So I guess it's starting.

So I've begun packing. The only things I can really pack are winter jackets and other things I won't need or use before I leave. I've also started making a list of things I think I'm going to need over there, trying to limit myself to the essential things.

Among the things I've decided I need are my seasons of Frasier (my all-time favorite show), Scrubs and Arrested Development (which I don't have yet, but am going to buy as soon as I have the bank). Sometimes you just need some good old fashioned American television. And it's not like they're very heavy, so it'll be worth it.

I have to work tomorrow, then I'm off the next two days. Weird I know. But that's how it goes.

We had a very brief "family reunion" today with some of my dad's side. It was actually pretty fun! Usually things go a little like this: It starts out a little awkward, eventually you find something to talk about for about two hours while you work around the various groups of people until finally, almost with a sigh of relief, it's time to go. (Is it just my family that's like this?)

My dad had 8 brothers and 2 sisters (his parents were Catholic). The oldest five (my dad included) grew up in a very different environment than the other six children did (my dad's mom died not long after his last sibling was born so the so-called "little kids" were raised by the older kids, so to speak). It's funny to see how this impacted the two groups. All of the kids from my dad's grouping have had very interesting (and bizarre) lives. Including (but not limited to):

• creating and living in a commune in the Canadian wilderness for several years
• trying to marry an already married woman because one of them believed he was already married to her in a past life
• renouncing your American citizenship only to re-emigrate and be sponsored by your father
• join the Moonies, be matched with a Korean bride, refuse her, get re-matched, get married, leave the Moonies, and then move to Denver and travel around the local Nursing Home "circuit" as a weekly musician on visitation day to play their favorite classic hits

Only the first one applies to my dad (thank God). The younger kids' lives are very very tame in comparison. It's funny how things like that change. So anyway, that's my family. They're crazy, but you always love them.

Photo Courtesy of awkwardfamilyphotos.com