La Joya

“It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them
advice.” - Anne Tyler, Celestial Navigation, 1974

The Thanksgiving holidays are now over and it is time to become a super student. I hope I can get my motivation up to that level. Let me fill you in with a quick recap of my trip home to see Erika and my family. I hadn’t been home in a very long time for this day, but visiting Erika helped push me over the edge toward going.

I had an early flight on Tuesday. I am the worst at getting to the airport without any rush or drama. I had a taxi coming to pick me up at 4:30am, so I was going to wake up at 4:00am and shower and go. Well I decide to stay up and then to sleep and then to stay up, so I get to bed at 3:30am. It doesn’t feel stupid when you are doing it. I wake up at 4:35am when the Taxi calls to tell me he is outside. Well I made it, but I didn’t get the luxury of getting ready. When will I learn?

My father picked me up from the airport because everyone else was at work. I picked up some lunch and spent the day with my father catching up and shooting the bull. My mother got home from work and later Erika dropped by. Erika is the most thoughtful person ever. When I got to her house, she had three bags there waiting for me. They said B O C on them. Because I wasn't able to get the BOC in the wootoff, she made me my very own BOC. Very sweet. At night, I had dinner with Erika, Ana, and Eliza. From there we went to a bar, but the music was too loud. Maybe I am just getting old, but things always seem too loud for me. We then went to a bar at a bowling alley where I went off on drunk ramblings on politics. I can't help but have a lot of opinions.

Wednesday morning I picked up lunch at El Pato and then went home to see Abram who had arrived from San Marcos. No one was home, so I went with Erika to Walmart to buy some containers for some of the junk I brought home with me. Erika went to go and visit with her family and sister and I spent the day at home just visiting and relaxing. At night, Abram, Erika and I went to go and play pool. Rick met up with us too.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. We ate at my mothers house. Abram made one turkey and my nephew made the second one. I just tried to stay out of the kitchen. After lunch, I did the usual routine of watching the Cowboys game. They did great, which made it fun to watch. My grandmother came over later and I visited with her. She made me feel bad about not visiting my grandfather, but I hope to visit him when I go back down for Christmas. After spending the day with her family, Erika came over and spent the rest of the day with me. Bekkah and Jamie showed up later too and it was great seeing them. I was proud of Bekkah for fighting to spend time with her family. Jamie is so very tall now. I could not believe how grownup she was. Later at night, we all went to Ana’s house to watch Grey’s Anatomy. Such a good show. From there, we went to Rick’s house and played poker and hung out. I lost because I suck at poker, but still had a good time.

Friday morning I visited with my mother and grandmother and then went to Rick’s house to watch the UT game. They lost and I was glad I didn’t bet money on the game. Then I went with Erika to her school for a high school football game. I had not been to a game since high school. She is the dance teacher at the school and was taking the dance team. It was a long trip, but I got to sit on the field and watch a good game. I had a dinner of Nachos and frito pie, which brought back memories. On the way home, I learned that girls can be very loud, but it wasn’t too bad. I had a nice time and was glad to spend more time with Erika.

Saturday had come and my trip was now at an end. The time went by very fast. Erika dropped me off at the airport. She even stayed and waited with me while I was in line. Nobody likes to say goodbye. I got questioned by the border patrol, and now I’m two for two. When I got back into DC, I watched the Notre Dame game and they too lost. I had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

Now it is time to transition, I don’t think I’m ready. I am in my last week of class. I have a paper due on Wednesday for one class, two more papers and 3 finals. I hope next semester isn’t this hard. Well from here on out you will probably be hearing about school.

always sleepy