Adventures in the QCA

It was a good long weekend/holiday at home. I got to take my dear friend Tracie with me. It was wonderful to be with so many people for whom I am thankful.

Thursday was quiet and lovely. My parents, Tracie and I went to 9 a.m. Mass and then spent the rest of the day at home. Mom cooked a small turkey, and as dad carved it, we stole the juicy little bits. We had a nice dinner, spent hours playing cards (cribbage and euchre) and ended the night with popcorn, a movie and a “fire.”

Friday, I attempted to show Tracie around town amidst a few errands, but all went awry when my brakes started to grind — suddenly and really badly. Our plans altered a lot, but my wonderful high school friend John helped changed the brake pads, which were metal to metal on the passenger side. Yikes!

We stopped by Best Buy around dinner time, and while it was still busy, it was bearable. We primarily wanted to look at digital cameras, which Tracie has researched on my behalf. Right now, I want this one. I’m only weighing the value of the quality versus carrying a larger-than-pocket-sized camera. However, I want ZOOM.

On the way out of the store, Tracie spied a kiosk with 2Gig MP3 players for only $35! We each bought one, and I picked one up for my mother, who paid me back. I’m very excited about it because it was cheap, and my iPod is broken. It’s got a window that allows you to pick by artist, genre, etc., as well as equalizer setting, FM radio, and a voice recorder. Groovy.

Friday night I had Woodchuck on tap at the Bier Stube, introduced Tracie to the Xlerator and got to hang out with my good friend Jenny and her cool boyfriend Ben.

Saturday was family day. The kids were awesome. The food, cooked by my sister Wende and her husband, was SO good. Panini sandwiches for lunch and for dinner stuffed portabella mushrooms, fennel and carrot soup, and tarragon chicken and wild rice, which was followed by brownies with ice cream and fresh raspberries. Seriously. We went to Mass at 4 p.m., and my niece Bristy was the cantor. It runs in the family; I’m so proud of her!

This morning, we had a great breakfast, went to the Festival of the Trees, stopped by the river at Butterworth and got scrumptious Whitey’s Ice Cream, before packing up and driving home.

A lot of smiles and relaxing. It was wonderful to share my family with Tracie and Tracie with my family. And other than her constantly kicking my dad’s butt in cards, she was welcomed as one of the family. My vocalized prayer over Thanksgiving dinner was for family and friends; it’s as simple and awesome as that.