Families are...

... like fudge, mostly sweet with some nuts.

This past weekend seemed like a whirlwind, there was tons of events going on. I wanted to blog about this earlier, however, mom reads my blog so then the suprise would have been ruined. But first, we start with the beginning...

I have been planning on going home for about a month (it was hard to not say anything to mom). At work, we have a meeting at the end of each month to revamp the schedules and to make sure we are all on the same page. Last month, I had requested the last weekend off from work to go home to suprise mom for her birthday. Dad and Brett both knew for quite a while and so the planning then begun. The planning brought us to a suprise party!

Mom did not want to do anything big for her birthday, but she did not get what she wished for. The first suprise of me coming home for the weekend was ruined a bit. I talked to Brett a couple days before hand, telling him that I might be able to make it home on Wednesday, instead of coming home Thursday. But on Wednesday I realized it probably would not be the best idea for me to come home that day, so I was going to call him to let him know this. To my suprise, mom got off work early and answered the phone; it caught me way off guard. We hung up the phone, mom already suspicious was questioning things and Brett asks her if I was coming home early. Anyways, I still some-what suprised her on Thursday, going to her work.

Thursday night, mom wanted me to go down to the Stadium to help her out, but dad and I previously discussed that I needed to make up an excuse that I was busy. That would give dad and I to chit-chat about the details of the party. I told her that I need to "do homework." Needless to say that did not happen. Dad and I finished planning, we thought we were in the clear with mom not knowing.

Saturday comes along. I told mom that I planned the day with one of my friends and Brett, well he was doing his own thing as well. So, after mom and dad left Brett and I had tons to do. Thanks to our great help, grandma and grandpa, we ran to Costco and many other stores to grab everything we needed. At about 4 dad calls and I am not sure exactly what he was saying, but they were on their way home. Mom came in and it seemed like we definitely suprised her, but according to her she had it all figured out. We all had a great time!! And even if mom did not want this, I think that it was a great birthday party.

On the way home today it was funny everybody was going in the opposite direction from me. Everybody was making the mass exit from WSU, after the great deserved win over UCLA. These are some pictures that I took of the drive through Vantage and just a few of the motohomes in a caravan...

And to end this short blog I have some sad news. I will not be coming home for Thanksgiving this year, it is official. Today, after I got back into Pullman I had a work meeting. I am scheduled to work during the week of Thanksgiving. I have mixed feelings about this. I think that it will give me a great opportunity to work on my school work that I need to catch up on before the end of the semester. Why? Because all of my classes and final projects are due the week before finals, not the week of. As it is a great deal for me to be finished early, it is a little stressful for me. Plus, I have a huge "community project" to work on that week, and it will give me a good chance to do the research for that as well. On the other hand, this is the first time I will be away from home during a family holiday. I have been at home and with family during these times every year. I will have to create a smaller Thanksgiving for myself. Actually, I think that some other co-workers and some friends that are staying in town will make a Thanksgiving dinner together.

Well I should continue to go finish with another paper...