Baby, Its Cold Outside!

Thanksgiving Break was wonderful. It was far too short but still wonderful!

I stopped in Birmingham on my way home. I unpacked my summer clothes and packed up my winter ones! Finally. It had been cold, and I had about three shirts that were warm enough. Thankfully, functions provided additional long sleeved shirts, so I added a few more over the semester. But anyway, it was a good thing I got my winter clothes because it is SUB ZERO here at school! Ok, that is a slight exaggeration, but it is really cold. As in, a possibility of snow, the weather station said. Yuck. Well, snow is good, but cold is yuck. And its raining. I like rain, its just recovering from the cold wetness that is a little difficult...Anyway, I stopped in Birmingham. I got to see Liz for the first time since May! That was so good. I hung around Samford with her for a little while, then we got dinner at Baha Burger (yum!). Then we headed to my house, watched a movie, and slept! It was nice to be in my own bed.

First thing Wednesday morning, we got up and hit the road! We left a little before 9, grabbed Chik-fil-a breakfast, and drove and drove and drove (with a quick stop to pick up a "Turkel," as I accidentally called it. I got a turkey in Greenville, AL, and when I called Mama to tell her I had picked it up, we were passing by Pine Apple, AL, which I love, so I had just said that town's name to Liz, and then on the phone it came out, "Well, Mama, I got us a Turkel!" It was funny. But maybe you had to be there...). Then I was home with the fam! So good to see them. And Wednesday night, Aunt Madeline, Uncle Ron, and my cousin Michael arrives! I hadn't seen Michael since 10th grade, and I hadn't seen Aunt Madeline and Uncle Ron since I graduated, so it was very good to see them. We went to a seafood place for dinner, I ate some shrimp (yum!), and then I baked some sweet potatoes to make sweet potato casserole, my favorite Thanksgiving dish!

On the morning of Thanksgiving, I got help, finished making the sweet potatoes, and tried to help Mama as best I could. My Uncle David, who I also hadn't seen in a VERY long time, came over, which was exciting! So it was a big family meal. We ate outside on the back porch where we could see the bay. Not the most traditional Thanksgiving setting, but it was fun! And what could be better than hearing birds call and waves and all those beach/bay sounds while eating an amazing Thanksgiving feast? Everything was soooo good - the sweet potatoes (if I do say so myself!), the corn soup (to die for), the dressing (yum!), the green beans (good job, Roeck!), I heard the Turkel was good (I don't eat meat very often, if you didn't know that about me), and of course the pie! It isn't Thanksgiving without the pie! After eating, we settled down to watch some football!

Friday was the Big Day. The Iron Bowl. Now, the Iron Bowl did not turn out as I had hoped, but I am pushing through and putting the past behind me. Roll Tide. But it was still a fun day, watching football. For breakfast, we went to this place in downtown Fairhope. It was delicious. Aunt Madeline and Uncle Ron and Michael left after breakfast, so then we just watched football all day. And then I hung out with Liz and some of her friends for a while, which was fun and amusing.

Then, of course, it was Saturday, which meant more football! I ran a few errands in the morning and then watched football literally all day long. Then that night I started freaking out a little about finals, sent a few emails, got a smidgen of work done (but not much since I purposefully didn't bring home school books. Bold move.). I went to bed, and then first thing Sunday morning, I hit the road back to school.

Of course, Sunday everyone and their mom was driving. Katie's dad decided it was because no one wanted to fly what with the new security stuff, which makes sense. There was a high number of cars around me the whole drive (basically, I never got to drive with the speed control on), but it didn't get bad till I was through Atlanta. Then it was stand still, stop and go, almost all the way to South Carolina. I almost turned around at one point to go back to Katie's, but I called my daddy, and he convinced me to keep going. So I did! Then I made it back to school, decorated my room for Christmas (pictures will be forthcoming), and saw Karen and some other friends!

Well, hark the herald! It was a great Thanksgiving break. Not that you wanted to know all those details, but who knows? Maybe someday I'll want to know all those details. Deck the halls!