Post breakfast, everyone gathered in the new addition (a part of the house that I still refer to as “new,” despite it being over 30 years old). L to R, it’s Stacey, Shane, Liz, me, Nathaniel, Jasmine, Jahnu, and my mom (photo courtesy of dad).
A travel day, heading from Chicago to Indy. We were reminded that there’s an incredibly nice rest stop on the way at the Kankakee Welcome Center.
We had done some picking up the night before, clearing off a lot of kitchen counter space. Stacey had some Costco Egg Bites that I was eating for breakfast, but this morning I realized that both the microwave and coffee maker had been relocated to the guest room last night. So a quick run to Starbucks later, I’m back a the house looking for something to do to help.
It was a little touch and go, but we got the thing in my car! It had just started to rain when we got here, and I honestly gave us a 50/50 chance of it fitting or us needing to run back to the entrance.
Group photo! Another masterclass in how to balance a phone precariously, for 10 seconds.
It was cold out, but we all braved the temps to seek out mulled wine and raclettes.
Fast forward to Indy, several hours later. It’s late at night, we’ve unloaded the car, and are hanging out in the kitchen with Stacey and Shane. As a late nightcap, Shane offers me up a little moonshine.
Headed back to Chicago today. As I was packing up the car, I looked up to see Kaya in the doorway. There was this somewhat somber expression on Kaya’s face, kind of a “You’re leaving? Already?” kind of thing.
Jahnu, showing off the custom socks he got (featuring a photo of Kaya on the socks).
Note to self: next year, take this photo and print them on a new pair of socks. Repeat for the next 30 years.
I have vague memories of playing as a kid. And the sound of Mahjong tiles clacking together is something I hear, when imagining my grandmother’s house on the South Side of Indy. But while I think I know the rules, I never learned them officially.
We were thinking about using an upcoming weekend day to just relax and make cookies. But looking at our remaining time and our progress in the hallway, we realized we had more work and less free time than we anticipated.
So tonight, we made cookies. Or rather – everyone else made cookies, and I watched them. Liz brought a few recipes and was working on Oatmeal cookies and Sugar cookies.
My sister didn’t remember it at first, but she recognized this photo. She kept saying “Who is that?” but couldn’t quite place where she recognized him from.
As I played the video, she started to remember bits and pieces. And it was hilarious, watching her remember all the various characters from this film.
