER muddy and squishy, but we just figured it was basically a free spa treatment.

Lancelot also got a good wander near another beach and I managed to get the ADORABLE picture of him. It might be my new favorite!

Some day, Bubba, some day...

I really love that area of Michigan. It's really beautiful, which I forget every time. I mean, look at this view from one of the wineries:

Out of control--and people don't even realize it! When I think of Michigan, my home, THIS is what I think of, not the third world wasteland of Detroit that most people know. This blue sky and green for miles.

Much love.