Happy Monday, everybody!
So. This weekend was kind of amazing and also kind of overwhelming. Why? I went home after being away for about a month. It was great, but it was weird. Allow me to explain.
My dad’s birthday is in a couple weeks, but he’ll be traveling then, and my family got together to celebrate his and my grandma’s birthdays this past weekend. A few weeks ago, I joked to my mom that I should maybe come home for that. That joke very quickly became reality. We booked some plane tickets and decided I would be a little birthday surprise.
Thursday night, after my house lost (pretty badly) at intramural bowling, I headed to a hotel with a couple of bags and went to sleep really early. Friday morning, I left the hotel by 6:20 am and was all checked into the airport and through security by 7:10 for an 8:20 flight. My mom picked me up at the airport, and when I got home, we surprised my dad. It was fantastic. We spent the day relaxing, and my mom and I went shopping, and really it was just fun.
But… there’s a “but”. We didn’t end up leaving the house after dinner (Chipotle! Because I’m obsessed.) until about 7:00 pm and then we had a couple hours to shop and nothing really went as fast as we expected and I definitely kind of panicked in the middle of Macy’s. We weren’t going to have time, I thought, to go everywhere we’d planned on going or do everything we’d planned on doing. And I really like plans, guys. I like it when they work out.
I was right. We didn’t have time on Friday to go everywhere I wanted to hit while I was home. Then, on Saturday we went to my grandparents’ house and I surprised the rest of my family by, you know, being in the same state, never mind the same house. That was also fantastic. I got to catch up with my aunt and uncle and see my cousins and fill everyone in on my “new life” (and also do a lot of calc homework because work didn’t stop just because I left).
We left their house before dinner and went home to watch college football and Blue Jackets hockey and just chill a little more. Before that, though, we finished off my “list” of things to do, and went to Target. We did manage to fit everything I’d hoped to do into my short time at home. The rest of the evening was spent eating pizza and baking these brownies (they’re really the best). Relaxing and wonderful.
Sunday morning, I got to watch political analysis shows with my dad and eat one of his wonderful egg sandwiches before heading to the airport for a 1:15 flight. But… my flight ended up getting delayed and I learned again how much I love plans. I liked knowing I would be back at home school home/school at a certain time and suddenly, I wasn’t sure when I’d be back. I considered just going back to my parents’ house after my flight got delayed a second time and just catching a different flight on Monday, but ended up sticking it out because I really wanted to come back to campus and I had lovely parents willing to stay at the airport with me. Now, I’m back and settled in and life is good.
But… going home felt weird. It was definitely a great time, and I loved it, and I would absolutely-100%-no-doubt-about-it do it again, but I realized that when I have the chance to spend some time with my family, I need to just slow down and enjoy the time. It doesn’t do me, or anyone, any good to try to perfectly plan out what we’re going to do when I’m home. Sometimes, things don’t go as planned – maybe I need more time for homework or just unwinding than I expect and that prevents us from going out and doing something I thought I wanted to do.
Not every moment needs to be busy to be fun and special. The whole point of being home was to see my family, and that is exactly what I did. I spent a lot of time doing homework and we all spent a lot of time just relaxing on the couch, but it was time together – and that matters much more than what we were doing while we were together.
Are you a planner or do you like to go with the flow?
How often do you see your family?
I like to plan but experience has taught me that more often than you’d like, stuff doesn’t go according to plan and you just have to roll with it and make the best of it. It was great having you home for a couple of days, but it’s also great watching from afar as you spread your wings and experience all that UChicago has to offer. Traveling on your own and coming back home for the first time and all the weirdness that entails are just parts of this adventure you’ve undertaken. I’m glad you mostly enjoyed it, and that you learned a little more about yourself.
That’s a pretty smart approach, and I guess one I’m learning to take. It was lovely to be home, and at the same time, it’s lovely to be back here. I got all I bargained for and quite a bit more with this little adventure, but I am definitely enjoying it 🙂
I live at home, so I see my family all the time and I love it!!
Oh my goodness, Ellen, this is so weird, because I’ve been talking recently with my family about how different people are the planning or go-with-the-flow types. I’ve been reading about the Myers-Briggs personalities types, and there is an aspect of their analysis that deals whether you tend to favor planning/organizing/scheduling your life or not. My sister and I now tease each other about it, as I *always* like to have a plan, work ahead as much as possible, and almost always have a schedule and a to-do list (which means I can get a teensy bit stressed if things don’t go according to plan ;)). My sister, on the other hand, prefers to take life as it comes and roll-with-the-punches. I’m trying to let her relaxed outlook on life rubs off on me a bit…maybe it will help me hold things a little more loosely. 🙂
I always thought it would be super-fun to surprise someone by showing up…or to be the someone surprised!! ;P How cool!
Lol, of course: Oreos in the brownies!! It’s sounds amazing (and don’t you just love Lindsay??)!!
(Sorry for my epically long comments…my fingers run away with me… :|)
Haha no problem with the long comments. I like reading them!
I think the significant differences in personality between people so close (family members, for example) and even people in general are extremely interesting. I’d take a bit of your sister’s personality myself 😉
It was so fun to be a surprise! (Plus I like planning, so it was fun to plan it all out 🙂 )
YES. They melt into the brownies and make them super gooey and awesome. And Lindsay is the best! I made her recipes all the time before I came to school, and I hope to start making more as I start cooking more here. Every time I see a new post, it looks like a must-make. And she’s hilarious.