Merry Chaos

Whitney M.

December 27, 2009 - 10:33 PM

I am at my fifth official Christmas celebration in the last two weeks.

 

This one is in Bakersfield, California, with my future in-laws.

 

I love them.

 

One set of in-laws is from Florida, and they met us in LA to drive north to Bakersfield. Stephanie, the wife of Collin's mom‘s brother John (yeah), is a bail bondswoman and entertained us with stories all the way up I-5.

 

When we got to our destination, we went to target with Joan, Anne's sister. Anne is Collin's mom. We bought a board game for all of us to play later.

 

When we returned, although sleep deprived, we wrapped presents for the Christmas celebration. Shortly following that, we all checked into our hotel, which was extraordinarily nice, and got ready for dinner.

 

Then we met up with Collin's two cousins: Camille, 11, and Rose, 7, who entertained us for the rest of the evening.

 

Collin's cousin's boyfriend Van cooked a fabulous dinner, which was followed by a birthday celebration for all of the January birthdays.

 

Then we played Apples to Apples until it was time for bed instead of watching sports on TV (thank God).

 

Given that my writing is stark and uninteresting, I hope you can infer my exhaustion. I got two hours of sleep last night. This has been a pattern all break.

 

Although I love my new in-law families, of which there are two, and although I must spend the holidays with all my lovely relatives. This break has been sleepless, restless, draining, filled with obligations, void of exercise, and generally chaotic.

 

I can't wait to get back to school. It will be such a relief to get back into the swing of things in Eugene again. The Emerald City has become a haven for me. It is my home.

 

At college in Eugene, I feel safe, secure, structured, stimulated, and satisfied.

 

Until then, I will be keeping my chin up and making the best of all of the blessings I have in my ever evolving family.

 

 

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Things I have been telling myself these days...

Whitney M.

December 21, 2009 - 4:30 PM

• "I am not as thin as I have been or would like to be, but I will be there again, I still look beautiful, and on days when I don't look my best, I can be the kindest, wittiest, most thoughtful person I can instead."

• "Check your attitude. Sometimes things are inconvenient, but that is life and you can either be a sour puss about it, or you can buck up and make the best of it."

•  "Sleep."

•  "You have bigger, better, different, new things to look forward to in the near future."

• "If Stanford doesn't accept you into their graduate program, the University of Washington will allow you live in Seattle, which will be wonderful!"

• "With all the wackos in the world, I am so lucky to have found the love of my life, especially because I am one of the many wackos out there."

• "I shall not cuss and yell, and he shall not punch dashboards."

• "Invest in things you really love, like board games, the Rose Bowl, long-lasting and inexpensive makeup, and giving expensive gifts to those you love-even if they whine about how much you spent."

• "Good manners are invaluable."

• "In-laws can be a pain, but having people to love is always a blessing."

• "Accountability is the key to life's happiness."

• "Stop before you yell."

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The Quade Family Reunion Winter 2009

Whitney M.

December 20, 2009 - 3:45 PM

Every year, my boyfriend's family has two family reunions: one in the summer and one in the winter. I have been with Collin for two and a half years and have attended three of these events.

 

The first one I went to was the summer of 2007. We camped near the beach, did arts and crafts, went on hikes, visited landmarks nearby, and ate magnificent food.

 

The second one I attended was two Christmases ago. We had an enormous lodge that had enough rooms to occupy all 30 guests. There was a huge kitchen, a long dining table, a roomy living room, a Christmas tree, and a huge lawn for the kids to play on.

 

We had a wonderful time. We did the traditional White Elephant gifting game, which involves taking numbers and as your number is called, either picking a random present from the table or stealing one that has already been chosen.

 

That year, I have no idea what I got, but this year, Collin and I attended again, after having missed an entire year of Quade get-togethers, and I came away with a Starbucks French coffee press!

 

Surprisingly, I was one of the few who wanted it, so no one stole it from me!

 

This year we went to Millersylvania State Park in Washington, about 100 miles north of Portland. Most of the Quade brothers and sisters, of which there are 8, have had children and grandchildren and live in the Seattle area, but Collin's dad and his sister Anne live in Portland and Vancouver respectively.

 

Millersylvania has numerous cabins with at least two bunk beds in each and a big dining hall and kitchen to accommodate all of our guests.

 

We walked out to the lake, where the canoes were boarded up, but we were able to take advantage of the wonderful scenery. It was dark and quiet with a heavy fog hanging over the lake, but it wasn't raining...yet.

 

The weekend passed with too much wonderful food, and I left with not a pair of jeans that fit. But the gift giving was fun as always, and we had fantastic conversations with all of Collin's relatives.

 

They all asked us what we were doing, and it is always good to have such wonderful things to tell them: we are graduating from the University of Oregon this spring, applying for graduate schools as we speak, and plan to attend Quade Reunions twice a year for many years to come!

 

 

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Christmas at Caleroga

Whitney M.

December 13, 2009 - 11:26 PM

My 93-year-old grandmother lives at Caleroga Terrace, a convalescence home in downtown Portland. The Caleroga is a great place for her to live. They always have some kind of event to entertain the residents, and today, the event was a Christmas festival!

So my dad, my boyfriend Collin, and I went to the Caleroga today to spend the afternoon with my grandma Gwen.

Everyone was dressed in holiday garb and sat and dined on snacks, wine, and eggnog.

For the centerpiece, the owners of the Terrace found A cappella groups to come entertain all of the residents and guests.

One was a high school choir that was absolutely horrible. Terrible. I have never heard anything so excruciating in my entire life.

But there were two acts that were absolutely fantastic.

The first was a quartet of two men and two women who sang traditional Christmas carols, but the second and most impressive was a barbershop quartet, which was absolutely FABULOUS!

I had only heard a barbershop quartet once before when I was maybe 11 years old. I remember loving it then, a time when I was very involved with vocal performance, but I was even more impressed with the style of music this time around.

This is such a rich time in my life-one in which I am able to expose myself to so many beautiful facets of the world. I guess that is how you know you are maximizing your college years: if you are taking advantage of learning opportunities even outside of the classroom, you are making the best out of your education.

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Chanukah Dinner

Whitney M.

December 12, 2009 - 11:41 PM

Tonight was the second night in my life that I celebrated Chanukah. Last year, my dad's girlfriend Carol hosted the dinner for her family as usual, but we were invited too, and this year, we were invited again.

It was really exciting to come home from Eugene and settle in for a home cooked dinner with a family. It might not be my family, but it is as close as I get for now. And that really means a lot to me.

The family members exchanged gifts and even Carol's brother and his wife gave me a wallet. We all sat around the table chatting and laughing and watching each other open gifts.

After dessert, and after the candle lighting ceremony, everyone left but my dad and me, and we finished the dishes for Carol, which is the part she hates most about entertaining.

Even though I am a shicksa, it feels great to become more familiar with Jewish traditions. I don't think that many people have the opportunity to be exposed to different cultures within our society, which is really too bad because it has enriched my life in the last few years.

At Oregon, I have met people of all sorts of different cultures,and it is always delightful to learn more about them. If I have learned only a few things in college, one of them would definitely be to ask if you are curious. Generally, people will be glad that you wish not to be ignorant any longer.

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