Next weekend I might just stay in bed all weekend to recharge. LOL. I had a wonderful time having my parents (ie Madre and Padre also known as Karen and Mike Allan lol,) visit me. I'm so blessed to have many amazing friends. I consider my parents and sister to be my best friends. No matter what kinds of ups and downs life might bring, they're always there for me no matter what. They're definitely my rock. While I jokingly refer to them as Cold, Calculated, Clowns, everyone knows I'd be absolutely lost without them.
I've adapted a little bit over my 9 years here in Jersey. I always psyche myself out when they visit. The first couple of years I was so excited always dragging them in tons of different directions trying to show them all of the many beautiful sights here in Northwest New Jersey. By Sunday nights of those weekends my parents would be exhausted. They reminded me how much they love relaxing with me on my deck enjoying nature. My parents also reminded me that I literally live in a vacation resort community. Imagine that, they're happy just having a vacation where I live for a weekend. Usually I'm much better at coordinating reaching out to many amazing friends here in Jersey letting them know my parents are in town. Before the pandemic, during a Saturday night when my family visited we would have upwards of 20-40 friends all show up at once to join us.
Last weekend I had an amazing time visiting Savannah, Georgia and surprising my best friend, Benvie. Getting to spend the weekend with him, Kristine and Bella was wonderful. At the same time, the weekend before my parents visiting is usually when I try hard to reach out and coordinate with friends. Tuesday night I landed back here in Jersey, then Wednesday night we had a great time going to Atlantic Health Systems Newton Medical Center's Heart And Soul event at Perona Farms. By Friday night, I was a little drained between trying to catch up getting back into the work swing and seeing friends. I was having a low key night over at Jasen and Brendan's. At one point, Brendan, Jasen and Carrie could sense that I was off. They asked me if I was okay, I confided to them that I was absolutely miserable feeling like I failed my parents. I wasn't able to reach out to many friends like normal. I didn't have too many hard set in stone concrete plans like I normally do. My friends did a great job reminding me that my parents are easy, and just happy to see me, others and the beautiful area where we live.
1 of 4 Photo: Shout out to our Student Of The Month, Kaitlin!2 of 4 Photo: Shout out to our Teacher Of The Month, Bob!3 of 4 Photo: Hey Damian and Glenn!4 of 4 Photo: Thank goodness for Friends.
Friday morning I got some minor errands done and was able to organize my place a little bit getting ready for their arrival. While I had some minor cleaning fails, overall it went okay. Next time my place will definitely be cleaner and more tidy for my parents. It was overall okay but we have some room for growth.
Saturday afternoon my parents arrived. I was psyched, and we were able to see some of my bestie friends at Kite's. Jasen, Brendan, Carrie, then Tati were all able to spend some quality time with my family. It felt great having my parents be able to catch up with everyone. Hopefully my parents can come back Memorial Day Weekend. I think over the past few years we have developed a minor system of them visiting me President's Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day Weekends. Saturday night we enjoyed watching the skiers and snowboarders at Mountain Creek on my deck and enjoyed the mild weather.
1 of 5 Photo: Yay! With Jasen, Brendan, Carrie, Madre and Padre2 of 5 Photo: Yay! Madre, TG and Padre3 of 5 Photo: Me, Huey, Madre and Padre4 of 5 Photo: Golfers and Skiers all at the same time!5 of 5 Photo: Me, Madre, Carrie, Padre, Brad and Steve
Sunday we were originally planning to meet up with friends at Brown Barn Farm Orange County Distillery. My friends weren't able to make it and my parents were up for something different. I told them about a couple weekends ago when I went to Pine Island Tap House and had a New England IPA there. I realized it was my first time there since the pandemic. I would go occasionally there but back then they usually only had 4 or so beers on tap. This time around, now that they've reopened within the last 2 years, it has improved dramatically. They now have wine which was big for me, Madre doesn't drink beer, just white wine. I knew my parents would love the rustic style at the place. Surely enough, they did.
Comedy gold moment? Right after I got done telling my parents that I have only been there one time and that was within the last couple of weeks? My friend Huey is apparently a part time bartender there and yelled my name the second we walked into Pine Island Tap House. My parents were busting on me all weekend for this. They compared it to when Norm from the TV show Cheers would go to "the other bar," and everyone still yelled "NORM," whenever he showed up. I remember that part of the episode where Sam Malone gave Norm a look, and Norm explained "what? Sorry, Sammy, they have cable here." Total comedy gold.
1 of 2 Photo: M, B-Rad, Madre and Padre2 of 2 Photo: Yeah baby!
We had fun there and then at Hef's Hutt, where I loved being able to see both golfers and skiers at the same time. We're so lucky to live where we do. There aren't too many places where you can see golfers and skiers all within minutes of each other.
Sunday afternoon and night we enjoyed watching skiers and snowboarders from my deck. We had fun people watching and listening to what folks were saying to each other while on the chair lifts.
Monday we went to The Cottage in Franklin to see our bartender friend B-Rad and have the farewell lunch as I call it. We all had great meals enjoying the time we had left together.
I'm ready for a nap! LOL. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend!