So, Thanksgiving is long past and we’re all in full-on Christmas mode, right? Sorry these pics are a little late, but hey, what do you want from me? I promised to share a few of the frustrations from our Thanksgiving…here ya go. Let’s start with the fact that staying with family ranks about the same as a root canal in terms of what I would choose to do with my time. I MUCH prefer a hotel. But that’s not an option, no way. Not with Hubs’ grandma. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the woman dearly. She was the first to love me and accept me into the family and has always been consistent in her treatment towards me. I just like things a certain way and it’s really hard for me to stay in someone else’s home; especially while traveling with A. The first thing we notice upon our arrival is her procurement of 2 goldfish that she has so smartly set up on the coffee table. Those fish were dead where they swam, and we told her so. We spent the majority of the time we were at her house telling A not to touch the fish. Sigh. Eye roll. My child is pretty good about not getting into stuff, but you can’t put a fish bowl on the coffee table and expect a 2 year-old to leave it alone. Especially when it’s the first thing you show her when she walks in the door and tell her she can feed the fish while she’s there. Her house has 3 bedrooms, she and her “friend” occupy one. That left a room with a twin bed and a room with a double bed. Ideally we would have put A in the twin bed and Hubs and I would have slept in the double, but there was no way A was sleeping by herself in a weird, unfamiliar setting so Hubs took the twin bed and A and I took the double. No one, and I mean NO ONE slept well. Mostly thanks to the obnoxiously loud grandfather wall clock that chimes every hour and half hour and resonates off the walls throughout the entire house. Also a big thanks to the neighbors 2 doors down that have an effing chicken farm in their backyard. Roosters crow NON-STOP at all hours of the night; single-pane windows people…the outside noise TRAVELS. I was honestly surprised Hubs didn’t kill them all and cook them up for lunch. That was Wednesday night. How about Thursday? Thanksgiving day…and the massive spread of food we begged not to have. You see, Hubs, myself and the sister-in-law were planning to spend the afternoon tailgating and begged not to have a huge lunch. Sucks to be us apparently. A kept hearing a big, silent screw-you as each new dish appeared. My favorite part (insert sarcasm here) was when Grandma actually asked Hubs and I if we wanted sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes. Um, neither? I thought you got this memo.
How about lunch when all the family is gathered around the table including my father-in-law, Grandma’s “friend” and his niece when my mother-in-law decides to have the conversation with me about how I refer to my female anatomy with A. Walter. Tango. Foxtrot. Modest I am not, and I’m not afraid to have this conversation, but I prefer to discuss my breasts and vagina (yes, both these words were used…at length) when I’m NOT in the presence of the majority of people at the table. It’s hard to shock me…but I have to admit, I was shocked at that conversation; I heard tires screeching to a stop, or perhaps a record scratching to a stop…I can’t remember. Dumbfounded is a good word.
How about Thursday night, when Hubs’ parents also stayed the night at Grandma’s house? That equals 7 people, 3 bedrooms and 1 (very small) bathroom…it also equals 1 person that doesn’t understand the concept of air freshener when they lay a deuce in the (very small) bathroom. We were tripping over each other, especially the next morning when we were all trying to get the hell out of town ASAP. I found Hubs in the twin bed on Friday morning. He’d gone from the double with A and I, to the air mattress in the living room and ended up in the twin. He couldn’t get out of bed fast enough once I told him A was up so we could pack up and bail. If you didn’t read my earlier post, A woke up Friday morning about 3am begging to go home. We were halfway tempted to oblige. Ok, more that halfway, but whatevs.
The trip wasn’t all bad though. Wednesday was awesome as we took A around campus and we had a blast with her at the tailgate. She has an A&M book about campus so we took the book with us and visited several of the spots illustrated in the book. Here are a few of the pics we got while we were gone. Enjoy everyone, and I hope your Thanksgiving was as memory-laden as my own!
Here’s the clock tower:
And the Academic Building:
We’re a school deeply rooted in military tradition. Flags are everywhere, and they are taken down (properly) each evening and put up (properly) each morning by members of the Corps of Cadets.
A and Hubs headed to the Century Tree. This pic is blurry, but I still love it. Some day she’ll visit the Century Tree with some other man, today though, she was with her daddy. Sigh…tear…
This beautiful tree is in the center of campus and MANY a couple have been engaged under this tree…right here on this bench. It’s another beautiful tradition in Aggieland. In fact, there was a proposal going on that day just before we arrived. It’s a normal occurrence to see a man on 1 knee while his soon-to-be fiance is seated on the bench. My favorite are the Corps boys, fully dressed, proposing. I’m a sucker for a uniform. If I was to ever get re-engaged to Hubs, it would be under this tree; I’d even say yes. 😉
Like my new lens? 🙂
I was quite the sight getting this shot, being pregnant and all. Hubs and sis-in-law were kind enough not to laugh at me. At least, not loud enough for me to hear.
A had a BLAST tailgating. She and Hubs and sis-in-law ran around non-stop for about 2 hours:
This was my view during the tailgate. Nice 🙂
I'm Leaving My Mark 