It's hard to believe another Christmas has already come and gone and another New Year's is just around the corner. This year has gone by so quickly. Each day, for better or worse, has passed slowly in its own sweet time. But the year as a collective seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye.
Christmas Day was nice in spite of some illness on my part. I was out of bed by 9 and headed over to Dad's place around 10 so I could begin cooking our noon meal. Clark joined us around 11:30 and we were dining by noon. As we ate, I realized I could have cooked the main dish for a while longer. But all of us enjoyed the meal regardless. I lost track of how many helpings Clark had. And Clark always tells me how much he enjoys my cooking.
The three of us hung out for about an hour after that, and I then headed over to Brian's for most of the afternoon. Brian wasn't home when I arrived just after 2, but many of his relatives, most of whom I know, were. We sat and visited and snacked for a bit, and Brian arrived from visiting his dad about 45 minutes later. More relatives arrived in the meantime, and the house contained more than 20 people by the time we began eating. I didn't eat all that much because I had already eaten and my illness seems to have limited the amount of food I can eat. But what little I ate was good.
A bunch of us sat around, visited, and watched TV for a bit before Brian, his half-sister Sharlynn, his cousins Jenny and Lucas, and I retired to the basement to play Guitar Hero III. Sharlynn had never played the game before, and Brian did his best to show her the robes. And over the hour or so that followed we passed around Brian's wireless guitar and took turns playing the game. The last song I played before I left was Living Colour's "Cult of Personality." That song had been resonating in my head a lot that day, so I thought playing the song might help to purge it from my mind. It's not as though I don't like the song. But it is annoying to have a particular or fragments of a song run through one's mind constantly.
My friend Leet called as I was getting ready to leave Brian's, and she and her husband Steve invited me to their place for turkey. Leet had invited me a few days prior, but we never worked out the particulars. But she called and told me they were getting ready to eat, so I gassed up the car and headed for Flandreau. Interstate 29 was reasonably clean, but the county roads were covered with perhaps two inches of snow. The Mazda3 and I had no trouble handling the roads, of course, so long as we took it slow. I did see three deer cross the road at one point, but there seemed to be no other deer threats for the remainder of the drive.
I had expected that there would be house full of people at Steve's and Leet's place, but there ended up being only six of us seat at the dinner table - Steve, Leet, Ashleigh, JR, Risa, and myself. My original thought was that Steve's daughter Crystal and her kids would have made it, too, but they must have stayed in Grand Forks. Regardless, we had a good time visiting, and the food Steve and Leet had prepared looked delicious. Unfortunately I was able to eat little more than a small bowl of mashed potatoes with gravy. My digestive ailment prevented me from eating more. I stayed and visited until about 9:30 and then I headed back to Brookings. Dolly and I visited for a bit online and then I went to bed.
Today has turned out to be a good day, and my health has gotten better with each passing day. And I feel relieved that something isn't seriously wrong with me. I visited with Dr. Warren this afternoon, and he said I likely picked up some kind of virus and it will need to run its course. In the meantime, he suggested I take some Imodium A-D for my stomach and intestinal distress. So far the medication has worked.
Apart from good news from the doctor, I've had a good, productive day with regard to the Festival of Cultures. I didn't sign up any additional booths, but I did get the festival flyer finalized. Thus far I don't know how many copies need to be made. But Sandy should be able to tell me when she returns on Thursday. Printing will be done at the Brookings UPS Store.
I was able to get some exercise in today by walking at the HPER Center. And I received a check in the mail from a local bookstore; I received the check because the store sold three copies of my book. The stock market performed pretty well today, too. Actually, the market as a whole didn't do that well, but our investments held up well. I'm trying to break the habit of checking the market every day, but old habits die hard. And even on down days it's kind of fun and educational to look at the markets and to try to understand what's happening with them.
The remainder of my day has been spent doing laundry, getting a new thermostat installed in my house, and packing for my trip tomorrow. I've decided to head out for my Canada trip tomorrow afternoon after Jill Callison interviews me for a story in the Argus Leader. My plan now is to leave for the trip directly from Sioux Falls. I'll ride on Interstate 90 for 300 or 400 miles before I'll pull off onto some Wisconsin state highways. So after the interview, I'll jump on I-90 and drive as far as I can tomorrow, spend the night somewhere in Wisconsin, and then drive the rest of the way to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday. And Dolly will meet me at the Greyhound station in the Soo at noon on Saturday. We made plans last night to spend the night in the Soo and then drive on to Wiky on Sunday. The amount of driving ahead of me over the next few days is kind of daunting, but everything will be all right so long as the weather holds and my health returns and is maintained.
I feel really, really good right now knowing that I'm going to spend New Year's with close friends and family in Canada. It's true that there's no place like home. But going on the road can be a lot of fun, too. And I feel good knowing my health is slowly returning and that I've met my obligations already so I can fully enjoy myself on the trip. I have a feeling things are going to go really, really well, and I look forward to the adventure ahead.
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