All About G

Hey all!

I was telling myself that I was going to update this today, and of course, I forget about it until the last minute. Quite typical of me, don’t you think? Anyway, I’m going to give you little updates on what’s been going on.

While there have been some good parts and bad parts since coming home, I think it’s safe to say, I’m quite content with the way things are. I came home, had to skip open volleyball the day I came back (just so that I give my tail bone SOME TIME to heal before I get back into the swing of things), but everyone was nice and they all said hi and we all caught up on things.

Steve Walker, you remember him, right? Yes, he’s still alive. He’s actually back in NY for a brief vacation before they ship him overseas next year (which sucks major ass if you ask me). He was so kind as to stop by to confirm his existence and remind me that yes, he’s a human being and no, he hadn’t turned into another Hologram Man that can only communicate with a cell phone and the internet (Only certain people will get this joke). He beat me up (not literally), as usual, and headed back to his house out in the middle of nowhere. It was good to see him again. Honestly it feels like ages since the last time I actually saw him. It was, what, summer after graduation… like… over a year ago? In some ways he’s changed a whole lot, but in other ways he hasn’t changed at all. Not that change is bad, but it’s good to know that he’s still the retard…. I mean, cool guy that he was back in high school

And the couple of days leading up to today were awesome. We actually got a Christmas tree; a cute little tree that fits nicely in a corner of the dining room. And I think it was from that moment — because earlier in the week Kimmie and I, with the assistance of Kasedy put up lights in the living room and it still didn’t feel quite complete, if you know what I mean — that it felt like we were gonna have a good Christmas. I mean, I can’t remember the last time we had a tree before this year, and the past couple of years we didn’t get any presents at all; we were still hurting from the flood in ‘06. And we still are hurting now. But I think those of us who worry about it were able to set it aside for at least a day so we could truly enjoy this holiday.

And for those who gave to us, and for just the way things turned out, I’m ridiculously thankful. I’ve always felt that, as a family, everyone was kind of drifting apart. The adults besides me had stopped sitting at the table with us, we never do anything that would bring everyone together, like a movie or a game night. Dad grows ever more aloof and it’s still ridiculously hard to talk to the guy. Mom suffers too, though she hides it so no one can really help her either. And Derek doesn’t really interact with us like he used to either; like Dad… and Ricky, and David, he spends approximately his whole life on the computer. Mom and Kimmie aren’t as bad, but still, the majority of their days is spent on the computer as well. And I’m usually not around, or if I’m home, there’s usually someone (namely Kasedy) with me, and we all have fun times, still… in recent years past it’s felt like we’re not really much of a family… just kinda like people living together who just so happened to be related. So I’m really glad that this Christmas was as good as it used to be. I miss those days — when everyone would talk and play with their presents with each other, and have a good old time at the table at dinner, and then just relax and enjoy each other’s company after dessert. I don’t know if this New Year’s Eve will be the same, nor do I know if next year it’ll be as good, if we can get through this financial crap, but for now, I can be thankful that at least this Christmas was a very special Christmas for me.

Happy Holidays, everyone.