family privilege

So I just got a massage... in my apartment. That is friggin' awesome. I've had massages before but never IN my apartment where I get to just roll over and go to bed afterwards. I decided I needed a massage because it's been months since my last one and I have to give a massage to a new client tomorrow so it's always good to have a refresher. Plus they just feel nice. So nice.

But my therapist was a woman I used to work with at the spa and we were catching up and she told me that our other former coworker's mother had passed away. I didn't always get along that great with the other coworker, I mean, no big fights or anything but we didn't really click so I usually just kept my distance from her. But I just found out that her mom and dad had divorced when she was really little and she doesn't really talk to her mom/ get along with her. But she was talking to her dad on the phone and he just casually mentioned that her mom was dead. It had happened three weeks prior and nobody had bothered to tell her.

Just let that soak in.

Can you even imagine?

I can't. I really can't. My family is weird and nerdy and we certainly have our issues, but I am so lucky to have them. And I just feel bad. It just goes to show that you have no idea what other people are going through. My coworker could not have had a very easy life and I should have cut her more slack.

You hear about "white privilege" a lot and it is certainly true. But I also definitely have "supportive and loving family privilege." There are so many things that I take for granted because of the way I was raised. I used to be mad because I didn't get tons of hugs and kisses and "I love yous" when I was growing up. But I had a dad that came home from work early to coach my soccer team. I had a mom that made sure I did my homework. I had siblings that were always there to play cards or a board game with me. And I know I can count on all of them thru thick and thin.

I dunno, just another reminder to be thankful for what I have and to be kind to others no matter what.

Puerto Rico- family vacation for parents' 50th anniversary

So I almost don't even want to tell you guys about my trip, because I will just sound like a bragging asshole, but it was absolutely amazing. A true bit of tropical paradise. 

We went down to Puerto Rico with my entire immediate family (all my siblings with their spouses and children, my parents as well as an aunt, a cousin and my nephew's girlfriend.) So that was 26 of us separated into two gorgeous vacation homes that were next door to each other on a resort in Puerto Rico about an hour from San Juan. 

This is the fort at San Juan. This is the picture that is on their license plates. 

This is the view off of our deck at one of the houses. 

This is (almost, my mom is missing) all of us in one of the pools. 

The entire trip was pretty amazing but one of the highlights was going "hiking" in the rainforest and then zip lining down. Um... so I was so not prepared for what we had to do. My sister had described it as a one-mile hike. No biggie, right? 

WRONG! It was basically climbing up a waterfall for a mile. We climbed up a river. A lot of it was almost totally vertical climbing, with water rushing down at us. It is an absolute miracle that I didn't sprain an ankle on all of the slippery rocks. 

It really was an adventure of a life time. 

We spent a lot of time just lounging around the houses, because they were amazing. But we did make another day trip out on a boat to go snorkeling around these two private islands. It wasn't the best snorkeling because the water was a bit stirred up. But let me tell you, crappy snorkeling in Puerto Rico in January is still a hell of a lot better than anything in Chicago in January.

The only bad part about the resort we stayed at is that the beaches were full of seaweed and therefore didn't smell that great and you didn't want to go swimming there. We had pools so it didn't matter and we got to go on the beaches during our day out snorkeling. But the beaches at the resort were perfect for horseback riding! 

The other thing we did was have "house olympics" since we were divided into two houses. We played all sorts of games including my personal favorite which was called "what's in my hair." It was a game that my sister Sam actually made up. One person wears a shower cap and "safety glasses" which were just funny glasses. Another person has one minute to put an entire can of shaving cream onto the person with the shower cap's head and then a third person has to try and throw cheese balls so that they stick in the shaving cream. The team with the most cheese balls stuck after two minutes wins. 

Technically, my team lost, but I'm pretty sure everyone is a winner in that game! 

And again, this is the view from our house. And no, it really never gets old. I could (and did) stare at this for days!

 And now I'm back in Chicago after having my first flight cancelled and almost having my second one cancelled due to the crew working too many hours. Then we had to sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes at 1:30 AM because there were no gates available. I finally got home and now I have the killer cold that my dad had. Luckily (?) school and volleyball are cancelled tomorrow because of the extreme cold. Welcome back to Chicago, I guess! I'm already looking forward to our next family trip in five years!