The Prodigal Blogger Returns

I am back at home after 10 days spent in the bosom of my family.

Though sharing a house (and one with a single, tiny bathroom at that) for that length of time can be trying, I hated to leave. And though I was ready for my own bed, my own computer, my own chair, and my own rules, I was not ready to say good-bye for another whole year. I was not ready to not be part of my family again.

My twin niece and nephew were babies the last time I saw them. Now they are independant and strong willed toddlers. My oldest nephew, who is six, has gained a new maturity as well, and it pains me to think how much he will have changed the next time I see him.

We said our goodbyes with my sister's family the night before we left, as we were going to be hitting the road very early. I had just gotten over the tears when the phone rang. It was my sister, calling to say that my nephew had come downstairs after being in bed a very short time, unable to sleep, and insisting upon calling me. She put him on the phone. He said, "Just a minute Aunt B.A., I gotta get in private." He went into the office and crawled beneath the desk to whisper, "I was just thinking...whenever you start feeling like you miss us, you can just blow kisses this way and I'll know you are thinking about me"

There is not enough breath in my body kid.

I cried when I related the conversation to my mother, again when I told my husband about it, and third time when I filled my father in. And I still had the next morning's goodbyes to get through. Needless to say, it was emotional couple of days.

I have lots of thoughts to get down on paper about family, role reversal, the evolution of relationships, and the realizations regarding family dynamnics (good and bad) that come with getting older.

But I have 27 loads of laundry to attend to, a tree that is basically just tinder at this point (picture that scene in Christmas Vacation where the old man tosses his match into the tree) and cupboards that are yielding very little in the way of actual sustenance, so it will have to wait. Trip aftermath sucks.

I will share with you that we have coined a new term, (sort of like a sniglet...remember those?) borne of 30 hours on the road with every idiot in 6 states. The word is "stupident". I have come to the conclusion that there are very few actual "accidents", and most motor vehicle incidents are, in fact, "stupidents".

And last but not least...

To the forest green Expidition in Indiana that insisted on riding my bumper for 3 hours in the pouring rain with his highbeams on...

I will find you. And when I do, I will exact my revenge by renting the biggest brightest searchlight I can find and parking it right outside your bedroom window.

To the truck in Chicago who nearly flattened us when you decided to change lanes without signalling, or more importantly, looking...

I suggest that you remove the "How's My Driving" query from your rear doors if you want to keep your job. Because if you drive like that habitually, I am certainly not the first, nor the last to call the 800 number and describe in great detail, exactly how your driving is.

I hope everyone in Blogland had a joyous New Year.