There’s No Place Like Home

Four days in Ohio, one holiday feast, lots of family, tons of Scrabble, cheap drinks, a few hands of poker and a five-year high school reunion sums up the last few days. Van was even brave (or crazy) enough to tag along.

The trip began a little shaky as our plane was delayed multiple times and Van wasn’t exactly aware that we had another hour and half drive from the Columbus airport to my hometown. (I really did tell him before, but we all know how well men can listen at times.) We were exhausted by the time we arrived in Sidney.

Thanksgiving Day was filled with lots of food and plenty of family. My brother and I took Van on a tour of Sidney. I think he was a little amazed we spent more time in the video store than we did driving around town. The day was mostly uneventful until Dad decided to move the new couch from the garage into the basement. As you can tell by the photos, I'm great at supervising.


Friday, Dad took Adam and Van out shooting. It is always interesting when you let your father take your boyfriend out to the middle of a field with several loaded guns. I figured if Van made it back my dad was okay with us dating. Everyone made it back and they all had a great time.

Later that night we met up with my friend Jenny and her fiancé Gil. We ate dinner together at a local pizza place and went to our high school reunion. I wasn’t surprised at the people who attended; it was the same group who ever did anything in school.

Jenny did a good job at catching up with everyone who was there. I, on the other hand, hung out with Gil and Van. We did have a nice time catching up with Maria our other friend from school who is getting married New Year’s Eve. Van managed to not get into too much trouble, despite nearly getting Maria’s fiancé, Rick, to do a keg stand. (Maybe next time, honey)

Saturday, we hung out at home and visited with family. My mom’s cousin, Jimmy and his wife brought their three kids over. We had a blast playing games with the kids. Sophie, 7, put me to shame at double’s solitaire. After she beat my brother at chess, we broke out the Jenga. Finally we found a game that the big kids could win.

After everyone headed out, we finished our Scrabble tournament. It’s official that Van is the Scrabble King. I was definitely a close second and let’s just say Mom kept getting lots of vowels.

Sunday, we took Adam back to OSU. Then we headed up to Otterbein, my alma mater. Van got the quick driving tour and all he could say was “Is that really it?” Yes that is really it. When I say that my college campus takes up two whole blocks, I’m not kidding.

We stopped for quick BBQ sandwich at Hoggy’s and headed back to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye to my parents, but it was a great trip.