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Christmas Layoff: PA Visit Part 2
Dec. 23rd, 2022 09:03 pmWe had "Fauxmas" on Tuesday :)
I had to wake up early to try and do some work, any work, and that was hard because I feel very tired.
But I try to think of how my sister gets NO sleep because she has a toddler, and then I "suck it up".
Then to my stepmom's where we made a frittata together and ate it. It was very good.
Then we loaded up the car with presents and food, and got to my sister's house.
It was great to see my sisters Kate and Raven, and my brother Jonah!!
I feel like it's been ages, between Covid and just our hectic lives.
Everyone is on a spectrum of doing "ok", some better than others.
From left to right: my sister Kate's husband Pat; my sister Kate; me; stepmom;
my nephew Declan; my sister Raven; my brother Jonah.
Jonah has a great job and got promoted this summer, and has been working hard to get in great shape.
Raven is on the struggle bus, having been unemployed for eight months this year and fighting off depression. PLUS she broke her tailbone right before the visit, argh! But hey, she is alive and fighting her fight.
Kate and her husband and son are doing great, in fact Kate got an interview invite as we were chatting together!
I'm so excited for her! We're not sure yet if the opportunity will be a good fit for her schedule, but it's so cool that the employer is showing interest just a few days after she applied.
After catching up for a bit we opened presents together.
It was kind of a "thriftmas" in that we had promised to only get small gifts for each other.
I was the lamest of all; I only got cookies for everyone, and those were stale by the time I got them there to boot.
Raven also brought cookies but I gotta say hers were much better preserved, and she's also just overall better at baking them than me.
I had one of her chocolate shortbreads with raspberry jam and it was FANTASTIC.
She also made homemade marshmallows which were sweet and fluffy and amazing.
I was spoiled, as I am every year!
My stepmom gifted me some reuseable silicone ziplocs, which will be excellent for tour.
She also gave me many treats, some of my favorites too like ginger chews and German gingerbread cookies.
Jonah got me reuseable earplugs! I am putting them to good use at the hotel tonight!!
Raven got me a full knife set as well as a Japanese knife of some sort that she picked up at a thrift store.
We actually do need some more knives, especially steak knives, so I'm excited to integrate them into our collection.
Kate is very skilled at making homemade infusions and scrubs and such.
This year she gave us each a peppermint scrub that smells just like a York Peppermint Patty, and a peppermint spray that'll be great for freshening up a room or bedsheets, etc.
But my favorite gift from her was a nut bowl with cracker and meat pickers, plus a bag of nuts!
As silly as it may sound, our mom used to put out a bowl of nuts on Christmas too.
So it's nostalgic and sweet.
Oh, and she also gave me peppercorn infused vodka! Recipe from Alton Brown.
It smells AWESOME. I think it would really make a Bloody Mary next level.
I haven't named all of the gifts, but everything given was appreciated.
I spent most of my money on Jameson this year, and will have to do better by family next year.
After gifts, we made personal pizzas! Though we ended up sharing them as there were many flavor varieties.
I did a stromboli filled with kind of random stuff: mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, onions, ricotta, mozzarella, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, red sauce, and marinated asparagus. It tasted pretty good actually!
Kate made an arugula pie with cucumber lemon viniagrette. It was both tasty AND beautiful.
I didn't get pics of the rest before we dove in but my stepmom did a ricotta garlic broccoli on cauliflower crust, and Raven did Brie and pear (which was my favorite of the night, I like the sweet things). The guys' pies were more traditional, but all of them were delicious and it was great fun to try a piece of each. We also snacked on cookies throughout the night, so by the time the pizzas were done we were full and ready for a food coma.
Kate had to work in the morning so we called it a night, and I drove my stepmom home before crashing at the hotel.
Fauxmas was fun! We should do it more often.
------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, I was so exhausted (introvert, remember) that I woke up an hour late and didn't get any work done :(
I went to my stepmom's and we had breakfast together, but both of us were having trouble coming around.
We went to a small farmer's market (more like an indoor farm stand) where she got some veg and I got a tiny sample-sized jar of local buckwheat honey. From there more errands, and I started getting kind of testy because I wanted to visit with my siblings again but was having trouble getting an even time split.
The thing is, if I'm going to visit at all, I need to stop doing these half-assed, four-day visits that are cut short by 38 hours in the car because I'm trying to save money at the expense of time. The reason my stepmom has to cram all this running around and errands into the few days I'm here, is because A) ok let's be honest, she REALLY needs to start asking her local friends and family for help whether it wounds her pride or not, and B) let's be equally honest, if I'm going to visit family at all it needs to be for a significant enough time that I ACTUALLY get to spend time with everyone, instead of doing this rushed visit and leaving with everyone, including myself, feeling unsatisfied.
Part of that is going to be me working harder to set aside the money for this trip, and/or possibly swallowing MY pride to ask for financial assistance if I think I can't swing it; and the other part will be planning a significant enough visit that I get actual FULL DAYS with the people I care about. That is going to mean, on one hand, fewer visits, because in order for me to save the money for the visit in the first place I can't be doing these crazy thousand-mile treks that result in minimal time actually spent with family every single year. On the other hand, it will mean that when I DO visit, I can truly spend full days with people, and meaningful time, even if I can only do it once every TWO years instead.
Until I get some sort of job that pays a real wage, there is no actual WINNING here.
Seeing family at all is excellent, even if it's only a few hours or a few days.
I just want to make it better for all of us, and less of a frustrating ordeal and a time crunch.
ANYWAY, sorry to ramble but I always think about this a lot, and always say that I need to do better, but never seem to accomplish it. I'm really going to make an effort to find a better balance in this area of my life.
After a bit more running around, my stepmom let me treat her to lunch at Root 11, a relatively new local bistro with a health food store attached. I've been here once before with her and it was fantastic! Delicious fresh and healthy food, made using local ingredients.
My stepmom got her usual which is a grilled salmon patty served on a bed of greens with a delicious balsamic drizzle.
I got a shredded chicken sandwich with local apple butter, goat cheese, caramelized onions, and greens on a very fresh ciabatta.
It was very good, though I don't think I'd order it again (the salmon patty is better).
Next time I want to try their house-made veggie burger.
This is the kind of place that my Mom, Joanne, would have ADORED.
After that I dropped my stepmom off at home, then went to my sister Kate's house again to visit for a few hours.
Raven had to work a bit, but came down to say hi and chat, and Jonah was there to chill and chat too.
Later on Kate's husband Pat came home from work, and some of their friends from work came over with their baby-not-quite-toddler to play with Declan. Here is Declan playing with a thrifted toy car that he got for Christmas :)
The kids played well together while the adults chatted and Kate and Pat prepped fish tacos for dinner.
They were very good! I forgot to take a picture.
Honestly it was just a relaxing evening of talking a lot and enjoying food and cookies and the kids.
Too soon it was nearing 9pm and time for me to leave so I could pack and get ready for a long-ass day of driving tomorrow.
I hugged everyone goodbye. Hopefully 2023 will be better to us all.
------------------------------------------------------
As I type this, it's 12:01AM and I suppose that means it's Thursday.
There is supposed to be some nasty storm system moving through, bringing rain and ice and wintery mix all day, pretty much all down the coast. I expect to be driving in rain and nasty weather for the whole nine hours.
In about seven hours I'll get up and load up the car, drive to my stepmom's house and take her to her charity where she volunteers, then start my long trek. I'll stop at my aunt's house again, but we won't have time for a visit. Then the next day I'll continue on to Florida.
It was a good visit, and I'm really grateful for the time we got to spend together.
I am tired, and I can't be making this trip again any time soon, but am glad I did it this time at least.
Next up, Christmas with Jameson, and New Year's Eve, and returning to tour.
Other stuff:
While chatting, Kate and I noticed that I happened to be wearing the shirt I wore the very first time I'd held Declan!
So she took another picture to commemorate, haha.
Here we are discussing my questionable fashion sense :)
One of the "thrifted" gifts given to Declan was this rocking horse.
This was one of my first toys when I was a kid. His name was Chestnut when he was mine; when I outgrew him my sisters inherited him and probably called him by other names. He was made by a local woodcarver who clearly had great skill, if this horse has lasted this long. Now Declan will get to enjoy him too.
I had to wake up early to try and do some work, any work, and that was hard because I feel very tired.
But I try to think of how my sister gets NO sleep because she has a toddler, and then I "suck it up".
Then to my stepmom's where we made a frittata together and ate it. It was very good.
Then we loaded up the car with presents and food, and got to my sister's house.
It was great to see my sisters Kate and Raven, and my brother Jonah!!
I feel like it's been ages, between Covid and just our hectic lives.
Everyone is on a spectrum of doing "ok", some better than others.
From left to right: my sister Kate's husband Pat; my sister Kate; me; stepmom;
my nephew Declan; my sister Raven; my brother Jonah.
Jonah has a great job and got promoted this summer, and has been working hard to get in great shape.
Raven is on the struggle bus, having been unemployed for eight months this year and fighting off depression. PLUS she broke her tailbone right before the visit, argh! But hey, she is alive and fighting her fight.
Kate and her husband and son are doing great, in fact Kate got an interview invite as we were chatting together!
I'm so excited for her! We're not sure yet if the opportunity will be a good fit for her schedule, but it's so cool that the employer is showing interest just a few days after she applied.
After catching up for a bit we opened presents together.
It was kind of a "thriftmas" in that we had promised to only get small gifts for each other.
I was the lamest of all; I only got cookies for everyone, and those were stale by the time I got them there to boot.
Raven also brought cookies but I gotta say hers were much better preserved, and she's also just overall better at baking them than me.
I had one of her chocolate shortbreads with raspberry jam and it was FANTASTIC.
She also made homemade marshmallows which were sweet and fluffy and amazing.
I was spoiled, as I am every year!
My stepmom gifted me some reuseable silicone ziplocs, which will be excellent for tour.
She also gave me many treats, some of my favorites too like ginger chews and German gingerbread cookies.
Jonah got me reuseable earplugs! I am putting them to good use at the hotel tonight!!
Raven got me a full knife set as well as a Japanese knife of some sort that she picked up at a thrift store.
We actually do need some more knives, especially steak knives, so I'm excited to integrate them into our collection.
Kate is very skilled at making homemade infusions and scrubs and such.
This year she gave us each a peppermint scrub that smells just like a York Peppermint Patty, and a peppermint spray that'll be great for freshening up a room or bedsheets, etc.
But my favorite gift from her was a nut bowl with cracker and meat pickers, plus a bag of nuts!
As silly as it may sound, our mom used to put out a bowl of nuts on Christmas too.
So it's nostalgic and sweet.
Oh, and she also gave me peppercorn infused vodka! Recipe from Alton Brown.
It smells AWESOME. I think it would really make a Bloody Mary next level.
I haven't named all of the gifts, but everything given was appreciated.
I spent most of my money on Jameson this year, and will have to do better by family next year.
After gifts, we made personal pizzas! Though we ended up sharing them as there were many flavor varieties.
I did a stromboli filled with kind of random stuff: mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, onions, ricotta, mozzarella, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, red sauce, and marinated asparagus. It tasted pretty good actually!
Kate made an arugula pie with cucumber lemon viniagrette. It was both tasty AND beautiful.
I didn't get pics of the rest before we dove in but my stepmom did a ricotta garlic broccoli on cauliflower crust, and Raven did Brie and pear (which was my favorite of the night, I like the sweet things). The guys' pies were more traditional, but all of them were delicious and it was great fun to try a piece of each. We also snacked on cookies throughout the night, so by the time the pizzas were done we were full and ready for a food coma.
Kate had to work in the morning so we called it a night, and I drove my stepmom home before crashing at the hotel.
Fauxmas was fun! We should do it more often.
------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, I was so exhausted (introvert, remember) that I woke up an hour late and didn't get any work done :(
I went to my stepmom's and we had breakfast together, but both of us were having trouble coming around.
We went to a small farmer's market (more like an indoor farm stand) where she got some veg and I got a tiny sample-sized jar of local buckwheat honey. From there more errands, and I started getting kind of testy because I wanted to visit with my siblings again but was having trouble getting an even time split.
The thing is, if I'm going to visit at all, I need to stop doing these half-assed, four-day visits that are cut short by 38 hours in the car because I'm trying to save money at the expense of time. The reason my stepmom has to cram all this running around and errands into the few days I'm here, is because A) ok let's be honest, she REALLY needs to start asking her local friends and family for help whether it wounds her pride or not, and B) let's be equally honest, if I'm going to visit family at all it needs to be for a significant enough time that I ACTUALLY get to spend time with everyone, instead of doing this rushed visit and leaving with everyone, including myself, feeling unsatisfied.
Part of that is going to be me working harder to set aside the money for this trip, and/or possibly swallowing MY pride to ask for financial assistance if I think I can't swing it; and the other part will be planning a significant enough visit that I get actual FULL DAYS with the people I care about. That is going to mean, on one hand, fewer visits, because in order for me to save the money for the visit in the first place I can't be doing these crazy thousand-mile treks that result in minimal time actually spent with family every single year. On the other hand, it will mean that when I DO visit, I can truly spend full days with people, and meaningful time, even if I can only do it once every TWO years instead.
Until I get some sort of job that pays a real wage, there is no actual WINNING here.
Seeing family at all is excellent, even if it's only a few hours or a few days.
I just want to make it better for all of us, and less of a frustrating ordeal and a time crunch.
ANYWAY, sorry to ramble but I always think about this a lot, and always say that I need to do better, but never seem to accomplish it. I'm really going to make an effort to find a better balance in this area of my life.
After a bit more running around, my stepmom let me treat her to lunch at Root 11, a relatively new local bistro with a health food store attached. I've been here once before with her and it was fantastic! Delicious fresh and healthy food, made using local ingredients.
My stepmom got her usual which is a grilled salmon patty served on a bed of greens with a delicious balsamic drizzle.
I got a shredded chicken sandwich with local apple butter, goat cheese, caramelized onions, and greens on a very fresh ciabatta.
It was very good, though I don't think I'd order it again (the salmon patty is better).
Next time I want to try their house-made veggie burger.
This is the kind of place that my Mom, Joanne, would have ADORED.
After that I dropped my stepmom off at home, then went to my sister Kate's house again to visit for a few hours.
Raven had to work a bit, but came down to say hi and chat, and Jonah was there to chill and chat too.
Later on Kate's husband Pat came home from work, and some of their friends from work came over with their baby-not-quite-toddler to play with Declan. Here is Declan playing with a thrifted toy car that he got for Christmas :)
The kids played well together while the adults chatted and Kate and Pat prepped fish tacos for dinner.
They were very good! I forgot to take a picture.
Honestly it was just a relaxing evening of talking a lot and enjoying food and cookies and the kids.
Too soon it was nearing 9pm and time for me to leave so I could pack and get ready for a long-ass day of driving tomorrow.
I hugged everyone goodbye. Hopefully 2023 will be better to us all.
------------------------------------------------------
As I type this, it's 12:01AM and I suppose that means it's Thursday.
There is supposed to be some nasty storm system moving through, bringing rain and ice and wintery mix all day, pretty much all down the coast. I expect to be driving in rain and nasty weather for the whole nine hours.
In about seven hours I'll get up and load up the car, drive to my stepmom's house and take her to her charity where she volunteers, then start my long trek. I'll stop at my aunt's house again, but we won't have time for a visit. Then the next day I'll continue on to Florida.
It was a good visit, and I'm really grateful for the time we got to spend together.
I am tired, and I can't be making this trip again any time soon, but am glad I did it this time at least.
Next up, Christmas with Jameson, and New Year's Eve, and returning to tour.
Other stuff:
While chatting, Kate and I noticed that I happened to be wearing the shirt I wore the very first time I'd held Declan!
So she took another picture to commemorate, haha.
Here we are discussing my questionable fashion sense :)
One of the "thrifted" gifts given to Declan was this rocking horse.
This was one of my first toys when I was a kid. His name was Chestnut when he was mine; when I outgrew him my sisters inherited him and probably called him by other names. He was made by a local woodcarver who clearly had great skill, if this horse has lasted this long. Now Declan will get to enjoy him too.
