Vacation

What a fantastic thing a vacation can be. I needed this one. It's been a stressful few months, and the coming months will be tough at work. But for now, I feel totally happy and relaxed and ready to get into my routine again.

Much of my calm right now has come via the warmth I've felt in the last two weeks as I've been surrounded by friends and family. I already blogged about being around my family. The absolute best.

In StL I also got to see my 6th grade teacher again. Actually, she was my Gifted teacher prior to that (I was one of the kids that quietly crept out of my classroom to go where nerds feel comfortable being smart, and get to do projects that kept us challenged.). She taught one year in a regular classroom - and I was one of the lucky ones to get to have her as my teacher. "Lucky" isn't really the right word. My mom actually went up there when she heard that she was going to be a homeroom teacher and said "I have not asked for ANYTHING, but I really want Jamie in her room." Her name is Michelle Jones, but back then she was Mrs. Goldman to me, and I have a hard time not calling her that still. She was the teacher that really truly influenced me. I've had some really great teachers, but none quite like Mrs. Goldman. We've kept in touch ever since. (She reads this blog too - wave hi to the nice folks Mrs. Goldman! And nice folks, wave hi to Mrs. Goldman and thank her for all she's done for me. WIthout her, my ramblings would be even less coherent and contain many more errors.) Anyway, I got to introduce her to Chuck and the boys, and visit with her and her husband. It was fantastic.

I was only in StL for three days and we were with family almost the whole time. Aside from Mrs. Goldman, the only other non-family member I saw was Taylor. (She also reads this blog. Say hi, Taylor!) I played high school basketball and soccer with Taylor and spent many a night eating brownie mix and hanging out with her. Here's how cool Taylor is - the only time we could really get together was Monday night, but we needed to get the bunk bed out of my mom's storage unit and pack our car. So Taylor, who normally falls asleep around 7pm =), came over at 9 and helped us get the bed, repacked Mom's storage, and packed our car. Such a good friend.

When we got home Chuck and I got to have a date night - just the two of us. It was SO nice. Shopping, dinner, movie. Ahhh.

We also went down to Carleton for our annual Alumni Game. It's like going home - walking into West Gym. Nothing quite like it. And seeing my girls again - I see some of them routinely, but some I don't see all year. Some of them I didn't even play with at Carleton because they came in after I graduated. But there is an understanding and a familiarity that comes from being a part of that program - that family. Big hugs, lots of laughs. Our bball tendencies haven't changed a bit, except we're all slower. Well, *I'm* slower for sure. And here was the really fun part - Tammy coached us! She was my basketball AND soccer coach my freshman year, my bball coach my sophomore year, and then let me assistant coach after injuries forced me into early retirement. We've spent A LOT of time together! Tammy retired after last season, so she came and coached the alumni. SO MUCH FUN! I accidentally swore when she tried to put me back in the game. Oops. But she forgave me. And none of us got hurt, I didn't trip (I've done that in at least two other alumni games), I didn't airball (I don't think?) and I even hit a 3 off of the shot clock. Haha!

Then last night we got to go out with friends for New Year's Eve. Went to a bar at 4, then to a friend's house. We laughed and had a great time, but we all left for home after watching the ball drop in New York. We got home at 11:30 but saw that Nicki's mom and dad were still over there, so we ran across the snowy path and hung out with them until 2am.

And props to my mom, who made most of the antics above possible by watching the boys! Yay! Say hi, mom!