easter vacation

I found out at the beginning of the semester that my class for April 10 would be cancelled. That left me with five and a half days free over Easter weekend, so I called my mom and asked if I could go home. She was able to arrange it, and she managed to get my sister and her husband there from California, too! We were blessed to be able to spend a long weekend with the whole family together. Dad, Mom, Katie, Chris, and me. And on Saturday, my aunt and uncle and grandma drove down from Nebraska, and two of my cousins came over, too. We had Easter ham sandwiches, and I gave away lots of good "stuff" from China that I had stashed in the basement. Also during the weekend, we went to my very favorite restaurant in the world for steak, we visited a special exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Unioin Station, we played dominoes, we went to our old church, and mom and I went to a crazy warehouse with the sign "Good Stuff Cheap" where we found curriculum materials and big books for $3.00. It was a fantastic break from the norm, and I enjoyed spending the time with my family. Love you, guys!

she's back

I returned to New York on Monday, and nothing terribly exciting has happened yet. I've been doing paperwork and job applications and trying to make decisions about what to do next fall. Please keep me in your prayers! Since I don't have any New York stories to tell, I'll give a quick Christmas run-down.

Spent Christmas holiday with family and friends in KS, CO, and NE. Saw relatives I hadn't seen in six years! First went to Greeley, CO. Spent Christmas eve day with mom's family at Granny's house, opening gifts, catching up, eating Christmas dinner. Christmas day went to one of my dad's sister's house (Aunt Dawns'), played games, caught up, ate another Christmas dinner. Then back to Granny's to play more games and eat third Christmas dinner. Morning after Christmas all woke up with stomach flu, so spent the day in pj's watching TV and drinking 7-Up. Sufficiently recovered in time to drive down to Denver the next day to see my sister and her husband and for shopping - though no buying. Next day flew back to KS. There discovered mom and dad had a broken pipe under the foundation of their new house, so spent one day moving everything in the basement and another day supervising as workers jackhammered the floor and replaced the pipe. Exciting, I tell you! New Year's brought more friends, food, and games and champagne with Angela and Brian. Next weekend drove to Omaha, NE to see dad's mom (Grandma) and Aunt Debbie and Uncle John. I made a quick run to Lincoln from Omaha to see Brian's apartment, workplace, and him, too. Back in Omaha Uncle John served delicious coconut-pecan encrusted mahi-mahi, rice with pineapple, and homemade cheesecake. Guess it counts as one more Christmas dinner since we opened gifts afterward! In between days were filled with hanging out with old friends, going out to favorite restaurants, visiting the Plaza, shopping with mom, going to The Queen's Pantry for tea, visiting my class from last year, going out with the girls I used to teach with, and re-packing!

And now... back in New York and ready for fun!

At Granny's House: Dad, Mom, Me, Sister Katie, Brother-in-Law Chris