Things are starting to wind down now, or maybe they are just starting to get busy. I've been preparing for the holidays for awhile and finally finished all that I needed to do before the time came. I am going to see my extended family for a few days and spend some 'quality' time with them. This year was going to be a 'big' year since Bertrand was going to come with me this time to meet all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. This means a lot in many different aspects. My family has known about Bertrand and I for awhile, but I think that the act of me bringing him home to our large family gathering also means a lot. Luckily, Bertrand is great in these types of situations and is actually very excited.

When we had first met, my cousin and I were talking in a group about our last family gathering and Bertrand was sitting there. We had talked about how much fun our family has playing the white elephant gift exchange, Taboo, Killer, and Tic-Tac-Boom. We were both laughing so hard reminiscing about how even our youngest cousins and our grandfathers were playing. Bertrand said when he first met us then and heard the stories about our family, he was thinking about how much he would like to be a part of a family like that. It's so neat to think back to that time and how this year that thought would actually come true.

Unfortunately, with this big flu epidemic going around here, Bertrand became a victim of it and has come down with a bad case of the flu. He's been lying in bed for the past couple of days and will probably not be able to go with us tomorrow morning. I can't really say that I'm not dissapointed, since I know that there will be plenty of other opportunities later, but it's still a little sad. Especially since tomorrow is my honey's birthday and I won't get to spend it with him. I wish I could stay behind, but I can't.