Let me begin by saying," I will never ride greyhound ever again!" Okay, now
that I've got that off my chest, I'll tell you about my trip.
This winter break, I decided that I wanted to be able to spend Christmas morning as well as New Year's
Eve with my dad, stepmom, and two younger brothers, Nicholas and Matthew. So in order to save the most money, I decided
to go greyhound.
The ride up north was fine. 18 hours of sitting, talking, reading, snacking, and switching buses.
Not too bad. I made it to Burlington in one piece with all of my luggage. A successful journey if you ask me.
Once I got my foot in the door, I was bombarded by two young boys of the ages 9 and 10, and their new
dog, Sam. What a warm welcome!
We had several days of relaxing, visiting, playing, and catching up on time spent apart.
Christmas morning was an eventful one. Nana and Papa were with us, I gave the boys my very first
snare drum and some books, and Santa had brought the boys an air hockey table that they didn't discover until several hours
after their awakening. After the morning's festivities, we all joined around the table and ate a nice big breakfast
prepared by my wonderful stepmother, Nancy. Then we were off to Nancy's brother Bob's house to join the Diamond family
for a fun-filled day of Christmas Cheer! I've always felt like part of the family whenever I'm with the Diamonds, and
I'm very greatful. Thank you all so much for being so warm and welcoming!
New Year's Eve was another adventure altogether. Nick, Matt, their two buddies, and their cousin
Zach were all entrusted to me for the evening. We had an air hockey battle before the buddies had to leave and the boys
and I got our goodies together for our celebration (thanks Uncle Dan!). Before the ball dropped, we had all sorts of
glow in the dark jewelry and whatnot all ready to go. Upon the beginning of our new year, 2003, we all went outside
and ran around the back yard, the boys glowing, and I laughing up a storm. Sparklers made their ways into all of our
hands and the celebration was under way! What an evening!
My travels back south were the pitfall of the entire trip. Being stranded in Detroit for 5 hours
and then dumped off in Toledo for another 6 before being crammed onto a full bus heading to Chicago was not a fun time for
me. What should have been a day's journey turned into a day and a half.
Let's just say that the next time I head up north, I'm driving myself!
But no matter what, I had a great time visiting with my family and I hope to get to see them again this
July!
