I love Thanksgiving break. It is always a real change in my routine -- I drive to Michigan, see family I haven't seen in a year, get well fed, play lots of games and laugh, laugh, laugh. I've decided that Thanksgiving is my real New Year's because I always come back home recharged and refreshed and ready to make improvements in my life.
It was especially poignant this year. Just before I left, I ranted a little about my sister cutting herself off and not joining us this year. Well, guess what? My sister-in-law reached out and gave my sister her credit card miles so she could come -- they kept it as a surprise, so it was quite amazing to walk into my brother's house and see my sister at the table! It made me realize that despite our differences, having my sister there makes the holiday.
I spent most of my time at my nephew's house, because he had the space. He lives in the country in a big lovely house on a dirt road with few neighbors. His daughter raises chickens in the back yard. They used to have a pony and a goat, but they were sold to other families this year (too much trouble, I imagine). But they just added a Great Pyrenees puppy to their family. Anyway, it was very, very rural and quiet. It was weird to be told I didn't have to lock my car. Even weirder that the guest house I slept in was unlocked and that I might expect neighbors to come into the lower level to buy organic meat from the freezer below -- where they simply left money for their purchase with a note of what they had taken.
Today it's back to city life, where I wouldn't dream of not locking the door. Memories of the windswept fields kept whirling in my head as I walked to the station this morning between the high rises, stepping over beer cans and cigarette butts. Don't get me wrong, I love city life. It's just so different; it's like two different worlds.
But on to financial things ... I had a pretty low-spend vacation. $4 on road food, $18 for a movie and treats which I shared (the movie was Rise of the Guardians), $39 for gas. I also visited their Goodwill and bought 3 pairs of pants for myself and 3 sweaters for my sister for $22.
Oh, and before I left, I DID get my intercom fixed -- the bill is yet to come.
Hello Again!
November 26th, 2012 at 03:38 pm
November 26th, 2012 at 05:40 pm 1353951640
Suzanne
November 26th, 2012 at 06:22 pm 1353954149
November 26th, 2012 at 08:26 pm 1353961569
Ceejay, I am a city girl, too, but it sure is nice to experience those wide-open spaces once in a while!
November 27th, 2012 at 03:59 am 1353988748