The Holiday Family Saga beings

The holidays are upon us, and thus the marathon of extended family visits begins!

Last week, my aunt and uncle from Denver came in to celebrate my dad's birthday and to go through my grandfather's correspondence... When Grandfather was in college, the FBI, and the Navy, he wrote letters to positively EVERYONE and had the foresight to not only write in great detail about everything but to make copies of every letter he sent. So we have letters about everything from Harvard Yard to Pearl Harbor and Japan during WWII. And then of course, we have totally awesome documents such as his letter of resignation to J. Edgar Hoover. So my aunt and uncle and dad spent a weekend going through all of the letters and putting them in order. I'm not sure what they're going to do with them now, but ideas of a "The Letters of JRR Tolkien" sort of book have been thrown around.

So we had a few family dinners with them, and it was nice to catch up. We also talked about a family reunion in Mayenne, France, which is where we trace our earliest ancestors... and our name, for that matter.

On my mom's side, last night we had a MacFarlane family reunion. Now, as you might have guessed MacFarlane is a decidedly a Scottish name. Now, whenever my Scottish relatives get together there is usually kilts and haggis involved, and last night was no exception. Haggis is definitely an acquired taste... I didn't have any last night but I have in the past (at Papa's, my grandfather's, beckoning... "You're not Scottish if you've never had Haggis!!"). It's hard to describe. But it STINKS. All of Papa's brothers were wearing kilts. I love it. It's hilarious. I always threaten my brother and cousins with the prospect of a Scottish wedding just because all of the groomsmen and the groom have to wear kilts... I probably won't, but who knows?

Today is my mom's birthday, so we have another family dinner, and of course tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Busy, busy, busy!

Not a lot going on otherwise. I'm STILL looking for a job, but I'm optimistic. God will provide!