Hurray! It’s Friday! Which means my sisters and cousin will arrive in three days! Oh, and also time for another Quick Takes, hosted by Jen at The Conversion Diary!
{Episode 9}
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Not only did Karl and I spend last weekend celebrating my birthday, we also reached a milestone in our relationship and celebrated one year of C & K Adventures!
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All dressed up for a nice dinner!
~2~
We had three rehearsals this week in preparation for a performance tomorrow. It felt good to dance again, but those intense rehearsals wreaked havoc on my little body after being off for a week and a half. Thanks to ice, KT Tape, and my portable TENS unit, I should be good as new by showtime! In the meantime, I’m enjoying a little athletic solidarity…
~3~
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Me and Andrea
A photo from the Arts Party
~4~
I had to do a bit of soul-searching this week. Thankfully, the Olympics are a great place to find inspiration! Granted, I found mine from former Olympian Shawn Johnson, but it still counts!
~5~
Tomorrow is the Annual Schwartz Family Reunion. And this is the first year I’ve missed in forever! I’m so sad I won’t be there; it’s my favorite weekend of the entire year! But I can only take so much time off of work and it was either go to the reunion or go to my little sister’s wedding next month. Such a tough decision! At least I know the reunion will take place next year, same as it has for the past 65+ years.
In honor of the reunion, here is an excerpt from last year’s post:
I could always count on seeing many of the same faces at the reunion year after year. Those faces grew more and more familiar, as did the names but it took a bit longer to put the correct name with the proper face. Figuring out how all those faces and names were related to me was even longer in coming. (I still have to ask my dad from time to time who belongs to what branch of the family tree.) I may never retain all of that who-belongs-to-whom information but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is those faces loved me. They engaged me in conversation each year, asking how old I was, what grade I was going into, and how the previous year had been. They smiled at me when I sat quietly on my grandparents’ laps taking in the stories being shared. They helped me fish down at the pond. They laughed from afar when they saw me and the other cousins splashing each other at the other end of the pond. They saw me go from a chubby-cheeked toddler to an awkward teenager to a feisty young woman, much like her grandmother and great-aunts, and I could always count on them just being there.
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And another excerpt from 2010
One thing I love about Schwartz family reunions is they are not grandiose events. They are not held at exotic locations, unless you call rural Ohio exotic. There are no structured activities, aside from the whoever-wants-to-play-can-play volleyball games, nor are there exciting sightseeing tours, except for those random side trips to the old family homestead and the family plot at the local cemetery. We don’t even get together for a full weekend – the reunion is one day and one day only. But even after sixty-plus years of a simple potluck gathering, there is still a decent turnout every year…
…Some outsiders would probably scoff and say “This is it? You just eat, play volleyball, stand around and eat again. Why do you make such a big deal about this!?” Perhaps our reunions aren’t a big deal to others, but they are to us, or at least to me. I love that my family doesn’t need much to have a good time – all we need is each other and some delicious food!
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The reunion photo 2010
~7~
My one consolation for missing this year’s reunion is that my sisters, Rosario & Angelica, will be driving out here with our cousin, Br. Paul, after the reunion!! Next week’s Quick Takes will be full of family adventures!!!
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Head over to the Conversion Diary for more fabulous Quick Takes!
