Oh yeah, we have a blog! Who knew?
Sean and I did our usual hectic traveling over Christmas break. For me, it wouldn't feel like Christmas without all the traveling since every Christmas since birth, my family has driven the 21 hours up to Illinois (and most years, Michigan) to visit our grandparents and extended family. Sean, on the other hand, grew up staying in one place, but he is a good sport about all of the traveling (for the most part).
We left on December 17 in the evening. I remember it was the afternoon because I took the GRE test in the morning, so it really felt like Christmas break when we got on that plane. This particular test scheduling could have been good (i.e. I did really well) or bad (i.e. I did not do really well); luckily, it turned out well for all involved! Our first stop of our Christmas traveling was Louisville, Colorado to see our Kienle family. They promptly got snow, which I appreciate since I only have to deal with it for two weeks every year.
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| SNOW! |
One of my absolute favorite things about the Kienle house is that I have a pair of slippers that stay there year round (so does Sean), and when we come visit, Lisa (my mother in law) puts them out by the bed. We also eat VERY well. Much better than we were eating at home for the previous week since Sean and I had purposely not gone grocery shopping. A lot of "what can we make out of what is left in the fridge?" meals were had that particular week.
One morning I woke up and said, "Sean, did you hear something breaking?" Sean said, "No." So, I went back to sleep (which is quite typical), and Sean got up (which is also quite typical). As soon as he stepped out the door, he came back in and said, "Sarah, you need to come see this."
The giant, hand-axed down Christmas tree had plummeted downward spraying needles EVERYWHERE. Sean and I therefore answered the age old question: If a tree falls down in the living room, does it make a sound?
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| Just in case you thought I was lying! |
The answer is YES, and it makes a gigantic mess! In other news, Lisa won this year's Kienle Family Competition. In order for me to win, I need there to be a lot less bowling and a lot more flexibility-based competitions.
Because we are not yet at the financial point where we can choose flights based on convenience rather than price, the entire Kienle family was up at 4am to take us to our super early flight to Austin, Texas the day after Christmas. Daniel must love Sean a whole bunch, because I don't think I would get up that early to get on a flight to see my sisters' off....I say that, but I think I did do that for Madison at one point. But I promptly swore "NEVER AGAIN!" afterwards.
After a fun airport game of what-gate-do-you-actually-want-us-at-and-how-much-longer-are-you-going-to-delay-our-flight, we made it to Texas. I almost didn't recognize our ride, because the minivan was not (yet) decked out in its holiday attire of Christmas lights and reindeer antlers + nose.
We celebrated our Stachura Christmas that night, and, most importantly, I got to see my adorable nephew who I hadn't seen in 7 months. Sean hadn't seen him since the week of his birth, so I guess he wins that particular contest.
Two days later, we did our annual road trip up to Farmer City, Illinois. I've perfected the art of sleeping in the car, so between sleeping, knitting, reading, and some TV show watching, we made it up to Illinois. Of course we stopped at Lambert's, Home of the Throwed (yes, I spelled that correctly) Rolls. A road trip up (and back) would not be complete without it.
On New Year's Eve we snuck alcohol in to my grandparent's farm house (I'm not too worried they find out, since neither of them are on the Internet. Don't you dare tell them!). This was a family effort, and my aunt, uncle, parents, sisters, cousins, and Sean and I were careful to hide all of the evidence! Because I was sick with a bad cold, as soon as it hit midnight I was in bed. It was a struggle to stay up that late. I blame it on being ill, NOT on being old.
Mom and Dad drove Sean and me to Chicago to catch our respective flights. Sean flew from Midway back to San Diego, and I flew from O'Hare to San Francisco for a conference. But that's a whole other story....
The moral of this particular adventure was that my suitcase weighed 49 pounds on the way to Colorado and only 47 on the way back to San Diego. Therefore, I did not get nearly enough presents this Christmas. What a bust!
