Pennsylvania

I’ve already enumerated most of my Pennsylvania adventures to my only consistent reader, so I won’t go into great detail here. Plus, I’m sure I've already forgotten countless little events. I’ll just give a generalized account of my attitude going into the trip and the turn-around that had occurred by the time I headed home.

The Thursday before I left I considered calling Adrianne and canceling my plans. I was insanely stressed out. Traveling always stresses me out, plus I was driving eight hours by myself to a place I had never been before to spend a week with a family (at this time I still thought that just meant immediate family) I barely knew (except for Adrianne). Plus I was still pulling together last-minute preparations for teaching VBS and the women’s group, NHCC’s VBS was lurking around the corner, I would soon need to put together a lesson for all of Joshua for the high school girls, etc. And then there was the whole wheelbarrow injury. I was just way too stressed out and terrified of driving alone for eight hours. But I decided to go anyway.

I arrived almost uneventfully. I started driving at the secondary dip in my Circadian rhythm, which was a horrible idea. I had to stop three times in the first two or three hours because I had a hard time staying awake. Once I came back to my normal self, the driving went smoothly. The toll road confusion worked itself out just fine, and I only sort of got lost. When Adrianne took me to the cottage I was in for another surprise. I had expected to spend the weekend with her immediate family, but it was actually an extended family get-together with her dad’s side of the family. I don’t have the most pleasant, close-knit extended family, so I was a tad bit nervous about hers.

Within less than a day, my opinion of the trip had been turned on its head. Adrianne’s family were some of the nicest, most welcoming people I’ve ever met in my life. By the end of the weekend I was completely at ease. They made me feel like I was just another cousin. They were different from my dad’s family by how they interacted pleasantly with one another rather than everyone retreating to their own interests and picking on one another at every opportunity. They were different from my mom’s side of the family in their ability to completely relax without an itinerary or competition. I spent the weekend eating, chatting, playing cards (without keeping score), and enjoying the company of enjoyable people.

I headed back home from Adrianne’s house (I unexpectedly got to see her house and hometown after all) a refreshed and relaxed person. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more relaxing weekend in my life. Not only did I get to be lazy, but I got to be lazy socially or non-socially as needed. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend in the midst of an incredibly stressful few weeks.