any time is a good time to start

wow, has it really been a full month since i have had time to devote to a blog-styled update? it's a wonder to me, still, how you can wait through days and weeks that inch along until you can finally go home, be with people you love, celebrate, etc. and when you look back you wonder where all the time escaped to. in fact, you can barely remember being so caught up in the wait for it to begin with.
thus, despite the extraordinary effort associated with its approach, the Christmas holiday now appears as a total blur in my memory. a smiling blur, to be certain, but a whirlwind of a memory nonetheless. to add insult to injury, lacey went to her own family's holiday celebration and thus i have no photographic evidence for any of what i am about to present. i'll do the best i can with what i've got from thanksgiving and google images.

december 22-23 was a visit to kansas city, where i was briefly reunited with my good friend heather and was finally able to meet her fiance, kevin. (that's them on the left in the middle of a self photo session :) i worked with heather at the pool in altoona before starting at drake and while we get together as often as possible, our paths do not cross frequently. so, it was wonderful to get to see her and kevin and to be the first houseguest in their new home in lenexa, just outside of kansas city. to make things more interesting and exciting, a pipe burst in their basement just before my arrival and so my evening there was spent playing wii, drinking a glass of wine (more for those who had to endure the stress of searching for a well-hidden water shut-off valve), and trying not to engage in any activities that necessitated the use of water. all was well upon the arrival of the plumber in the morning, though, and we met my mom and dad in des moines the next afternoon.

december 24-30 was time at home. wonderful, lazy, Christmas, birthday, high school pseudo reunion, lunch with kris & kids in the playland, first-visit-to-the-chiropractor time at home with what seemed like a revolving door of grandchildren in and out. it was great to have them all around, though. Christmas is always a bit more fun with kids, isn't it? amy just sent me these pics of emily with the outfit that she bought for christie, her build-a-bear, with the BAB gift certificate that i gave her for Christmas. i'm pretty sure there are pics that prove that both kassi and gabe are now taller than me, but i don't currently have access to them. and probably won't until that fact no longer scares the bajeebers out of me.

december 31-january 2 was spent in des moines with one of matt's high school friends, dj, and his fiance, laura. aside from being incredibly sweet, loving, wonderful people, dj and laura offered a ginormous television for football watching and some of the tastiest cuisine that i've had outside of the walls of my mother's own kitchen. this moves them up on the rankings of places that we will visit again, to be sure, and parially compensated for penn state's sad showing at the rose bowl. plus it is always really sweet to watch matt's and dj's interactions. there's a lot of love there.

january 2-4 was an opportunity for me to see a lot of lovely people that i haven't seen in ages! matt and i met up with almost the entire sinclair clan at court avenue brewery for a fast happy hour. what started as tentative plans for us with josh and josie ended up being us having a round of beer with josh, josie, terri, chris, nick, jerri, erik, and scott. we actually sat at that table at the end of the bar - in the very back of the photo on the left. it was a fast-paced exchange of greetings, hugs, and hopes to see one another again very soon before we headed to pella to meet up with some of my college friends, nick, jill, abby, bob, wade, and jodi. we went to the bowling alley and then to a local bar in pella where matt and i dominated at pool and jill dominated at getting high fives from complete strangers. it was both a sight and an experience. the next evening, matt, jill, and i did dinner at george's (yum!!!) before we went to nick's for cards and a few rounds of rock band. very, very fun.

january 5-7 i was back at home, wriapping up loose ends, heading out to dinner with grandma (at teluwut - also yum!), and trying to get in some final days of relaxation before getting back on the plane to state college. i've gotten in a little bit of work since getting back, but am sure that things will fly at me in full force when classes start back up tomorrow.

so there went 2008 and 2009 appears to be underway. all smiles so far. and here we go. . .