Weekend Wrap

And what a whirlwind weekend it was.

Last Wednesday night, during church, I suddenly had the idea of making a surprise trip to Tennessee for the weekend to be with my family on Halloween. I proposed the idea to John (telling myself that I would not get upset if he didn't want to-- after all, it is quite a bit of driving for just one solid day up there), and he said he wouldn't mind going, so off we went!

My family has sort of made a family tradition of having chili, pigs in a blanket, and the other typical Halloween goodies every year for about sixteen years, and this would have been the first year I'd have missed it. Since we've always been very consistent in this tradition (as opposed to Christmases and Thanksgiving which were celebrated based on whether or one one of my parents had to work that day), I was kind of bummed about missing it.

But. . . I didn't have to! I called my mom and let her know we'd be coming and needed to shack up with them for the weekend. She was excited and decided not to tell my dad, so that when we showed up, he'd be surprised.

I think befuddled was the word he wound up using. John and I got to my parent's around 9:30 Friday night. I donned a Jason mask (that my dad had already seen thanks to my texting him pictures of me wearing it throughout the day-- that way he would freak out when he actually saw me) and walked up to my parent's back porch. Conveniently, there was an open window that looked through the dining area into the living room, leaving my mom in plain view (who knew I was somewhere in the yard) and my dad off to the side. I yelled "TRICK OR TREAAAAAAT!!!!" and proceeded to cackle like a mad man while my mom told my dad that I was my brother. My dad, confused and knowing that I didn't sound like my brother walked up to the window and was sort of laughing (still didn't put two and two together regarding the mask), and when I took it off, 'It's Anna!' was the next thing out of his mouth.

It was fun-- I've never really surprised anyone like that before, so I really enjoyed all of the anticipation.

Saturday my mom and I met up with my sister in law in town to do some winter clothes shopping (believe it or not it does get a little cold down here) and then to the grocery store to buy some last minute food for the evening. We went back to my parent's, prepared the chili, pigs in a blanket, and sweets and just had a nice evening hanging out, watching UT beat South Carolina, and handing out candy to trick or treaters (who didn't really show up until after 7:00-- a rarity in my parent's neighborhood).

Sunday we left my parents and met up with John's parent's and some family friends at a Mediterranean (YUM) restaurant for lunch before heading back.

Overall great weekend. I think Andy and Cherie are coming down in a couple of weeks, we're doing Thanksgiving at John's grandparents (who live a little over an hour away), and then we'll be back in Tennessee for Christmas weekend!