Happiest Holidays (3 of 3)

The whole week goes by in a flash with a whirlwind mix of activities and downtime, and before we know it, Christmas is over and we’re hitting the road again. This year a big storm was brewing, so we got out of there fast to try to get home before getting caught in it. We made it to Connecticut before we had to pull over and find a hotel in a blazing snowstorm making the roads bad enough for even Braydon to finally give in to it. We made it home the next day to find a very quiet Lehigh blanketed in a fresh coat of snow.

We spent three days at home before hitting the road again. Those three days are a total blur to me now — I was slammed hard with a bad case of bronchitis and the other four J-Ms had bad, bad colds/sinus infections/etc. What I do remember of it is a fuzzy memory of us five cozied up on our couches, under blankets, watching movies and eating take-out. If truth be told: if you only have three days at home during a two-week holiday break, spending it that way is not bad at all.

We got out once, to make it to a Lehigh Men’s Basketball game, after which we had the special honor of hosting our beloved Zahir for drinks so that we could meet new girlfriend. Zahir is a wildly successful Lehigh alum now, but we luck out in getting to see him pretty frequently since he returns sometimes for basketball games. Meeting his girlfriend was a high for me– a high because it was such a sweet thing to me that such a special student of mine wanted to introduce me to his girlfriend; and a high because happily we all approved of her as a fabulous lovely choice for Z (and we are picky! and protective!!). Other than that, we just chilled out in our deserted dorm, making full use of having the laundry room all to ourselves (nice perk to our living situation: a set of commercial washers and dryers that make coming home from a week-long trip’s worth of laundry relatively very easy)!

New Year’s Eve day we headed to Connecticut for our tradition of New Year’s Eve with the Slavins. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there’s nothing better than New Year’s Eve with your college roommate!

We came home on New Year’s Day, which is also — just as importantly for us — Haiti’s Independence Day. In line with a tradition we started last year, I made Soup Joumou, and we celebrated January 1st with this special meal.

And so 2013 begins.