thanksgiving....family, turkey, lots of food, and some downtime

yups, so i was trying to be good about blogging daily, but i got lazy. again. of course. but it's okay, some of my friends read this and some don't so i guess a monthly posting isn't that bad....right?

anywho, i'm in michigan (flint, michigan, to be exact) visiting my aunty florence and her family. she's my mom's older sister, and she works for gm (the car manufacturer). she has three children: two daughters and a son, and they're all older than me. michelle, her oldest daughter, has a son named kalei (he's six now), and her son, john, has two children: abigail, a girl who's four, and trey, a cute, but big tyke who's 18 months. aunty florence's second daughter, jackie, is five years older than me and not married. with the extended family on my uncle's side, today's feast proved to be a celebration of generations. grandparents, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, children, and grandchildren were around the house watching tv, eating lots of food, and celebrating family. it was a lot of fun. i had a lot of food. the food was so 'ono!!!! hooray for family and home-cooked meals.

we had lunch at 1, and the last of the family stayed until 8:30 or so. i watched "the world is not enough" on tbs (yay for the bond marathon), and then my aunty and i went to frankenmuth (a town 20 minutes away from flint) to see the tourist attractions. according to my aunty, it's a town founded by germans and today thrives on the tourist industry. we arrived in town just after the stores closed, but we were able to get some homemade chocolate and to browse in some of the stores.

we came back to the house around 10:40 or so, and i had to call my dad because he has a worm on his computer or something. i spoke with him briefly and then got to talk with lori for a while. it was good to talk with her just to check in and see if she's okay. she's filled out applications to two colleges: university of san diego, and redlands; and she just finished her last high school volleyball season. she was glad for it to be over....lots of internal politics going around this season and she was just fed up with everything. she's looking forward to canoe paddling (as expected), and being able to be on the water everyday. speaking of being on the water....she cut her knee on a rock this afternoon while she was surfing. her story is that she pulled off a wave....now, when she pulls off a wave, she usually jumps into the water....well, this time, it was low tide (which she forgot), and when she went to jump into the water, she hit her knee on a rock. and her knee opened up, and she got stitches. dad sewed her up at the emergency room, and as i was talking with her, the numbing medicine wore off, so she could feel the pain in her knee. i thought it was a bit funny that she forgot about the tide just because she knows the water well. but she's tough, and hopefully she's asked dad for painkillers.

anywho, talking with lori made my day. my first call home was a bit frustrating because no one wanted to talk with me. i called while lori and dad were at the hospital, and i spoke with brad for a few minutes. traci was practicing the piano, and miki didn't want to talk with me, so my conversation with my family was well....lame. and that's the reason why i don't call home. no one wants to talk with me, and yet they complain that i don't call. oh well, such is life. my aunty says that i made the attempt, and that's what counts. i hope she's right.

i guess that covers my thanksgiving here in michigan. tomorrow, friday, i'm heading back to boston, and then on a bus to hartford, connecticut to visit mike in madison. before that i'm going shopping with my aunty and eating lunch with my cousin. it sounds like a good day. i hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving wherever they spent it.

things i'm thankful for: family, friends, challenges, forgiveness, happiness, and smiles.

time to finish ishmael.

-me : )