Where are you, Christmas?

                                                  Our xmas tree. Not perfect, but it works.

It's hard to believe that another semester of graduate school is over. Only two more semesters then I'm
a woman with a Masters in Museum Studies--don't make fun. I'm not entirely sure when I'll actually work in a museum, but I do plan on using (for lack of a better word) my degree sometime in the near future. The thing is, I have such a sweet job right now; I may be too spoiled to ever leave unless we pack up and move to a different city. I don't think I'll ever find a job that has such amazing benefits as mine. I mean I get 4 free days to take in December whenever I want, all of which do not count against my personal leave time, hence the word "free"!  I have to say though that using two free days to study for finals this semester was one smart move on my part, especially when both counted for %40 of my grade. But, I have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am ready to put on my Santa hat and sing Christmas carols! Not literally, but I am ready to jump into the Christmas spirit! It just doesn't feel like Christmas yet. And, it doesn't help either when the shopping centers and malls here do an amatuer, if not pathetic, job decorating, and no one says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays."  People seriously seem so off guard when I wish them a Happy Holiday....like it's not a week before Christmas or something. They're the weird ones, not me. Again, this is just another reality reminder that I am in DC, where people battle over parking spots, shove their way through the grocery store w/o saying "excuse me," and think it's the end of the world if they miss the Metro, when another train is 2 minutes away. I try very hard to resist succumbing to this mentality, but I have to admit that I do get annoyed when people don't understand escalator ediquette around here: stand on the right, walk on the left--the difference is I'm polite about it. Well, at any rate, now that I'm finished with school for the semester, I'm on a mission to find Christmas. What better way to begin than to bake some cookies tonight and attend my office Christmas party tomorrow! Again, how can I leave an office that throws a Christmas party during the day with a fully stocked bar??? Chardonnay or Grey Goose??? I know, my decisions are so tough...

My xmas cookies...never as good as my mom's and Jeff's famous nuts.

Home is truly where the heart is...

I am caught up with my work, work and have already given up reading about "contracts" for one of my classes, so I figured it would be an ideal time to update my blog! Now this is a good use of my precious time these days ;-) I'm not a slacker student, but I figured once I started reading sentences two to three times that it's time to take a break...and reflect upon my wonderful time in Roswell, GA over Thanksgiving. 

Well to begin with, the drive down was in adventure, as I was expecting it to be. Let me just say that I have now been forbidden to make any hotel reservations without my husband's thorough review. I planned for us to crash in Charlotte, and then finish the rest of our 10 hour drive the next day to Atlanta. My logic was thus: Why spend a lot of money for a quick snooze? Well, we got what we paid for to say the least. The toilet was pretty much detached from the wall, the bedding was handed-down from a 1982 Holiday Inn, AND there was no clock in the room. What hotel these days cannot afford a $5.99 clock from Walmart??--- apparently, the Ramada Inn on Equipment Drive, Charlotte, NC. From this breif description I may sound upidity, but I don't deal well with unhygienic sleeping quarters, and this is just the inside-- heck, my dog wouldn't even sleep on the comforter! When we arrived, couples were concluding their one-night-stand rendezvous, and when we left we found evidence of someone's wild night on an injected substance. Worse yet, when we complained to management about this lovely recreational tool, they calmly said, "oh, yes, let me get the gloves..." ---wait a second, is this a regular occurence?!!? All I can say is I'm glad we got that experience out of the way before children because I already felt badly enough when I saw the disgust on my pup's face! On the bright side though, it is an experience we can look back upon and laugh, maybe.

Finally, Roswell, GA, my childhood stomping grounds! It had been SEVERAL months since I'd been there, but I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia. However, this may have been my most nostalgic visit yet being that it was my first Thanksgiving with my husband... in my childhood home. It was that simple and obvious realization that spurred my nostalgic tidal wave, and made the meaning of the holiday season even more prominent. While being at my house added a special touch, I realized that my home, no matter where it physically may be, is with those I love, and that in and of itself made my Thanksgiving truly special. Okay, okay, I'll divert myself from this sappy sidewalk.

What really made this Thanksgiving particularly fun was witnessing my parents' new deer watching/feeding fetish (it's a horrible reaction to the empty-nest syndrome), catching my hubby and brother-in-law secretly sip Jagermeister from travel size bottles like they were still in high school (so random), and listening to an impromptu, live John Mayer performance while eating Thanksgiving dinner. I'm pretty sure John Mayer's performance made my brother-in-law's night, and probably his whole visit. You can view it yourself compliments of Will, and the amazing recording capability his Droid.file:///Users/lorisundberg/Desktop/video-2009-11-26-21-41-04.3gp  I mean, I never really know what to expect when I go home! I should actually say, I never know what to expect when being with my family and how our love inspires us to be true to ourselves--whether we want engage in new hobbies...listen to live music at the dinner table...or even revert back to our adolescent years by being terribly conspicuous about our alcohol consumption (even though we're now way over the legal age)!

When you think about it, a home isn't a place to shelter us from the rain, but a place that lies within us and is shared with and shaped by the people we love. I feel blessed to be able to call many places my "home."

Tired, but sleepless

I just called off my every Saturday, good-Samaritan, volunteer commitment in hopes of being able to catch up on some much needed z's. But, as it is already obviously evident by this post, my plan has not been followed through as anticipated. No matter how heavy my eyes feel and my head aches, I can't bring myself to lie down back in bed. Granted it is 10am, but I had to wake up at 8 to drop Pops off in downtown DC for a business meeting he had this morning (all while Will and Mandy remained passed out asleep, unaware of me stumbling to get ready, in our King size bed). My dad came in town yesterday and will be staying in our lovely living establishment right behind the Pentagon until Tuesday. It's always such a treat to have him come in town, even if it is surely for business purposes. Being such late notice, Will and I had nothing special planned for the weekend, besides our usual movie date nights, which my will now be accompanied by my father. I'm thinking tonight I will be making the movie choice...New Moon! I have to admit I'm a little insecure about seeing it with these two men of mine because I just know they'll think I'm crazy for liking this kind of thing....but then again, maybe they won't be surprised...I'm terrible at predicting how other people perceive me!

Even though I am swamped and exhausted from what seems like never-ending school work, I am never opposed to finding another reason to procrastinate.  After his meetings, Pops and I are heading over to my bro's house in Herndon, VA to visit my undeniably precious, newborn niece, Autumn Elizabeth Sundberg--whom I have yet to see her with her eyes open.  Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but she is literally always sleeping!!! I'm sure this baby is such a relief after having twins almost 6 years ago. Giving that this is such a hectic time of the year for me with school, etc., I figured I might as well take advantage of this opportunity to visit the new generation of Sundbergs because before I know it they'll be in braces, driving cars, and dating. That's so weird to think of that now but we all know it will happen.