Merry Christmas

So most of the festivities are over around here. I was able to get back to town just in time for the Schrock family Christmas on Saturday. We had everyone except one cousin in attendance. It was pretty impressive. It was great being able to see everyone and I was able to meet a few of the great grandkids for the first time. On Sunday we had lunch together and then did a taffy pull. There were a few batches that didn't turn out quite so great but it was fun and the taffy was tasty. I was also able to go shopping with Catrina and Lincoln in the evening so I was able to get my last minute gift together.

Christmas eve was spent running around and cleaning with Mom. Our family went to the service at church in the evening like we always do. Our neighbor Mertice Miller also joined us and we were all able to catch up. She is our wonderful third grandma. This year Santa brought us all sweaters while we were at church. The whole family spent the night at Mom and Dad's and in the morning we all woke up and opened stockings and presents like usual. We all had a great time together and enjoyed the different gifts. Mom was very excited about the two maple trees that Dad bought her.

Today I worked on putting together the recipe book that I got from Catrina. She printed out a bunch of recipes and gave each of us (Mom, Quinlan, and I) a binder with dividers and page protectors to put the recipes in. Then Mom copied her whole recipe box so now I have close to 100 more to put in the binder. This afternoon I went to Java House and sipped tea while catching up with Kira. After that I caught up with Mom and Quin at Walmart where they were checking out after Christmas sales. We got dozens of candles as usual. We then picked up some pizzas on the way out of town and had Catrina and Joel come over for Dad's birthday. He just wanted to sit around and watch TV so he watched Grumpier Old Men and Christmas Vacation with Quin while the rest of us played Scum. We haven't played that game as a family in years. We had a lot of fun!

So close . . .

I am still in Des Moines. After my flight landed my parents were still in the same spot on the interstate (near Montazuma) stuck in traffic where they were for the hour before I boarded my flight. There was a big semi accident apparently and they were about 10 miles behind that. I found a somewhat comfortable bench and was sleeping when Catrina called and said that she had talked with Mom and they think that I should get a hotel. My mom's phone was beginning to die and they didn't know how likely it was that they were going to be moving in the next few hours. She thought they could find me easier if I was at a hotel and I would sleep better. I checked into the days inn just after mindnight here. About 20 minutes later I got a call from my mom and I figured that they were moving. They were, but they were turning around to head home since Des Moines was still so far off and it was really late. I was able to get a good night's sleep and now I am hanging out at the hotel. Dad is supposed to be leaving to come get me soon. I saw on the news that travel east of Des Moines on 80 is still unadvised and covered in a mix of snow and ice. I am supposed to check out at 11 so hopefully he will be here soon after that. After he picks me up we are going to head over to look at Quinlan's car. She totaled it just west of Des Moines on I-80 Wednesday night while going home from Dordt. She is fine, but we have to decide if we want to tow the car home or just sign the title over to the towing company.
I guess I am finally getting some of that winter weather I had been missing while in DC.

Homeward Bound!

So there are quite a lot of songs on this topic and I am spending my last few hours here at work listening to them all. For any of you who are interested there is a list of them at the bottom. My flight leaves tonight at 8:15 from Regan International assuming that the weather has cleared in Des Moines. Perhaps I should be more worried, but I am not. I am just so ready to take a break and experience some real winter weather that I don't want to think about anything delaying me. I am going to be leaving straight from work for the airport. There are three big suitcases here in the office since I am not the only one taking off this evening. Since I am going to have plenty of time Corey is going to be meeting me at the airport to grab some dinner before I head through security.

Well I should really get some actual work done before I take off and try not to think about it for the next two weeks!

My Playlist:
I'm Going Home by Ten Years After
Home by Jack Johnson
Home by She & Him
Won't be Long by The Hives
Home by Michael Buble
Going Home by The Rolling Stones
Home by Phillip Phillips
Home for the Holidays by The Carpenters
Home for Christmas by *NSync
Going Home by Sara Groves
and of course
Homeward Bound by Simon & Garfunkel

Tis the Season

I am so sorry that I have not been keeping up on here lately. I was sick for a little while and then with planning for holiday parties at work the time just got away from me. I am feeling better now, though I still have a scratchy throat and a runny nose. I can't believe that Christmas is getting so close. It has been so warm here that it just doesn't seem like winter. For some reason holiday songs just don't do it when it is 50 degrees outside. I have managed to get nearly all my shopping done. I have an office holiday party beginning soon so I don't actually have time to write more, but as I promised earlier here are some pictures of my students at their holiday party:

We played blindfolded build a snowman

The end results:

And here are the students with their gifts. They were all very excited!

December is here

I only have two more weeks of program left with my students before we break for the holidays! This is very exciting but also makes me realize how much I still need to get done with them before these next two weeks are up. We are working on a service learning project that will be completed before their holiday break. The students have decided to work on getting their local park cleaned up and they want to also work on getting more swings and other play ground equipment. It is really cool to see them get excited for this project. 

This weekend I got to hang out with a whole group of Calvin grads. I was the only non-dutch person there. I know this girl Jenna who graduated two years before me. She is teaching out here so I was put in contact with her last spring. A few weeks ago we grabbed some coffee and caught up. Then this weekend she invited Corey and me to a game night with a few other people. It was a lot of fun and I was able to meet new people who have a somewhat similar background as myself. It was nice to get out of the house and hang out with different people for a change.