wrappin it up

so, unless something highly dramatic and exciting happens before i go, i'm gonna make this my last entry for awhile... clearly i've written plenty more than necessary while i've been home, but whatever =P

it's always interesting to come back because the family's always ready to act like i live here, but i really don't have much left around here, other than that i totally love the city/region... work, school, friends, etc. have all moved away and are around just about as often as me.

brother's doing pretty well for himself but developing some of dad's defensiveness and temper some days... doing all kinds of crazy scouting stuff... i'm glad things are going well for him... he's hardly ever home, and when he is usually he and dad are either talkin shop about the animals or yelling... who knows. mostly, i've had fun with him, but his sometimes know it all attitude and at other times his bossiness get to me... overall, it's been good to hang with him for a couple weeks. =)

mom is the most indecisive person i know lately... she's been talking for 1.5 to 2 years about quitting her job as principal at immanuel b/c she knows it's time for a change... she wrote a resignation letter last month that she's been planning to submit at tomorrow night's school board meeting... but since i've been home she's had me read over the letter and then keeps asking me if she should submit it or not... i finally told her last weekend "mom, you're the one who's been saying you know it's time for a change... you should know in your heart this is the thing to do or it's not really"... so instead she's announcing to her faculty today and to school board tomorrow that (1) she's going to investigate her options for the future and (2) she's requesting they start looking into her replacement... more or less resigning, just not putting a definite time frame on it... who knows. hopefully however this turns out she feels more confident she's where she should be for the time being and is a little less stressed about things. overall, i've enjoyed being w/ mom this break... she's in a really weird phase right now though, with the sorting out what to do with her life and all... some days it seems like she's copying me... trying to dress like me, copying what i order, wanting to use my stuff... i don't think it's necessarily intentional, but she likes to comment "you just seem like you have your life so together and you're not afraid to try new things... i'm proud of that for you, and wish i had more of that for myself"... good to spend time with her too... hoping by next time i see her she's more confident of whatever she feels she should be doing... the end.

dad on the other hand has also been talking for years about quitting... talked about starting up his own business by december and never did... he's waiting for things to even out at work and decide what to do from there... that's his professional life... on a personal level though, he tries my patience as much as ever... over break i've been yelled at for *changing the tv channel when he leaves the room *sleeping past 7 when i have nothing to do all day *things my brother has done or failed to do *studying math instead of biology and a plethora of other equally ridiculous things... sometimes we laugh and tell him he has the eichmann curse (his mom's maiden name... g-ma and g-ma's mom both got weird and picky about strange things as they got older); other times he just makes me feel like crap whether he means to or not... it's been alright dealing with him... over the years i've gotten better about filtering what to take seriously from him... same as many many visits past though (1) i'm super glad to get a break from him -- he's much easier to take long distance, (2) i wish he'd get a hearing aid... and (3) i wish he'd learn to stop yelling and taking every little bit of life so seriously as a personal offense... life would be much more pleasant around here if he'd learn not to yell about trivial stuff... makes it hard to keep my temper in response while i'm here and i really don't like that side of me...

at any rate, that's the synopsis here with the family... good to see them but ready to get back to my own life.... instead of doing that even though, i'm kinda taking a week in no man's land without a real intense schedule to visit all kinds of spiffy people... over the next 9 days, i'm visiting 10 states and lots of family and friends... here's the plot... lest you're bored and forgot what i'm up to

thursday, jan 8:
driving to st. louis, having lunch w/ dave beagley, driving to g-ma pudwell's in manteno, il
friday, jan 9:
hanging out w/ g-ma... probably she'll take me shopping and to see a movie... she called last night and was all excited that she would have me over so she could make chop suey, which she loves but will never make for just herself -- who knows, it'll be a trip
saturday, jan 10:
driving from g-ma's to colleen's (in maple grove, MN) -- pray for clear, safe roads and good weather
sunday, jan 11:
going to mass w/ colleen's family, hanging around w/ colleen and meeting some of her people
monday, jan 12:
driving from maple grove, MN to madison, WI to track down scott, driving w/ scott and colleen down to valpo
tuesday, jan 13:
in valpo... probably will visit dean franson, morning chapel, math colloquium, prof. treanor, prof. gillman, and whoever else i track down
wednesday, jan 14:
driving from valpo to toledo, OH, having lunch @ ihop w/ alliswan ringold... then driving to pittsburgh
thursday, jan 15:
visiting family around pittsburgh... should be fun
friday, jan 16:
driving back to NJ... rumor has it mason (friend from BSM) will possibly be around, so maybe even another mini-get-together... party all around.

anyhow, that's life the universe and everything for the next while... next update most likely not coming until i get back to jersey... catch all y'all on the flip side.