It finally happened. Nick and his brother, L, finally reunited. Just before going to his grandparent's lake house for Thanksgiving, Nick had made a statement that he probably wouldn't see L for "5 years". We were the first to arrive at the lake house, so we were having drinks and chatting with his grandparents when his grandfather happened to casually mention that L and his new girlfriend would be coming to Thanksgiving. Nick and I were like what?! We couldn't believe it! I may have even had tears spring to my eyes because I knew how much Nick has wanted this and dreamed about this day.
Sure enough, L and his new girlfriend did come. His new girlfriend is half Filipina, half Argentinian (he has a type - his last girlfriend was half Filipina, half black). This girlfriend appears to be a bit older than him (he's in his late 20s, she appears to be in her 40s), but they seem happy together. L seemed like his old self - he was joking and laughing a lot, though I noticed he wasn't really making eye contact. He and his girlfriend also seemed a little too into each other, like constantly touching each other, laughing, and kissing. That's great they're that happy, but I thought maybe it was a little overdone, maybe in an effort to avoid any awkwardness about the fact that he's avoided his brother for so long? At any rate, we had a successful, fun Thanksgiving with the two brothers reunited. Nick and L never got a chance to speak one-on-one and Nick didn't force it. I thought Nick actually did a great job being around his brother again. He has said before that he does want an apology or some kind of explanation for why he was cut off for so long, but luckily he didn't press that issue. I think he was just glad to be around his brother again.
We had my family's Thanksgiving the day after Nick's family's which in hindsight is kind of a tight turnaround to basically have the same heavy meal lol. It was still fun and yummy. I also did some minor projects around the house for my mom, such as changing out the last few old door hinges with new hinges, putting a new lock on her shed, and trimming the bushes in the front of the house. My sister, Amber, the one who is pregnant, made grilled cheese and a VERY delicious turkey soup out of the leftovers. It was so good!
In other news, my mom officially turned 70 years old on the 7th. I took the day off from work and drove the hour and a half down to see her so I could spend the day with her. I'm glad I did because my other 2 sisters had to work and her BFF was busy going to a concert out of town. She would have been alone all day on her birthday if I hadn't come! I made her breakfast and then we later went downtown to a lunch spot she had picked. It was a cozy little place and the food was yummy. Once my sisters were off from work, we went out to dinner at a steak restaurant. I had to head back home after that as I still had a week of work to finish out.
Nick and I came back down last weekend to have my mom's official birthday party. Saturday, we had tickets to tour these historical homes that were decorated for Christmas in a nearby town. We ate lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall sushi/hibachi place and it was really yummy! Nick would have probably refused to eat there, but we aren't afraid of little places like that. After lunch, we got our tour map and discovered that the houses were actually dispersed all over this town, not right next to each other. We started the tour at 4 pm and didn't get done until 9 pm! There were a total of 10 houses, but we only made it to 7. Some of these houses were as old as the 1700s! One even had been used as a field hospital for injured soldiers (for both sides) during the Civil War! Crazy. The tour got a little tricky as it got dark and began to rain, but we made the most of it. We were all pretty tired from driving around all afternoon and walking up and down many flights of stairs. We picked up some cheeseburger baskets and milkshakes on the way home and just crashed on the couch.
Nick, who had stayed behind with his mom and fam during the tour, ended up spending the night at his mom's because I was too tired to pick him up. Nick had not spent the night at his mom's in a long time because his brother L lives there and it would have been too awkward since L was avoiding Nick (up until recently, that is). Nick ended up seeing L and his girlfriend again, which was good. He did say that L looked kind of rough because he had not slept in days, so his eyes were red and dazed. He also didn't make eye contact again, Nick said. However, Nick's mom later said that that was the most she had heard L speak in a long time. So, L may have specifically avoided Nick for all this time, but he also was not opening up to anyone else either.
I really do worry if L has inherited a mental illness...schizophrenia runs on both sides of Nick's family, but the most direct connection is he and L's paternal grandmother. She struggled with her diagnosis to the point that her brother had to raise her son (Nick's dad). I guess that worked out though because Nick's dad was living with his uncle in Germany on a military base at the time he met Nick's mom. Luckily, Nick's grandmother got the right medication and treatment she needed and if you met her, you would NEVER guess that she has schizophrenia. She's just the sweetest little grandma. But yeah, the staying up for days on end, blowing a chance at a great career in the fire department after he had worked so hard for it, poor relationships with family members, etc. Something definitely is not right with him.
Anyways, back to my mom's birthday celebrations. On Sunday, we had her official party where we decorated and had cake and ice cream. The decorations turned out great and she really loved them! I think she was very pleased with everything. I still can't believe she is 70! I hope she lives to 100.
We will be going back down for Christmas next week and we still are short a few Christmas gifts. It's hard buying thoughtful gifts for so many people! I told Nick we should draw names since his family is large but he said no. Okay great, we will just spend all of our money, cool. lol.
While the rest of the public school universe is done for the holidays this Friday, no, my last day is the 22nd!!!!!! How wrong is that?? I will legit do NOTHING next week!
10:03 a.m. - Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021
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