Family Matters

Last week was my "vacation". It was the first week without classes so I also took time from work. Since Will and I both wanted to take a trip, but save money at the same time, we decided to head to Columbus for some relaxation.

Travelling there, although always fun, makes me nervous every time. In two years, I have only been there 5 or 6 times. I'm not as familiar with his family as he is with mine. On top of that, his mom is not a fan of mine. So, even though I was looking forward to good cycling and nature time, I was not looking forward to being uncomfortable with his family.

This time was different. Instead of heading out to try to see and do everything, we decided to spend more time hanging out and decompressing. That gave me more time with his family. Unlike most of the other time that I have visited, Will's brother was home. I had spent the least amount of time with him so it was neat to see them interact. Thursday night we all sat down to a game of Cranium (which his Mom and Dad also played with us) which was very entertaining, even though Will and I are nowhere near as good as Jen Schur and I were. I really enjoyed just sitting down with them, becoming familiar with how they interact and learning more about all of them. As usual, his sister was hilarious and cracked me up all the time. Imagine a girl Will minus the engineering dorkiness but with all the humor and captivating personality. His Dad talked to me about many things, as usual, even Carnaval in Brazil.

His Mom's attitude towards me has certainly changed. Last time I visited we went out to dinner with just his Dad and sister... his mom wouldn't go. This time, the four of us ate out on Saturday night together (at Texas Roadhouse!). It was nice to talk to them. She and I are strikingly similar in some aspects (which must be extremely scary for Will).

Who knows, perhaps she's just resigned herself to the fact that it's been two years and I haven't gone anywhere. We've weathered everything that's come our way and I expect for that to continue happening. But, I think what was even more important was that both Will and I could be a little more comfortable. His Mom's disapproval of me had placed a large weight on our relationship once and it's very nice for that to begin to lift. It's also great to think that one day I may fit in with them like he does with my family (well, maybe not... my parents would trade me for him).

We had plans to visit Oxbow Meadows, Callaway, Coca Cola Space Science Museum and long bike rides every day. We ended up doing only one long ride, taking naps everyday, visiting the Riverwalk, and watching Wedding Crashers. Oh, and many games of Cranium, of course. It was a wonderful vacation and I'm sad that it's over so soon. As many people have said (most recently repeated by Lance Armstrong)... a body at rest stays at rest.

I really like Columbus. Great biking, you can see the stars (if it's not overcast) and there's nature everywhere.

A Garden


Black and White Garden


The Riverwalk





My cutie


I loved this house!