What's important

My Niece, Claire:

Christmas is around the corner. And then Virginia.

I'm ready to hit the road. This week's been encompassed with preparations: car check, packing, a physical, hunting for a beach rental. It's starting to fall into place.

I'm thankful for this in-between job. Three months to try out the VA system. Three months to re-acclimate to US life-work conditions. Returning stateside has brought a plethora of experiences. I haven't thought much about the adjustment until periodically I notice something that trips me up. Examples: ground floor vs first floor (overseas first floor is ground), portion sizes of food, airplane carry-on bags... consumerism.

Mostly, I'm thankful for my time with my family. For the career which has given me flexibility. For my mom (and everyone else) who has taken me in since I returned stateside in August. For the ability to have a full life filled with love.

I'm convinced that we are here to share ourselves and share love. I hope the holidays remind us all how lucky we are to be together in this life.

Home for the holidays

I walked outside the Grand Forks airport and was greeted with swirling fresh snow under the parking lot lights and chilly air. Mountains of snow piles indicated that it was not the first snowfall of the season. I was excited. Finally a white christmas and cold weather.

Molly, Josh and Mom picked me up in the tan Impala as the ancient ATA security man rushed us off away from the entrance. The traffic situation in Grand Forks, ND must be monitored at all times lest it get out of control. All those folks in North Dakota- I heard that it is even gaining population. The two states who are now losing population are Michigan and Rhode Island. Yay North Dakota!

Over the holidays (all 3.5 days that I was able to get off from work) I saw 21 relatives, 3 different towns and drove piles of miles. We went sledding and cross country skiing. I managed not to injure myself. (Good thing my mom reminded me I'm not 18 anymore, or I would have been standing on my sled down the hill.)

One day I thought I would walk from Gortman's to Michael's (two different stores in Grand Forks about 1-2 blocks apart) and had to warm up two times and stop for coffee to make it. It was so windy, I ended up with coffee on my coat and near frost-bitten fingers. I decided I was not moving back to Grand Forks any time soon.

There is nothing like Christmas in Minnesota with my family. I'm glad this year I got back before the move to Auckland. Who knows when I'll be able to see everyone like that again. If only I could get there without the joys of holiday travel - at least one of my four flights wasn't delayed!

In other notes, I cleaned out my desk yesterday. One more day of work. I actually felt fine about it.