I always enjoy Christmas break. For many reasons. One, Gaetan gets a whole month off and we love having him home. Secondly, it seems that all my friends come back into town and it's so nice to catch up with them. I normally get to see them once during that break, but if I don't, then it might be another year before I see them again!
One such visitor (I actually make it a point to see him every time he's in MI) is my dear friend Bryan. I call him Beaker. Beaker and I have been in a string ensemble since middle school... we've played so many weddings together we would joke about what we wanted at our wedding. We made a pact with each other one late night at Youth Symphony that by the time we were 30 and if we were both single we'd marry each other. He's just a good guy. He lives in Seattle now teaching, coordinating, and playing his bass. He's amazing. Its so good to see him because it doesn't seem like all that time has gone by in between visits. There are a handful of people from Caledonia that aren't SUPER west Michigan and he's one of them. I would probably say (besides Gaetan) that he's my best guy friend. He came over for dinner and played with the kids. We enjoyed a night full of pie... chicken pot pie and he brought this delicious apple pie. We always talk about getting together one more time during the breaks but that doesn't usually happen, but this time it did :)
By random chance Beaker, Eric, Dave and Jacquelyn where all going out. Jacquelyn I see quite frequently because she's in symphonette with me, and we attend Mars Hill together. I have known Jacquelyn since middle school also, and I like that we are becoming better friends. Dave I've gone to school with since elementary school and Eric since high school... we actually dated for quite awhile, which makes it even better that we can hang out! Gaetan was so gracious enough to let me drive to GR to go out with them, even though the kids were being less than good. It was really fun just hanging out. We ended up going to a bar for some fun conversation, and spicy chili cheese fries. It was perfect. However, apparently, bars are a happenin' place to be during the holidays. We went on a Wednesday night and had to try three different places before we found a place we could sit! Since I never go out I had no idea what the scene was going to be like, but it was all in good fun. Again, we just laughed, caught up on times and hung out. It was nice. That meant I did get to see Beaker twice this visit! Whoo!
Because of that outting I did end up catching up with another old friend from middle/high school... and college really. Marie and I have had an interesting relationship, and we always seem to lose touch with each other, but when we talk it's always good. Beaker wanted to see if she wanted to come out with us, but none of us really had her numbers, so, of course, I just facebooked her. Yes, I just used facebook as a verb. I got to chat with her for a bit and catch up with what's been going on with her for the past few years. It seems like things are going really well for her, which is much deserved. She's a great person who never seemed to get it figured out, but it seems she finally has. :)
This break I also got to see a childhood friend and her babies. She just had twins probably 4 months ago and I wanted to snug them! I admit, I've been having baby fever, so I've been trying to hold other people's new borns as much as possible. It was good to catch up with her and see her family, which is also old family friends. It was nice to see the twins, and it made me very thankful that 1.) I was pregnant 2.) that I don't have twins! She seemed like she was taking everything wonderfully and in stride. She also has a 3 year old, so she is a busy lady! I got to visit with her after one of my jazz gigs so I was kid free again! My husband loves me for watching the kids all these nights. :)
Another group of people I always see during Christmas break are my softball companions. In Caledonia they have a summer league (that isn't very competitive at all) but my Dad and Shelby's Dad coached together so we would have a great team. Along with Shelby, Bri and Dani played on our team together and we played varsity ball all together. We are the notorious 4 that started this coach's coaching career. We got to go out for breakfast and catch up with all our lives. It's amazing to see how different we all turned out. Dani has been a missionary to the Hopi Indians in AZ since we graduated. Shelby oversees two cities in CA for groupon and lives in Chicago. Bri is a high school math teacher who lives in KY. And I'm a stay at home Momma. I love that we can all still come back together, reminisce about old times and look to the future together.
We also visited with another family the Kang's. The Kang's own the Chinese restaurant, Blue Dragon, that I worked at for a handful of years. They are wonderful people. Through them I've gotten to know their two children, Mison and Jim. Jim and his wife Eun Hye were in town from GA with their two children. Their daughter is a few years older than Tristan and their son is a few months younger than Lucy. They had a blast together. And we got to eat delicious Korean food. Tristan and EunJin (the daughter) played so hard together... they ran around, shared toys and then just ended up sitting and eating snacks together on the couch. It was adorable. It was nice to be able to hold their son, Ethan, too. Even though he's just a few months younger than Lucy those few months made a difference. He's not crawling yet and is still a bit of a 'baby'. Ya know? He'll snug in and want to be held. Another curbing my baby fever :)
Breaks are always nice, but they never actually seem like breaks. I know that we just fill ours up with seeing people and having people over. Our lives, actually, are a lot less busy during the school year. :) I love see people and catching up with them. It's kinda like my vacation.
JVG
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