Journal Stories.

It's Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend and I'm sitting in the living room looking at the Christmas tree. It's fully decorated and equipped with bright LED lights for the first time this year. They give off a nice blue glow instead of the pinkish glow the old ones did, and they use 88% less energy than the others, which is nice. Underneath the tree is still barren, but that'll change soon enough.

Amanda's sitting here doing homework, getting geared up for the end of the semester, and I've got Sunday Night Football playing in the background on the tv. While it's still technically November, the surf is heading out to sea for the tidal wave of good cheer and love that Christmas will bring in a few weeks (quite an analogy, eh? Glad ya liked it).

That being said, I've given you a list of things that I'm thankful for, and of course, I could have written a lot more, but instead, I want to share with you an abbreviated version of some of the stories my Grandma told us the other night. They're always great to listen to, and I wrote them down in my journal to save them somewhere concrete.

I'm not going to elaborate on these stories right now. What I'm going to do is type out the EXACT entry from my journal from the night before Thanksgiving. Keep in mind that it was late, I'd had a glass of wine or two, and I was tired. I didn't feel like writing, but I had to get it on paper, because it felt good and made me happy. My parents and sis were in the room, and some movie was on TV, but I scribbled away for a few minutes. Here we go:

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11/25/09

In Gastonia. Grandma just went to bed, but we're here for Thanksgiving & she told us lots of cool stories tonight. She and Granddaddy have (had) been to ALL seven continents. They've basically set foot on every major land mass in the world. So cool! She talked about how they crossed paths with Patton's son, & how he called Grandaddy "Doc," and told him to call him "George." Also, they went to Russia, lost their luggage, and she had to get a peasant's outfit in a "dollar" store in Leningrad. She also talked about how she had one of the most spiritual experiences of her life on a boat to Antarctica with the Chaplin & Dr. while a major storm was going on around them. We're talkin' waves above their boat.

It was so cool hearing her stories. Grandma could seriously have a "Forest Gump"-type movie made about her. 92. 4'10". Strong. Definitely wanna be as strong as her when I grow up.

And speaking of that, I wonder how she sees me & the cousins. She obviously saw her kids grow up, but we're the next generation. Does she see us as her little grand kids or young adults? Both, I'm pretty sure. It's interesting to watch the perspectives and think about their differences.

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So there you have it. A short concrete version of what I heard the other night. I know it's more of a teaser, and I could totally elaborate (which I might later...I really DO come back when I say "I'll do it later" sometimes), but for now I wanna keep it raw, like the cursive in my journal.

Hope you enjoyed it, and while there's one more day of November, I also hope that you get excited for Christmas as the spirit starts stirring in the coming weeks. Goodnight for now.

D.

Thanksgiving 2009.

Thanksgiving Day. Lots to report, but it's all hand-written in my journal for now. I'll get to that later...maybe. Seems like anything I say "I'll get to that later" about tends to be forgotten, but I've got lots of cool things written that I want to share with you here as soon as I can, so hey, I'll get to it later...

Anyway, I'm sitting here, bloated, full, glass of wine by my side, and typing. Thanksgiving was spent in a leisurely way today, with tv viewings of the Macy's Day Parade, football, a "Home Alone" marathon, and "Elf". Of course, not focusing on the tv portions too much, I also ran a little over two miles today and read a good chunk of my latest Stephen King book (what can I say, I'm a sucker for King, but you knew that).

Outside of the television, workout, reading, and relaxing, we took our annual Sykes Kid Christmas Pictures, which we've done since infant-hood, if I can use that as a word. These pictures have transformed over the years, from being easy when Carra was a baby to the tough years where Mom and Dad dressed us both in white turtle necks and managed to get good pics between our shouts of "get OFF me" and "don't TOUCH me" to the soccer jersey years to now when we wear what we want and model pose for the camera between shots (whew...outta breath...love long sentences). Of course, my sister and I are both glad to have the pictures taken every year, and it's a lot of fun looking back on them all and seeing how much we change between Christmases, and how much we've grown up since the tradition began. I know Mom and Dad love it too, and I have a feeling we'll keep taking them for a while. I'm definitely not complaining. They're cheesy, but they're the good kind of cheese.

After this "full" day, the REAL festivities began. Grandma was busy all day, and the rest of the family began to arrive around 5:30. There were 14 people and 3 dogs at dinner, and the FEAST began around 7. I can justifiably call it a FEAST because that's what it was. We had turkey (white and dark meat), rice, gravy, cranberries, dressing, turnip greens, creamed corn, crowder peas, rolls, olives, carrots, and my Grandma's pickles followed by PUMPKIN PIE that I'm going to go back and find more of in a minute for dessert. It was AMAZING (as always), and I'm dragging with a well-earned and deserved food hangover now. MAN, the gym will be nice tomorrow.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was definitely a success, and not overlooked like it tends to be by the Commercial-Christmas-Society we tend to live in. Yeah, Christmas movies were watched today, but we focused more on the MOMENT than a month from now, and it was great, and DANG, I know we've all got plenty to be thankful for. I would give you a list, but it's SO cliche...

Ahhhh, screw it! It's a cheesy time of year, and I'm a cheesy guy. To close out this blog, here's just a SAMPLE of the things I'm thankful for in 2009:

-The people I love. There are a lot of you, and you know who you are. Many of you will be mentioned again under this bullet, but the group of you gets the first spot.
-Amanda. You make me better. Thanks for your support through everything, your laugh, your smile, your kind heart, and your love. Couldn't be happier than I am when I'm with you.
-My parents. Thanks for taking me back after five years of college, and keeping me for a good chunk of time longer than I expected. Thanks for being fun, and for being cool with me as I "figure out the next step". Growing up has been interesting, but I continually appreciate the way you are there for me through everything.
-My sister. My favorite sibling. Thanks for being an inspiration to me in more ways than you know. Even though I'm the older brother, I look up to you in a lot of ways, and I'll always appreciate that. You are awesome, and I admire the way you live your life.
-I'm also thankful for my friends. Some of you I rarely see these days. We're in different states, cities, and places in our lives, but all of you have shaped me into who I am today.
-my 92 year old Grandma. SO thankful for her, and the rock that she is in my family. SHE COOKED OUR THANKSGIVING FEAST FOR US TONIGHT, AND SHE IS AMAZING! Her stories are great to hear, and they give hope during these hard times.
-Football. Haven't kept up with it as much this season because it's been a tough year for my Wolfpack and my Panthers, but I'll follow them 'til the end, and I'll be yelling at the TV come Saturday when we play UNC.
-Mayer. His music fits my life, and he's the man. Can't WAIT 'til he comes to Greensboro!
-Sticks and Stones. It's a great place to work in this "Figuring out the next step" phase of my life. I love the people I work with, and working there always has its fun moments. It'll be an experience I always remember, and something I'll look back on and say I enjoyed.
-The holidays. I love 'em. They bring us all together and the traditions are great.
-The future. Still don't know what I'm doing, but like I always say, I'm ready for what's next, so bring it on. School, career, LIFE.

And on that note, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and good night!
Drew.

I'm back again.

Gonna write.

Gonna write because it's getting late, and it's been "BATTLE STUDIES DAY" around the United States.

"Battle Studies Day?" You ask? Yes. November 17. The release date of the one and only JOHN MAYER's 4th studio album, and might I say that it is SICK. It grows on me every time I listen to it, and it's even better now that I actually have a hard copy.

I'll review the actual record later, but I've definitely celebrated its release RIGHT today. Woke up excited and listening to it, and went to Target to buy two hard copies. Gave one to Amanda, who needed an official version, and I'll probably give the other to my parents, who I think I might actually be bringing to a Mayer concert in Greensboro in March. More on this later...

Anyway, the last few days have been crazy hectic. Yeah, there's a lot to say, and yeah, I know I've been ignoring this blog like whoa the last month. I'm sorry, it happens. Mayer played a live show on tv tonight and I've stayed up enjoying a few brews and rockin' out to the music, so I wanted to write.

So much to catch up on since I've last been here. And believe it or not, there are a few long stories I need to tell, but the bottom line is that I could never be more thankful for Amanda, my family, my friends, and my close family friends than I am now. I've said this before, but it's amazing how much this can increase and change as life goes on and new and crazy events unravel. We were very lucky this past weekend to have something occur that could have been a lot worse than the results that showed up. I know this is vague, and I'll probably write about it later, but for now, I'm running with the feeling of thanks I have in my heart. My family is amazing, and I'm so grateful.

So many things are happening now too. 2009 is racing to the finish line and the holidays are FAST approaching. I'm still jobless when it comes to my career path, but it's ok, because I'm gunning for grad-school if I don't find anything in the next few months. I'm calm and ready for what's next.

The cool thing about this particular blog entry is that I'm just typing. It's all I've been doing this entire entry. I don't really know where I'm going with it now, but Thanksgiving is coming up, the Caldwell-Sumner was this past weekend, and basketball season is about to start. WOW. Lots going on, but as always, I've got an excited feeling in my heart. I'm loving life, as confusing and uncertain as it is right now, and I know that whatever happens next will be what needs to be.

Word to that, and good night.
DS.