The Polish/German/French Carrie Bradshaw...who eats...

So, Christmas sucked in the Mougey house in Nebraska this year. We were missing three of our family members, on top of which my oldest cousin was found dead from a hunting accident on the Tuesday before Christmas. It seemed like welcoming Baby Jesus into our home was going to be especially difficult and we did not accomplish the joy of the season in anyway shape or form. The O Antiphons of the final days of Advent took on a lament that would rival any psalm.

After the suckey Christmas- we went to Omaha to see family who had gathered for the funeral and my dad and I took off to begin our trek across half of the United States. We went up to Minnesota and stayed a night at the ol’ stomping grounds. It was good to be back on familiar soil and to feel such a profound sense of wisdom, mystery and all things wonderfully Minnesotan. We made it through all of Wisconsin with one stop to see a woman so soulful that the ten-minute stop refreshed me for the next four days. C- I love you! That night we stayed at D’s. It was not long enough, but it certainly took the edge off my need to see D and have some companionship. There is ease in our relationship and I enjoy that comfort. We can lay with each other and recognize the giftedness of the situation and let ourselves just bathe in the reality of our conversations. It would be like sitting in a vat of olive oil infused with a subtle hint of the best smelling (cheap cause D would buy) perfume.

We went on the next day to Ohio where we stayed at my roommate M’s parents home, which was lovely. Nebraska played their bowl game that night; we drank homemade wine and celebrated. DC came at about 2 and with it, all the traffic that we could want to avoid on New Year’s Eve. There were no near misses, no accidents, and hardly any snow. There was a lot of great conversation, many laughs and irreplaceable time with my Dad. So often I have to share him with my other siblings. We often in the midst of family settings find ourselves at odds with one another because of conversations on going around us. This trip however, we could talk with ease about many things, and were able to take the time to nuance our words, our thoughts and just enjoy the gift of the trip.

My dad then spent the next two days with me rummaging through boxes, cutting up boxes, helping me to arrange and reminding me that all these little things that were getting to me were not big deals- just time to sit back and rethink. We did have some fun too! I treated him to a movie- we had to ride the metro to get there and he was beyond impressed that I could get there and looked so at ease in my new city surroundings. (Really DC, it is time to just admit that you were built however many years ago because you knew I was coming.) Dad and I had a poor girl’s version of a Carrie Bradshaw moment on Sunday on our way to Union Station so he could catch his train home. I had stopped at an ATM next to the apartment and when I came out our bus was not stopping at the stop right next to the bank. With the wind blowing, I threw up my hand to “hail a bus”. (Normally we would have walked to the Metro stop, but it was so windy and cold it was painful.) We made it on the bus and as I was feeling kind of smug and big city girl- my father beamingly says, “Honey, I am so proud of you, being so Cosmo! You stopped the bus.” I was in my Target coat, target boots, and Shopko hat-eat your heart out Carrie Bradshaw- I may not have Manolo’s, hail taxi cabs or live in Manhattan, but I can find a deal when I am in the mood to shop, stop a bus, and I HATE Manhattan!

Enjoy the New Year!