While we're on the subject, I gotta tell ya...that was super weird. First of all, my giving the organization three solid weeks of advance notice unexpectedly caused an oddly mixed situation...in which I was simultaneously eagerly counting down to the end...while also running at a high level of stress in order to get everything finished and organized that colleagues were asking of me before I departed. I mean, sure it was nice have good wishes heaped upon me, and to hear that I'd be missed. But it was also a little awkward trying to explain (to a group comprised largely of research-analyst-and-scientist-type people, mind you) that I was leaving without a clear plan in place for Next Steps...and that I was 100% okay with that. (See there? I used DATA! Sort of. Whatever....)
In the end, my awesome NC officemates gifted me the most amazing basket, filled with delectables such as fair trade chocolate bars, coffee roasted right here in Carrboro, my favorite brand of tasty and allergy-friendly cookies, gourmet hot chocolate, small-batch fancy peanut butter made in Durham...plus a t-shirt to commemorate both our nerd-tastic staff and our weekly bootcamp sessions, and gift certificates to an independent bookstore and my go-to nacho-and-burrito joint. Clearly, they're the best Coworker Friends a girl could ask for...and also, they know me reeeealllly well, yeah?
Meanwhile, College Boy was making the most of his first week of freedom, by sleeping in, relaxing, spending time catching up with his bro...and assorted other shenanigans. Such as invading--I mean "stopping by"--the old High School stomping grounds, to visit some former teachers he holds in high esteem. In this portion of the mission, he was reportedly successful. However, when he took it a step further, and attempted to harass the younger sibling and his buddies at lunch, a watchful security guard firmly insisted that he skedaddle....because he "looked suspicious". (And can I just take this opportunity to say: Ha--you're just not blending in with that BEARD, dude!)
Next, he participated in a delicate retrieval operation--you see, all but one of the lads in his inner circle had already returned to Chapel Hill from their respective universities. So this Gang of Four obtained permission from the Fifth Amigo's parents to pick him up from the airport when he arrived on Friday. I can only imagine THAT scene...but I'm told there was tackling involved in the enthusiastic greeting. Ay yi yi...I'm just grateful that RDU is such a laid-back place, so I wasn't called upon to come pick up my mischievous child from, I don't know, TSA Jail, or something, due to his rowdy adolescent behavior.
In quieter news, the teenage dynamic duo has been bonding a fair amount...playing basketball, throwing a football around in the front yard, hanging out in one of their bedrooms and chatting...and in the most amusing fashion, digging up the Lego Star Wars video game I'd completely forgotten they owned, and setting themselves a goal to beat all of the levels during their collective time off. (Whatever that particular game cost back in the day, it's worth a million times that, to hear the two of them laughing while they madly press the buttons, animatedly wave their arms around as if that would help whatever's supposed to be happening on the screen, and vehemently yell either taunts or encouragement at the screen and each other, depending on how things are going. Yep...priceless...)
And finally, in keeping with what has become a treasured Mother/Son tradition over the years, we attended church (seizing the early option, with Sunday being in such close proximity this year to Christmas Eve, when we normally go), and followed it up with a shopping excursion to several nearby markets, to procure interesting, (hopefully) delicious treats for Husband's yule gift. This normally involves a fair amount of silliness (Shocking, amiright?) as we wander the aisles in search of items that meet the criteria of being somewhat quirky...but still yummy-sounding.The whole process leads to quite a a bit of discussion as well--such as me asking, "Do you think he'd like strawberry barbeque sauce?" And the kids answering, "Nah, too strange. And besides, he'd make US eat it, and we don't want to do that." We ended up with an amusing assortment of things like bacon/cranberry bison jerky...spicy dill pickles...salt and vinegar peanuts...pretzels flavored like "everything" bagels...Carolina bbq crackers...and sesame honey cashews. Now, he does expect by this point that we're going to do this every Christmas, but he never knows what we'll come up with (nor do we, for that matter), and he looks forward to the surprise. So, it's basically a Win/Win scenario.
And there you have it: the pre-festivities are in full swing, but I believe all the actual prep work is now over, and we can commence the "chilling" phase of our agenda. Whoo hoo--let the celebrating begin!
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