Family Weekend: Days 2 and 3

I woke up early Saturday morning! Like early even by EST standards! I think I woke up at 5:30 CST. It was nice though. I had a little bit of peace and quiet while I ate and did some work on my laptop.

I enjoyed my coffee and a French Toast bagel with blueberry cream cheese. For some reason, my grandmother had 2 tubs of blueberry cream cheese and no regular cream cheese. I just went with it, and am I glad I did! It reminded me of blueberry stuffed french toast. I may never go back.
[Side note: does anyone else have a cup/plate/dish they gravitate towards at someone else's house? I don't know why, but I almost always use that poppy mug when I go to Mimi's she has umpteen thousand mugs, but it's my favorite. Mom's is a navy blue one with the South Carolina logo on it. Maybe my family is just weird. :-)]

Anyway, after breakfast we just milled around and watched football. My grandmother is a tried and true Bama fan, so we had to watch that (and not talk to her). Brittany, Anthony, and I ran to the store because Bee need to make a copy of a photo for Mom and Mimi. While we were there I decided to print off some pictures of me and Greg for Mimi. She's always fussing at me that she doesn't have any recent pictures of me (it's true), so I printed off the most recent ones I had and told her to pick one. 

After that it was time for pictures! I did not realize it, but I had not seen Bee in 4 years! And I think the most recent picture of us was from 5 or 6 years ago. Absolutely ridiculous!

She's grown up so much, and I am so incredibly proud of her. But that's a post for another time. She also took a few pictures with Anthony, who was getting a little bored with the process. 

Ugh! Let's not discuss how grown up he looks in this picture... except for his Batman hoodie... which I love. The hood has bat ears! Anyway. After all that it was time for dinner! 

I hadn't been to Johnny's before, but everyone in my family raves about it. I must say I was pretty impressed!

Well, except for the coleslaw. It left a little to be desired. Then again, I'm totally in love with Popeye's coleslaw, and not much can measure up. After dinner, Britt had to head back to Birmingham, and the rest of us went back to Mimi's. I crashed pretty soon after. 

Sunday was actually Mom and Mimi's birthday. We had already done the gifts and things so Mom and I made breakfast for everyone and my aunt brought over Mimi's birthday pound cake (it's what she wanted). Not too long after that, we headed home. The drive wasn't too eventful until we hit Chattanooga. I swear I saw at least 7 police cars in just a few miles of interstate. It was weird! But we made it home without incident. 

After we unpacked the car, we took one last trip in the rental to go out to dinner for mom's birthday. Apparently she hadn't gotten her BBQ fix, because she wanted to go to Famous Dave's. Hey, who am I to deny my mother on her birthday? Plus, they have quirky wet wipes. 

I'm not sure what Picnic-Fresh BBQ should smell like, but it got my hands clean! 

Our trip was over too soon, but I'm glad to be back home. I would rather leave too soon than wait til we're all sick of each other. :-)

Family weekend: Day 1

Hello from Alabama! Yes, that is correct. I managed not only to get out of Knoxville, but all the way out of the state! First time in over a year. Crazy! What am I doing in Alabama you ask? Well, everyone's birthday was coming up (I'm only barely kidding, but we'll get to that in a second), so we drove down for a visit. And if I'm taking a road trip, I'm not taking my car so...

Enter the rental car! I get to pretend I own a 2013 Toyota Corolla for the weekend. It's a nice little car, and way nicer than mine, but I don't think I'd buy one for reals. Fun for this trip though!

It's about a three four hour drive from my house to Mimi's house. I normally make the trip in a straight shot, only stopping for gas, but we were trying to take our time since Mimi had a hair/nail appointment booked for today [insert jealousy], so we planned a rest area picnic to break it up.

I will admit it was nice to get out and walk around for a minute. My back was a little sore today, so it was probably good for me to get out and stretch a bit.

After lunch, we got back in the car and made the rest of the trip without incident. I used to drive down here so much I could probably find it with my eyes closed. It has been 4 years since the last time I was here, so I got a little foggy once I got to Mimi's county. Tony's taken the trip almost twice as much as I have, so any time couldn't quite remember where I was supposed to turn, he'd pipe up with exact directions including landmarks. He's learned well.

 When we arrived, the dogs were happy to see us. And by the dogs, I mean Bubber (pronounced Bubba), the Poodle/Maltese mix.

He would bring each of us the ball and wait for us the throw it. Except that about 75% of the time he'd grab it as you would pick it up and wouldn't let go. If you let go of the ball, he'd tap you with it. Basically, he couldn't decide if he wanted to play fetch or tug of war. I wish I could have gotten video of it because it was pretty funny. Maybe tomorrow. Molly on the other hand is the total opposite. 

She sat right there for most of the day. When someone can to sit down, she'd crawl onto the couch part so they could pet her. Other than that I would have forgotten she was here.

My oldest niece, Brittany, arrived about an hour after we did. Thank goodness, because Tony practically had his nose pressed to the door waiting for her to arrive. As much as I love my brother, John, Tony loves his Brittany... and I just realized I didn't get a picture of any people. Ha! Tomorrow.

Anyway, after visiting for a few minutes, Bee (everyone has a nickname) said she couldn't wait any longer and handed me a gift bag. She said it was just because we hadn't seen each other in a long time (which is quite sad and quite true). Can I just tell you that my genius of a niece nailed me in 3 presents?

Owls, a watch, and the Wizard of Oz? Yeah, that's pretty much me in a bag. Then she gave Tony a few things (some glow sticks, an awesome light-up travel cup, and food). At that point we decided that everybody would get presents!

 

Mom and Mimi share a birthday on October 6, and Brittany's birthday is October 16. In addition, I have friends/family with birthdays on the 1, 2, 5, 10, 12, 19, 21, and 28 of this month. I told you everyone's birthday was coming up. 

After our mini-Christmas, we had dinner. Later my aunt Sara came over with a birthday cake for my mom. 

She said she put representative candles on there (my mom will be 60 on Sunday), which my mom got appreciated. She said she didn't know if she had the lungs for all of her candles. The cake was a mandarin orange and pineapple cake and it was delicious! I'll have to see if I can get Aunt Sara to give me the recipe. 

Finally, it was time for me to got to bed in my cupboard in the bathroom.

Still bigger than in NYC

For the record, that closet is huge! I'm not quite sure how the tradition got started, but I have always slept in the bathroom closet when I visit my grandmother in Alabama. Yes. That's the closet inside the guest bathroom. Yeah, let that sink in. Anyway, it's nice and cozy. Now, I'm going to get some sleep! 

Family Resemblance

Yesterday was an interesting day. Father's Day has never really been a big deal in my house. My dad left when I was little, and I never had stepfather or anyone else that filled that role. Occasionally I would celebrate with Mom, but it's a hard day for her since her dad passed away when she was so young. Most years it comes and goes without much notice. But this year I had a bit of a shocking realization. I look like my dad.

That may seem like an odd thing to suddenly realize, but I never knew it before yesterday. See, my father left when I was 2, so I don't really remember him. I had never so much as seen a picture of him until my half brother posted a throwback photo of him and my dad from when he was little. It was weird and a little unsettling. I posted the picture of the two of them on Instagram and immediately got comments about how much I look like my father.  Here's a comparison...

Me being silly at Hobby Lobby

My brother Jeremy and our father, circa 1983?

Ok, maybe not the best picture of me, but it is the most recent. It's strange to know you look like someone who doesn't want anything to do with you. But before you start trying to make me feel better, you should know I had another realization, too.

I think (or I hope) that I also favor my Dad. You know, my Father, the Creator of all things. That Guy. In Psalm 65:8 it says that God is a Father to the fatherless, and I am finally to a point where I get that and believe it to be true in my own situation. And I hope I look like Him, too. A few weeks ago, an agnostic co-worker and I were talking and he said he knew something was different about me because I "just have a light inside," and I knew he meant the Holy Spirit. That was probably the best compliment I have ever gotten. Despite the physical appearance a few strands of DNA gave me, I want to know that people I look like my Dad.

20 hours

That's the notice that Greg gave me that my mom, my brother, and I were invited to his mom's house for Thanksgiving. They are eating at around 1:00, and he texted me at 4:40. Bless him.

I know what you're thinking, "Jen, you guys have been together for nearly 4 years. Isn't the invitation a given?" To that I say "nope." Now, for the past 3 years I have gone to his family's to eat, but I was raised not to invite myself anywhere. So until we are married, he's going to have to actually invite me.

This whole situation has made me realize (or re-realize?) that there are 2 types of Southerners. First, there are those of us who politely wait for an invitation and knock on the door when we arrive. Second are those who come over whenever and just open the door.  I fall into both categories at one time or another. :-)

I have to be at work tomorrow at 5am, so I should probably start settling down. Luckily, I only have 2 more 5:00 shifts before we go back to the 6:00 schedule. I can make it!