Vint Day 2004
With my parents living in a different country, every time I have visited over the past few years, it has always been like a holiday.
And holidays are great. You get to sightsee, eat loads, drink loads all in the name of "vacation".
But sometimes, because it has always been so short, I find myself wishing that I could just lounge around on their couch and act as though I see them every day.
This time, it was more like that.
Because D and I arrived 5 days before everyone else, there wasn't any pressure to act like it was vacation.
We could just sit around. We watched television. We ate in instead of eating out. We went to bed at a reasonable time.
My mom fixed a weird face reaction that I seemed to be having.
It was just like as though we lived around the corner instead of an 8 hour drive away.
I loved it.
Of course, by Friday, the extravaganza was ready to begin. My youngest sister had flown from her college in NC. My younger sister and her boyfriend were on their way from Toronto. My brother came across town from his college.
And the Vints were in full swing for Vint Day.
There were photographs, fancy sitting portait ones and then of course our off the wall one that included all of us with a mask from Alice in Wonderland - we can't do everything the same! We MUST do things just a twinge differently then everyone else :).
Then there was champagne - Dom Perignon (did I spell that right?) - and lots of giggles - "That stuff will hit ya". There was video footage. Lots more pictures. And we watched the Mad Hatter Tea Party feature on the Alice in Wonderland DVD, which really made you feel like you were high on something...but then again, that could have been the champagne.
There was karaoke. We all sang - except of course for mom and the boyfriends - but we were able to sing multiple times and still get home to drink amongst ourselves and do more chatting.
There was a night of bowling, eventually, drunken bowling which was followed by the Oscars in my parents living room.
There was an hour long DVD that my brother had put together of our Vint family video archives. They're so much more interesting when someone has edited and clipped them for you.
There was an amazing BBQ steak dinner. There was lots of tea. There were many bowls of the tomato and cilantro dip that my sisters, mom and I have fallen in love with.
There was just lots of us being us, and us being us together.
I always miss my family when I have to leave. I distance myself sometimes because it's just easier then feeling like we live around the corner all the time because then we I have to go, sadness hits me.
My parents have raised us to be very independant people. We are all taking control of our lives and I'm sure, as parents, it's great to see your kids be able to be so independant. When we see them now, it is because we want to hang out and be with them, not because we are looking for a free dinner or have to get some laundry done.
Being far away makes us appreciate us.
And soon, I'll be even farther away. I don't know if I could appreciate all their character and spark more then I already do.
*****
Mosaic Minds Reads
Just wanted to give you all a run down of my articles on Mosaic Minds this month:
Check my story on my old family home and what I learned through letting go.
Wanna see a movie? Good date flick and good thinking flick.
A destination for a princess - this place is honeymoon material.
A new hobby to organize my junk.
There are a ton of other stories by amazing women so please check those out too. Just couldn't help a bit of a plug on all this writing I've been doing.
With my parents living in a different country, every time I have visited over the past few years, it has always been like a holiday.
And holidays are great. You get to sightsee, eat loads, drink loads all in the name of "vacation".
But sometimes, because it has always been so short, I find myself wishing that I could just lounge around on their couch and act as though I see them every day.
This time, it was more like that.
Because D and I arrived 5 days before everyone else, there wasn't any pressure to act like it was vacation.
We could just sit around. We watched television. We ate in instead of eating out. We went to bed at a reasonable time.
My mom fixed a weird face reaction that I seemed to be having.
It was just like as though we lived around the corner instead of an 8 hour drive away.
I loved it.
Of course, by Friday, the extravaganza was ready to begin. My youngest sister had flown from her college in NC. My younger sister and her boyfriend were on their way from Toronto. My brother came across town from his college.
And the Vints were in full swing for Vint Day.
There were photographs, fancy sitting portait ones and then of course our off the wall one that included all of us with a mask from Alice in Wonderland - we can't do everything the same! We MUST do things just a twinge differently then everyone else :).
Then there was champagne - Dom Perignon (did I spell that right?) - and lots of giggles - "That stuff will hit ya". There was video footage. Lots more pictures. And we watched the Mad Hatter Tea Party feature on the Alice in Wonderland DVD, which really made you feel like you were high on something...but then again, that could have been the champagne.
There was karaoke. We all sang - except of course for mom and the boyfriends - but we were able to sing multiple times and still get home to drink amongst ourselves and do more chatting.
There was a night of bowling, eventually, drunken bowling which was followed by the Oscars in my parents living room.
There was an hour long DVD that my brother had put together of our Vint family video archives. They're so much more interesting when someone has edited and clipped them for you.
There was an amazing BBQ steak dinner. There was lots of tea. There were many bowls of the tomato and cilantro dip that my sisters, mom and I have fallen in love with.
There was just lots of us being us, and us being us together.
I always miss my family when I have to leave. I distance myself sometimes because it's just easier then feeling like we live around the corner all the time because then we I have to go, sadness hits me.
My parents have raised us to be very independant people. We are all taking control of our lives and I'm sure, as parents, it's great to see your kids be able to be so independant. When we see them now, it is because we want to hang out and be with them, not because we are looking for a free dinner or have to get some laundry done.
Being far away makes us appreciate us.
And soon, I'll be even farther away. I don't know if I could appreciate all their character and spark more then I already do.
*****
Mosaic Minds Reads
Just wanted to give you all a run down of my articles on Mosaic Minds this month:
Check my story on my old family home and what I learned through letting go.
Wanna see a movie? Good date flick and good thinking flick.
A destination for a princess - this place is honeymoon material.
A new hobby to organize my junk.
There are a ton of other stories by amazing women so please check those out too. Just couldn't help a bit of a plug on all this writing I've been doing.
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