back for another month

Whelp after a perfect day of travelling, I am back in Boston. I had mentally prepared for hours of delays, long lines and a miserable travelling experience.  In return, I was blessed with a seamlessly perfect day.  I was even early on my flight into Boston!

This break was exactly what I needed. I was feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and stuck in a rut by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. When  I got off the plane in Virginia, I thought I might cry I was so excited to see my parents and be home.  Add a long day of work and travelling and I was a mess.

The next few days were filled with lots of eating, lots of family, and lots of football.  Thanksgiving was great.  We had the usual ten (the Rileys, Memom, Grandfather, and us) plus my uncle's son Brad, his wife and three kids. It was awesome to be able to see everyone since I haven't seen anyone except for my mom since August.  We, of course, ate way too much food and still had a ton left over.

I was able to go riding the next day and see Fireball.  He was looking pretty old, but still had the same amount of energy as he did six years ago. When I think about home, that's what I miss the most. I can talk to my family on the phone and almost everything about home can be brought here except horseback riding and Fireball. He even remembers me after all this time, which almost made me cry (do we see a theme here?).

Saturday was football day.  The playoffs began for JMU, ODU and Norfolk State, the UVA/Tech game was that afternoon and Notre Dame played Stanford that night.  In case you all weren't aware, JMU WON!!!Thanks to a last minute field goal to put them over Eastern Kentucky, the JMU football team will be travelling to North Dakota next weekend to play North Dakota State University.  We're not favored to win, but I have faith.  The other teams didn't fair as well.  UVA, NSU, and Notre Dame all lost that day, but JMU's triumph was enough for me.

I returned tongiiht to a broken shower rod, a bath tub full of old shower water, and a dishwasher full of dirty dishes.  The dishwasher...not that big of a deal.  The shower....BIG FREAKING DEAL. One- a broken shower rod means no shower curtain which means water everywhere when you shower.  Two- a bathtub full of dirty shower water.  REALLY?! I now have to scoop out Matt's shower water with a bucket into the sink.  We've been doing this for about a week since our drain is clogged and a plumber hasn't shown up. Matt knows this and, yet, leaves this sitting for five days. COOL. So, I scooped out the water, hung up a new shower curtain, and cleaned the bathroom within an hour of coming home. Not exactly the welcome home I wanted to have.

Anyways, despite the bath tub issues, I am ready for another month of service.  I feel re-energized and ready to serve. I can't wait to see my kids again tomorrow and am thankful for the opportunity to serve at NHCS and with my team.


Random Thanksgiving fact
The average person consumes between 4,000 and 4500 calories on Thanksgiving. 2,000 of that comes from the Thanksgiving meal itself!