Not only am I the normal freshman that has to adjust with being away from home, the college life, classes, homework, trying out and making an athletic team, doing my own wash for the first time, and everything else, my chocolate lab, Candy, was diagnosed with diabetes in the beginning of the school year. Also, before I left for college, we realized my cat Blitzen, had a lump on his back. So on top of all of these things I had to adjust to, I was now worrying about them from a distance. A couple months later, when I went home for the first time in October, we brought Blitzen to the vet where he was diagnosed with aggressive cancer and was put down a couple days later. I had to come back to school knowing that I would never see Blitzen again and had to deal with this away from my family. Thank god for skype and all of these new technologies because I was able to talk to and see my family over a computer, so it felt like I was there with them. This was a big struggle for me because it was the first time I lost someone I loved. The things that I said earlier in this blog, that are usually a hurdle for freshman, turned out to be a good distraction to keep my mind off of what happened. Another issue I have had so far this semester, is being in a dorm room and dealing with complications this could cause. For example, I live in Farnham Hall, and there is constant construction. I have to deal with hearing loud construction work being done every day and trying to focus and get my work done with all of the distractions. Also, because of the construction the heat was not turned on until about a week ago, so we were freezing in my dorm. With this being my first year at college, and jumping over these hurdles, I am convinced that I will be able handle anything thrown my way in the future.
When I called my parents a couple weeks ago about planning for Thanksgiving, they were already getting ready for it. They started calling butchers, bakery's, and spending their three hundred and fifty dollars in groceries to earn their free turkey. Orchestrating what everyone brings for the thanksgiving meal is an art in itself. Planning who brings the vegetables, stuffing, pies, and other delicious items. Also you have to worry about whose recipes to use, Grandmas, Moms or the one we heard from Rachael Ray. This Thanksgiving we had family and friends come over our house for dinner. My grandma, uncle, and aunt and other grandma came. Our close family friends, Carol, Larry, and Ari also came. My brother, Brandon, dad and mom were here too. It was great to see everyone because I had not seen most of them since I left for school in August. The day started with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, which we do every year. My family came over at twelve. We had snacks for a while because we weren't eating until five. We had assorted candy, pretzels, chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and a new hersheys kiss that tastes like a chocolate covered cherry. We made our pool table into a huge dining room table which sat the twelve people comfortably, so we could all fit at the table after we ate. We had delicious juicy turkey, three different stuffings, olives, corn, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mushrooms, peas and carrots in a special sauce, fresh rye bread, and sweet potatoes. Hours later we sat down reluctantly but excited about the blueberry, apple, pumpkin and strawberry banana yogert pies, assorted cookies, and blondies. After all of this food, we couldn't move and we sat on the couch watching football. It was a great day seeing our family and friends and eating all of that amazingly delicious food. All of the weeks of preparation for this feast, the hours of cooking, the shopping, was it really worth it??? You bet it was!
