Guess What I Did Last Week!

I swam in mashed potatoes!! No, no. I entertained myself with fantasies of swimming in mashed potatoes while flying out to see family and friends back east.

It was a very productive trip. Jonathan and my parents and I did a whole lot of this:

Purging!! We carted away 16 jumbo bags of trash and 14 jumbo bags of donatables. I was able to help my parents reclaim three and a half closets, which was no small feat considering that they've lived in that house for over 30 years and had four kids at least partially grow up in it. Kathy and Amy were already in grade school when they moved in.

Dukes Jammies, baby!

You would not believe the love letters, diaries, and notes passed in class that I found in that house. I have shit on EVERYONE now! Everyone except my big brother, who is a stealthy, stealthy ninja when it comes to that kind of thing. Or is he? You scared yet, Tim? Honestly, it's a good thing that I was doing a lot of the sorting, because the worstest shit was on me. Yes, it was, "Oh, wow," followed by "Yipes," followed by, "Uh..." all trip long. And I don't remember what the "problem with Aaron" was, but there was a very pointed note asking me all about it, and so I've decided that's his new name.

this would have been hott with go-go boots... on a baby... re-thinking this...

Speaking of Problem with Aaron, Problem with Aaron was in town at the same time as me! He's my high-school friend. That is somewhat of an understatement. Never see the guy. He was rudely in Afghanistan when I got married, so it was especially lovely to hang out with him and his awesome girlfriend Kim thrice on this trip. AAAND we got some Em and Steve time, which is always... is it weird for our relationship if I call it life-affirming, guys?

Splendidly, we got so much family time this visit, too! We got to see this lady a whole lot:

what it would look like if happiness were a person

And this guy:

and then it got abducted by a happy giant

My mom threw a birthday bash for me, my dad, my brother Tim, and my nephew Ben. And Ben got the gift that everyone on earth secretly wishes for each year: a plane ticket to come see me!

Just saw that lady, but whatev.

He was floored. It was sweet. 

Everybody took time off to hang out, and we're so grateful. We got to go to lunch and have a great time with Amy and Chris and walk in the woods-- mid-week, mind you! We got to have fun hanging out with Tim and Christine and watching IT Crowd. This happened:

I could draw a stick figure of me on the side, but I think you get the idea.

My Mom and Dad took Jonathan to see Jungle Jim's for the first time. We had a picnic in Sharon Woods. But the main reason we came out was this:

 Calm down there, buddy! You'll work the other kids into a frenzy!

To help my nephew/godson Gabe manage his overwhelming excitement at receiving his First Communion. (He really did a great job. This was the only point at which he looked like this, but I had to embarrass him. It's how I do.)

All of this was to explain why there have been two weeks of sparseness on the blog. Basically, it was one of the most fun visits ever. And SO MUCH SHIT I have on everyone! I could almost win the Game of Thrones with this much shit! Keep this in mind when considering whether you want to clean out your house. YOU WANT TO DO IT! Love to all!!