Highlights and Lowlights of my Minnesota Vacation

I'm finally back in Appleton. I just got back from my family reunion/vacation the day before yesterday. A lot of stuff happened, so here's a quick recap of everything. Not all of it was good, but I'll list the good things first.

Oh btw, before I start. I just finished reading The Hunger Games, which is a young adult novel that's been getting a lot of buzz. I've got the other two in series at home, so expect a review of that in the next couple of days.

Highlights

1. My Aunt Phyllis- So, let me explain a little bit of family history first. Many years ago my uncle John married this woman named Nancy David who had like four kids. A lot of them were pretty young and they're all grown up now (with kids of their own who come up with us to the family reunion) and very much a part of the Savides clan, but he's still technically their stepfather. Then, about five years ago, Nancy and John got divorced. A year or two after that, John got remarried to this woman named Phyllis and they've been married for about three years. Apparently, Phyllis has always had trouble figuring out where she fits in with John's kids and with the Savides family. Well, this year she and John sent me a graduation card. I sent them a thank you note and I addressed it to "Uncle John and Aunt Phyllis." That apparently made Phyllis really happy and she was really touched that I thought of her as my aunt. Anyway, we hung out a lot as well so that was funny.
2. Skinny Dipping- Me, my aunt Besty, my aunt Ann, and my aunt Phyllis went skinny dipping, or as Ann called it "Chunky Dunking." It was cold and very fun.
3. Cards, Reading, and Napping- I was pretty lazy this vacation, about all I wanted to do was play cards, read the Harry Potter books (I'm on five right now, have to hurry!), and nap and that is exactly what I did.
4. Talking to Evie- Evie is my second cousin and she's going to be a senior in high school and want to either major or minor in English. She also writes about mutants and even has a story about a fallen angel, which makes her a writer after my own heart. I got to hang out with her and give her some advice this summer, which is cool because it makes me feel like I'm together enough of a person to mentor someone. I also kind of tried to sell her on the University of Iowa, because it's a writer's town.
5. A Midsummer Night's Dream- the local theater troupe in Bemidji, put on a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream which is actually my first experience with the play. It was okay, the parts with Puck were kind of iffey and, surprisingly, the parts with Bottom and the play company were hilarious.
6. Seeing My Dad Almost Lose it At a Carny- There was a shitty carnival going on in Bemidji and my dad tried one of the games where the carny kept making up rules as to why he wasn't winning a prize. So I almost saw him lose his mind. This was both embarrassing and hilarious.

Lowlights

1. Sick Paul- my brother was sick for the first three days we were there. Some kind of bacterial thing. So he was up and around eventually, but pretty sick at first.
2. No Emily- Emily is taking summer classes so she couldn't come. We all missed her. :(
3. Pat- So, a little background here, Pat is my cousin who dropped out of college and was living in an extremely shitty apartment, nearly died in a house fire when he passed out on the floor, and was just generally being depressed and alcoholic. Well, recently he hit rock bottom and finally asked my Aunt Ann if he could come home. She did, on the condition that he stop drinking. Well, it was really awkward at Point of Pines because my aunts and uncles all like to have gin and tonics and wine and stuff like that, so Pat was drinking pretty much every night. When he wasn't drinking, it was really hard to talk to him about anything serious. He was really mellow, but almost a little too mellow. And it was hard to be around him because he was not interested in talking about anything serious but I am so worried about him. I went down to Eau Claire without my parents the last day of the trip to see my Grandpa (a lot of my aunts and uncles and Pat went with me) and I sort of tried to talk to him. Not about alcohol or anything. I just said I was worried about him and gave him my number so he could call me. I think I may have been a little pushy one night, because I was trying to ask him about his plans and I know he has court fees and stuff which he mentioned and I asked him if he had to go to classes. The reason I asked is because I know he was supposed to attend some kind of rehab training. He said he didn't and I got quiet. Then I said, "I'm sorry if I'm being pushy, but I'm just really worried about you and I want you to know I care about you." He got silent for a few minutes. Then he put a CD in the car (we were driving) and we started talking about other stuff. So, I hope he's okay this summer.
4. My Grandpa- A week or so before the trip he had a couple of falls at Heatherwood (the assisted living facility he was at) and he had to be moved into a nursing home called Dove. When I went down to Eau Claire, he was still at the nursing home. He knew who I was when I told him, but his eyesight and hearing are both so bad he can't really recognize me right away. My aunts and uncles had this super serious conversation about how he can't make health care decisions for himself any more and they're going to try and get my Uncle Paul to have his power of attorney so he can get him in this better nursing home. My grandpa doesn't understand that he can't go back to Heatherwood because they can't take care of him. He's been kind of confused and he kept thinking he had to pack to go to Madison. It was a lot to take in especially because my parents weren't there so I had to be responsible for taking the information back to them. I got so overwhelmed at one point from Grandpa and from my cousin Pat that I went to the bathroom and cried a little.
5. My Aunt Dotty- My great-aunt Dotty lives at Dove and I thought I should visit her because it's been a couple of years. The thing is, my aunts and uncles don't like her. She's kind of cranky and old and she was never very nice to them when they were young. They also are mad at her because apparently she wasn't very nice to my grandma when she was dying. So NONE of them told her we were at Dove, even though we were one floor beneath her. I wanted to see her though, so I went up and talked to her for a while. (She didn't remember me at first, but I think it's more because she hasn't seen me in a few years, she remembered when I told her.) It was a nice enough visit (we talked a little about Sherlock Holmes, she's still very sharp). I thought I should try to visit her more because I'd really like to hear some stories about my grandma and what they're life was like growing up. But when I left I had this profound sense of sadness. I realize that it wasn't Dotty I wanted to see, it was my grandma. I feel like my aunt Dotty is my last link to my grandma and it made me so sad I cried a little in the elevator again.

Anyway, sorry that was such a long post. I just had to get all of that out. All in all, it was a very fun vacation except for the last two days. Review of Hunger Games to come. Also, the Harry Potter books when I'm done with them. Love you guys lots and miss you!