This Christmas roadtrip (and "vacation") has had its ups and downs, like always. The fun times were few and far between, and way too much eating took place. At least the kitchen was a place of commonality, though. That's important when it comes to me and extended family.
A couple highlights:
Christmas Supper
Grandpa E. and Bubbles brought fresh goat milk, along with their sons (my trouble-making uncles), and it was so good. I have never had such amazing goat milk. I drank it with supper. And yes, it included green chile.
Isaiah’s and Bella’s birthday party
Although their birthdays are 4 months apart, we celebrated it all on Isaiah’s birthday, the 26th, and voila, a ton of family shows up, some that I knew, or had met once. It was an interesting experience, and a lot of fun just hearing the parents’ stories from way-back-when, and sharing future plans amongst the older children and advice-ready adults. Weirdly, this event took place amongst both sides of my family, and everyone knew each other already? It was odd.
Bowling
Who ever knew that I would be so terrible at bowling, but occasionally lucky? My grandmother was trying to give me some tips at how to hold the ball and throw it (roll it? Toss it?), and I was so focused while practicing, that my ball rolled right out of my hands and into my Uncle E’s lane, throwing him completely off his game and getting zero pins on his first turn. He promptly grabbed me and made me “bowl with him,” resulting in a strike. So, maybe I’m better at random luck than real skill. Who knows?
Skiing
Okay, so, we usually ski Telluride, but this year, Powderhorn it was. Much to my dislike, it was incredibly small and there were tons of people everywhere. However, I had a LOT of fun. A LOT.
I’ve never been one to take risks, but this time, I took some serious ones. Ones that nearly killed me from fright or general accident (mind you, I’ve only skied two other times in my ENTIRE life). After taking two runs down hills exceeding my experience, I was getting much more comfortable with my skiing ability, or potential ability, really. I finished out the run somehow skiing on my back down a near-vertical slope. It was fantastic.
I am a great skier, and cannot wait until next time. In all seriousness, I had fun.
Single-handedly preparing an enormous meal for my family
Oy, vey, I have a big family. I prepared stuffed lamb, honeyed duck and wild grouse with cherry-orange confit, gnocchi in two different forms (one, as a first course with cream sauce, goat cheese, salad all sprinkled pomegranate seeds; two, with artichokes, olives, onions, tomatoes), sautéed zucchini, and…I think that is all. Oh, yeah, homemade hummus.
I wasn’t too impressed, things didn’t taste right to me…but everyone else was really happy with the food, so it was a job well-done.
An unfriendly textual run-in with The Ex
I accidentally sent him a joke picture of my knee because the first three digits of his phone number are the same as my current boyfriend’s phone number. I never said I was mature.
I didn’t realize it until he later texted me back while I was in deep thought, contemplating my anger pertaining to why I was not going ice fishing the next day, and all of the intricately maintained relationships I have in my life.
He was so friendly, too.
“What’s the goddamn point?” he said.
I was confused. I didn’t really understand why he was texting me, or what in the world he was talking about…
Then it clicked: John had said that he never got the picture, and I had thought that there was just a network error or something, and altogether, I didn’t think anything of it. But the picture—the ABSURD picture—went to The Ex. Geeze, rote memory, how I loathe thee sometimes. I was mortified, more so than I should have been, I think.
I apologized, and with sincerity told him what happened, and of course, I got whatever’d. So, I apologized again, as I have never been one to be unnecessarily harsh to him, and he said something along the lines of “I don’t think I’ve made it clear enough. I NEVER want to hear from you again, in ANY form of communication.” By then, my mortification had evolved into anger, and I responded with more than a few unkind words. I mean, I really told him what was what, and that if he knew what was best, he wouldn’t text me back.
And he didn’t…until an hour after, trying to pull the whole messaging device only receives plain text and X amount of characters. It was from his phone number though, meaning, it was not even legit, as the real notification comes from the actual network at a 900-number.
How lame.
The Last Supper: Fish Tacos and Mango Brulee, sans blowtorch
Well, we finished our family time with a strong culinary demonstration of the P.E.A.C.E.-I.I. Family’s signature dishes, fish tacos, tomatillo salsa, and “spicy slaw.” And of course, I made a pastry, a mango brulee tart this time, which did not turn out how I wanted it to, either, so…screw my away-from-home cooking skills.
Visiting with family in Denver
I got to see and spend some time around spinach salad, Whole Food’s pizza, and delicious homemade apple and pumpkin pies with family in Denver that I hadn’t seen in a while. One particular cousin and his wife are missionaries, and it was really amazing to hear about all that they were able to do with their work, especially for kids. I respect them greatly, and cannot wait to do something similarly with my life someday.
WELL, that concludes the highlights.
