The Holiday season comes to a close..

Well, the journey back to Seattle is done and the holidays are finished. Bittersweet, as usual. It means a fresh start and a new year, but it also means the closeness of family and friends has come to a close. The obvious argument is, "You don't need the holidays to have family time! blahblahlblah." The way my family and friends are designed, I do, actually. I had many great times and am extremely thankful for the time I got to spend with the ones that I actually got to see. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everyone, but that's the nature of the beast, I suppose. The beast being time, obviously.

I got home and, as usual, the first thing I did was play pool with Charlie and had a few more drinks than we expected. It was good to spend time with just us two, shooting the shit... and the cue ball. The next big event was the ugly Christmas sweater party. I was EXTREMELY excited for this because I didn't think I would be back in time to catch any of them. Fortunately, it turned out brilliant and with the help of Bonnie Lee and Mark Horton I had my first peppermint patty. For those of you that don't know, one person dumps Hersey syrup in your mouth while the other dumps peppermint schnapps. Once they have sufficiently overflowed your mouth, you close up and shake your head as fast as possible. It's a sophisticated process and it takes practice, you'll get there if you want to earn it. A good night in the books, indeed.

Christmas Eve and Christmas were spent and Grandma's, not breaking the mold of tradition. It was good to visit with my cousins who are rapidly approaching the college age and we discussed that for a bit. It's amazing to see them come into their own and push back on their parents ideals. Watching people come into their own is something I didn't realize I liked so much, but as I've found out, it's one of my favorite things.

Another thing I realized at the end of the year was that New Year's Eve is rapidly going up my list of favorite holidays (I also realized that I have a lot of lists). It seems that everyone is excited to go out and be with friends and be merry. I think it's the whole 'fresh start' attitude, but everyone just seems to be in good spirits. I hopped around from friend's house to bar to bar to bar. It was great to see everyone and I also discovered that moving around doesn't allow you to drink as much so I was able to stay pretty sober for majority of the night (Yeah, I know, it was weird).

Leaving Seattle was tough, but at the same time I was ready to get back to Dillon. I think I still have a lot I need to figure out and I think being home is the perfect distraction. The airport was the perfect point of limbo where I was incredibly excited to go back to Colorado, but sad to be leaving Seattle.

I have created a few projects for myself to achieve while I am in Dillon, so I can keep busy and have something to show for my time here. I am excited and for once in a long time, I feel like I just may be accomplishing something for myself as a person.

Sea-Tac before my flight...

BC