This Christmas was the first one Rachel and I have spent in DC. It’s our first year in our own home, and we’ve dreamt for years about having a place big enough for both of our families to come stay with us. Truth be told, having enough space for all of them to stay with us at once was no small part of my wanting a large (by city standards) home.
It was great to have everyone here. And I think I’ve learned a few things this Christmas season, some tongue-in-cheek, some a bit more serious.
- Things break when people visit – When my mom and brother were in town over the summer the basement flooded. When the Marcums visited a couple of weeks ago, the roof started leaking. While our family was here two faucets stopped working.
- Families can be difficult – You choose friends because you like them. Families are always there, and you don’t always see eye to eye.
- Enjoy your family – I love DC, but one of the things I miss most about Chicago is family. I miss cookouts and meeting my cousins’ significant others before the weekend of their wedding. I miss watching little ones grow up. These things make my heart long for home.
- Vacation regularly – There are often times when I could use an extra day off during the week, but I tend to “save” my vacation days. Nearing the end of two weeks off, I’m dying to do some work. I should have used my extra days off when I needed them and taken a shorter end of the year vacation.
- People are expensive – We went through a lot of food with 8 people in the house for a week. And I’m not looking forward to this month’s utility bills.
