Christmas with the Fam

Christmas with the fam was amazing. Everyone except my brother Dan was able to make it up at some point, culminating with my parents, my brother, both of my sisters-in-law, my 90 year old grandmother and all 5 of my nephews being present at my parent's house for most of the day today. The boys are ages 1,2,3,6 and 6, making it quite an adventure.

Here are some of the crazy highlights:

• I took Amtrak all the way from Boston to Philly and it was miraculously on time. I had dinner with Kim, Alex, Mike H., and Meg at Kim's apartment and then got a ride back to South Jersey with Mike and Meg.
• When I got home I found out that my mom got rear-ended sitting at a red light and the guy claimed that he didn't see anyone waiting at the light. It caused a four-car pile-up and added "get a rental car" to our list of things to do before Christmas. Thankfully she's feeling good, but with having broken her neck twice already, the doctors were really cautious and took good care of her. Again, thankfully she's doing well.
• My Grammy got her first pair of jeans, ever! She opened the box on Christmas morning and started crying. It was probably the sweetest moment of the week.
• Jill and Grammy and I got to get out of the house and go get a manicure. Grammy's color of choice: bright red! She looks great.
• I got to see Juno with Mike H. and Meg, and my brother, John on Christmas day. It was great and a good time to catch up with some friends. After the movie we wanted to go get a drink and, of course, the only place open was Denny's. So now I can say that I went to Denny's on both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
• I got some video of my nephews running around like crazy people in my parent's house. It was truly priceless. I'll try and post some once I get home.

Overall it's been a great trip home. A wonderful holiday filled with family and friends and now I have to go do laundry and pack before I fly out to Minneapolis tomorrow to celebrate New Year's with Jerri and Mark! I can't wait!

High School Musical - the reunion

Last night I went out with some friends from high school. There is only one place in town to get a drink that isn't super sketchy or TGIFriday's, so you're always bound to run into someone you know, especially during the holidays. Sometimes this is good and sometimes this requires getting a booth in the back of the room and trying not to make eye-contact. Last night it was a good thing. I ran into a bunch of people who I did theatre with in high school. One is living in LA, doing the acting thing, only not so much while the writer's strike is happening; others are living at home, buying condos, selling real estate in Vermont or singing in rock bands. The last time I saw these people they couldn't even legally drink, and now we're all pushing 30. It was great to reconnect. Great to hear about other people who weren't there, and just good to know that everyone is doing well.

I haven't been to my parent's house since the holidays last year and it's always a little weird to be back in the town where I grew up and notice how things have changed. We have a Starbucks now and an over-55 development where a Christmas tree farm used to be. And some trees have been cut down in my parent's yard. But even with changes, some bigger than others, it's always nostalgic to be back in town.

Looking forward to doing it again next year...

BLOG MORE!

Well folks - I'm telling you right now, BLOG MORE is on my list of New Year's resolutions. Here's what happens: Something really fun happens in my life, like celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday, or going to see Josh Ritter in concert and I think I need to Blog about it, but then I don't have the time to really sit down and write something good, so then it doesn't happen, and then I want to put photos up, and then I can't find the cord that connects the camera to the computer and then I don't want to post without photos, and before I know it's been a month since my Grammy's 90th birthday and there is no blog entry about it. So here's the plan for the New Year: I'm going to blog every day in January. Seriously. I know this seems like an impossible task, but it's true. And I'm going to blog about the little things, just something cool I noticed on my walk into work, or a little thought I had during the day or something small. There might be a photo, there might not. But I'm not going to let myself get bogged down trying to blog every detail about the big events of my life. Chances are, if you're reading this blog, I've already told you about the big events anyway. Wouldn't it be more interesting to know some funny thought I had instead? I'm glad you agree, oh faithful reader.

Here's the other thing that's going to change: This is my blog. I know it's supposed to be me and my sister in law, but that clearly ain't happening. She doesn't even read it, let alone post to it. So I'll have to figure something out. The address will be the same, twojunebugs.blogspot.com, but the title might change, or something. I still need to figure that out.

So here's the rundown of what's happened since my last post, in no particular order, just to keep you updated:

• I drove out to Pittsburgh with John, Jill and their kiddos, all in one mini-van, to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th Birthday. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Denny's and had a blast. It's certainly memorable that way. On the Friday after Thanksgiving 75 people showed up to celebrate with my Grammy. It was awesome to see so many people. On the drive back to NJ we stopped at Roadside America - America's biggest miniature village. Think model trains on steroids. The kids loved it.

• I volunteered for the Neilds at Passim. Excellent as always.

• I finished my semester! I start school again at the very end of January.

• I saw Josh Ritter in concert at Passim. It was amazing, very intimate and sweet. I bought a recording of the show and I'm sure it will be featured on my next mix CD if I get it before the end of January.

• I sent out my Christmas cards. No letter this year. I promise I'll have one next year. If you want to know what's going on with me, you should call me or drop me an email, I'd love to chat with you.

• I went to three, count them three different holiday parties for work. Gotta love Harvard.

• I'm looking forward to getting to see lots of friends and family over the holidays. It's trains, planes and automobiles for me (thankfully no buses!): Boston to Philly to Minneapolis back to Boston. Can't wait.

Hopefully I'll get to blog between now and then, but if not: Happy Holidays and I'll see you in 2008!

Done, almost

I've been so quiet lately because the semester is almost over, and like any crazy grad student I decided to change the topic for one of my final papers only 8 days before it was due, so those 8 days were spent researching and writing a fabulous paper on the effects of UV light on library collections. Really brilliant stuff.

But that, my friends, is over. Almost. The paper is turned in, now I just have to give a presentation on the topic on Wednesday and then I've turned everything in for the semester.

This week is shaping up to be a good one: Tomorrow I'm going to see Josh Ritter at Club Passim with Mark M., Wednesday I have class, Thursday is one of my work holiday parties and then my last Management class and then drinks with friends, and then Friday I'm having people over to help decorate the tree. That's right, my roomie and I got a real, live christmas tree and it's so fun to have in the house, and it smells great.

I'm looking forward to my school break, and then only one more semester and I'm DONE! Time flies when you're having fun.