mostly good news...

i'm
having an eventful life.
minnesota was awesome. i miss ross terribly.
we scheduled FAR too much activity for the short time we had together, but we managed to get stuff done for both his jobs, grocery shop, prepare and serve a meal for 10, make my annual xmas candy, and catch up on sleep.
oh....and for those of you who do not know,
thurs. night ross called my dad and asked him for permission to ask me to marry him.
and friday presented me with the most beautiful ring i have ever seen.
wow.
this from a guy who thinks he doesn't know how to choose jewelry.
wow.

i have told my parents/family and it makes everything newly real. my extended family is already inviting themselves even though ross and i have not invited anyone yet... and i had to write z and tell him. for all that i am not supposed to contact him, he told me he did want me to let him know about anything big. quote-unquote "if you get engaged or something". so that was kinda hard. even harder is the fact that he has not called or responded in any way.
i wish we could be friends, but i doubt that will happen given that i will move in may.

i arrived home to a house FULL of people. mark, robin and the boys and cam, tim and rachael were all here for xmas, with cam, tim and rachael staying with us. rachael is my 12 year old niece. in the dictionary they have her picture right next to the word, hoyden.
she lies a lot, but she's actually chilled out a lot in the past couple of years which is really good since she was sleeping in my room on a bunch of pillows.
real girly, so i don't relate too well to that, but she's mostly a good kid. just loud and ADHD.

xmas eve we had a nice xmas eve service. dad and the kids rode in my car and i got PISSED at him on the way there because he bitched about the music and my driving and these are endless battles between us.
i feel like he's just never willing to push himself that way for me.
or try to modernize his mind and understand the things i like and pronounce my friends' names correctly.
lots of generation gap when your dad is 48 years older than you are.
and i didn't like feeling that way. especially not on xmas eve. going to church helped me calm down and put my thoughts into perspective.

xmas day i made out like a bandit. lots of stuff for my trip.
small suitcase (which i REALLY needed), binoculars and a wallet i can keep my passport in and wear under my clothes.
i am borrowing a lot of stuff from my folks.

and trying not to stress out about this trip.
i leave for south africa tomorrow. the plane leaves for atlanta at 6am. then at 10 something we have a straight shot to capetown international airport.
i have xeroxed all my important info so i have an extra copy, got my shots and my malaria meds as well as some jic over-the-counter stuff, called my credit card companies and gotten health ins. for the trip. i have packed insect repellant, 45 sunblock, a visor, sunglasses, lotion, razors, camera, film, bathing suit, and this really cool mesh backpack that be stuck anywhere when i'm not using it.hell, i've packed bubble wrap for bringing things back......i'm just sure i'm forgetting something.
and i'm sure i'm going to miss ross worse than i normally do.
and i'm sure i'm going to have a wonderful time.

love to all of you. hope you had a wonderful xmas/solstice/yule and will have a wonderful new year.