Thoughts of Home

Hi all. This one is a no-photo post, even though I do have some cute new shots of Sam to share sometime soon. Tonight I'm thinking of home and family and just want to share some thoughts.

First thoughts are happy thoughts... We're going home for Thanksgiving! yay! We pondered long and hard over whether to go home for Christmas or Thanksgiving. After weighing pros and cons (the main con being highway-robbery on the tickets at Christmas and the fact that Sam will be two then and will need a ticket of her own), we finally decided to buy tickets and fly home for the week of Thanksgiving. I'm VERY excited, as it has been many, many years since I've been around to celebrate that holiday with my family (probably 2000 was my last TG at home).

My mom will probably be in charge of most the food, and of course, like every good child, I DREAM of Mom's home-cooked TG dinner! :) I volunteered to make Randi's delicious homemade stuffing with sausage and dried cherries (will need that recipe again, Rand), as well as a fresh pumpkin pie (fresh, meaning not from canned pumpkin material). Good eats ahead! And more important, good times with family! We're spending a few days with Brian's fam in Nampa, then we actually fly from the Boise airport to Idaho Falls -- what luxury! (Honestly, the plane was only $20 more than Greyhound, and 9 hours shorter travel time!) How exciting this will be. I just hope time can slow down so we can enjoy every second we're there!

Some other thoughts, not so quite so happy... Brian is in NY this weekend/week for a work conference. He told me about it months ago, but I kept unintentionally forgetting it, even up until a couple days ago. I just really didn't want him to go this time. Poor guy, probably not sure what to make of his pouty and still-nauseated wife. I just felt strangely clingy and weepy yesterday as he was packing to go. I blame it on the pregnancy hormones, I guess? In a way, I guess it's sort of nice to miss him and reflect on how wonderful he is to me. But it's always nicer for me to have him here with me -- especially on a Sunday afternoon, cuddling up for a nap or studying and talking together. I miss Brian.

And more thoughts, also not happy, but quite pressing lately... My cousin Kimberly passed away this week after battling cancer most of this year. She's 24, a twin, mother of two adorable children, and a very beautiful, loving person. Her battle was a very hard one -- they discovered she had a tumor during her last pregnancy. She chose to continue the pregnancy, knowing it put her at a greater risk. By the time her baby girl was born this March, the cancer had spread into her lungs in several places. Chemo and radiation were brutal on Kim, and watching her suffer had to be so hard for her parents and family. I have felt very close to her family through the years, and deeply feel their loss right now. My sister-in-law wrote and shared details of Kim's funeral, and my mom told me some of the conversations she had with everyone there. My thoughts have been with Kim, her husband and kids, and all her brothers and sisters and parents all week. It's times like these that it feels really hard to be so far away. I really wish I could be home right now.

That's all for tonight. Sorry to leave on a sad note, but I'm sure we're all very aware not all of life's experiences are easy or pleasant. I thought this was important to share.