Thanksgiving

I spent most of this wkend with my family; two days in Salinas at one brother Joe and sis-in-law's, one day at the other brother Mark and sis-in-law's, and one day at church with parents, Mark, and Rebecca, Mark's wife. A lot of details I just typed :)

Our family can be pretty flexible especially around the holidays. So on Thursday in Salinas, we went on a short hike, at a late lunch at Denny's (what? you didn't have a Denver omelette at your TG dinner?) and played Settlers. The next day we did some light Black Friday shopping and ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant, family style. And my family pushed me helpfully to get a nail/screw thing stuck in my tire fixed. Good thing, bc the whole tire needed to be replaced.

Saturday Mark and Rebecca hosted us and it was very yummy. She made hot cider in their crock pot (love the idea), Mark finally lived out his dream of deep-frying a turkey, and there was asparagus, rolls, meatless-stuffing, mashed potaters, and apple and pecan pies for dessert. They showed us their new backyard with tile they put in and their new built-in grill. They did a lot of the work themselves which is mighty impressive. It looked really cool.

Church on Sunday was really cool and I'm glad my parents, Mark, and Rebecca came. I'm especially glad they made the extra effort to be on time :) There were a lot of people at church which was a pleasant surprise. Three people shared their family's immigration stories and it was really honest and lovely. I felt like I was home, being surrounded by so many friends and friendly faces. It also felt easy to bring my family there - very accepted as we are. Having a casual dress-code helps. I was grateful for people who came up to talk to my family, who said they gave a quick prayer when they saw us, who helped me merge my worlds.

Showing my family my new place went better than I expected. Mark and Becca had a ton of helpful things to point out about the place; things to repair and cute ideas about utilizing the unique corners and nooks. They all thought it was super cute and were excited to see what I would do with it. It made me feel better about moving into a small space.

So yep. Now starting today with a new branch manager and moving this Sat. This week is going to be full times 10. I'm glad to get back to my life, my friends, my space.