Giggles & Chaos

My sister and nephew's trip is less than a month away. For two weeks, my mom will have all three of her kids in the same state. It's been a long time since we've all been together. We've been looking forward to their visit. We miss the giggles and chaos that special little boy brings. It's hard to believe Nicky is going to be five in three short weeks. It does not feel like that long ago he was wee, snuggled on my shoulder in his little turkey outfit for Thanksgiving. I'm guessing this year it'll be hard for him to sit still. I'm betting there is so much going on in that mind of his. I'm anxious to see how much he's grown, and just to have a conversation with him. He's not too chatty on the phone these days. He always seems to have an excuse not to talk... "I'm too busy" or "I'm not in the mood" are what I hear most often. When Amy can wrangle him to talk, I'm lucky to get a few sentences out of him. So, it'll be nice to have face to face time.

It's been great spending time with Mike, it'll be nice to get time with my sister too. There might be seven and nine years between us, but we've always been pretty close despite the age gap. I'm always thankful for the time we can share together.

Next month, my dad is also coming to visit. This will be his second time visiting since I made Vegas home. The first was for our wedding. It was so chaotic, then, his visit was a whirlwind. He'll fly out a week after Amy and Nicky, and he'll be staying for a week. We'll all be together for Thanksgiving. We haven't had a holiday together since 1998. It'll be a first with Frank and Nicky. Hopefully, my dinner will come together as good as previous years. I'll have lots of mouths to feed, especially if Frank's side can join us again.

It's funny how my dad's trip came to be. It's the Raiders vs. Bears that's bringing him out west. Years ago, we had the idea of buying him tickets to see a Bears game, but he'd rather see the Bears at Raiders where it'd be warmer. He's been a Raiders fan as long as I can remember. I'm not sure how that came to be, it just always was. The match up is finally on the schedule Thanksgiving weekend. Mike, Amy, dad and me are going to drive up to San Francisco. See the sights on Saturday and then drive over to Oakland for the game on Sunday. Mom will stay home with Nicky. Frank might join us if we can snag cheap airfare and he can finagle time off, which isn't looking too good right now.

This should be one of those "life's greatest moments" for my dad. He's not one to get terribly excited for much, but Amy tells me he's excited for this. I figure it's the equivalent to when I flew out Mike, Amy and Nicky as a surprise for my mom's 50th. That had her beaming from ear to ear. I'd like to share an experience like that with my dad.

November has much to look forward to.