It's been a strange and wonderful couple of weeks. First, it snowed like crazy here and everything just shut down. Seattle doesn't believe in plowing or salting the roads. It's a nightmare.
I spent some time in Grand Rapids and Detroit over the Thanksgiving holiday (which lasted a week for me). Thanksgiving morning I had the pleasure (yes, pleasure!) of running the 5K Turkey Trot in Detroit with my brothers, dad, my sister-in-law and her sister. It was amazing. I finished at 40:16 which is not great, I know. But I never stopped running. I wanted to; I was tired, frustrated and had hit my limits, but I didn't stop. I'm glad I didn't. (And for the record, I did beat Andrew - that was my goal all along...) I think the best part of the day for me was spending time with the men of my family - I don't take that opportunity often and it was good for me.
That afternoon I rolled into Grand Rapids and spent time with Cory, Jana and Ira and other friends and family. It was nice to visit and catch up. When I left Friday I cried for thirty miles saying goodbye. (Jana and I have a deal to say, "See you soon!" instead of, "Goodbye!" because "See you soon" is much more promising than "Goodbye.") It's hard living on the other side of the country knowing you're only going to see your family once a year. It makes my heart hurt.
Friday night I stayed up until 3:30 with my mom making pies for our Mitchell Family Thanksgiving. It was beautiful.
Saturday was Thanksgiving. Amazing. I have never enjoyed myself this much with my family. I realized it was because I'm so much happier with who I am; and so much more comfortable being me. I've come a long way. I'm proud of myself.
Which brings me to today. I have a new housemate. He drives me kind of crazy because he's one of the "needy" types. I don't get along well with those types. So here's where community building truly happens. And I'm not excited about it. But at the same time I am.
Wish me luck.
I've also decided to add a section (blatantly stolen from myspace - yikes!) to let you know what I've been listening to, reading, and the morals of my life.
Music: Ralph Vaughan-Williams "The Lark Ascending" and Radical Face's "Welcome Home" (the album - it's beautiful)
Books: Just finished The Lovely Bones. Read it. The first chapter is grisly, the rest is pure bliss. the last 75 pages I never stopped crying.
Morals: Community happens no matter what, whether it be with someone you don't get along with, or at a shopping mall when someone starts singing unexpectedly. Or standing around with your brothers and dad after a 5K in a parking garage having a post-run drink. It happens. It's often not what you expect. It's beautiful.
Yes it was a great Thanksgiving weekend; great to see one and all. And before your readers think we don't know when Thanksgiving really is, we had our family Thanksgiving on the Saturday so that the kids could celebrate on the actual day with their spouse's families.
ReplyDeleteRe: the new, needy housemate. This is the beauty of being in a new city; no one knows you as a person with a history of bending over backwards to please people. There are no expectations to live up to or to feel trapped by! So be strong, especially in the beginning. Stand firm, make your boundaries clear, state your limits without apology, and you'll give yourself the best head start for some healthy (not soul-sucking) community-building.
ReplyDeleteDad, I'm fairly certain no one here thinks we crazy Canadians don't know when Thanksgiving is... Oh, wait... :)
ReplyDeleteJana, you're right. Boundaries are the healthiest thing I can do for myself right now. And I've done a decent job with setting them. I'm afraid of reverting to room-hiding and non-interaction because community building makes me so uncomfortable...