It's Always An Adventure In This Family

I thought I'd let you know the end of the family Christmas story. We were supposed to be together from 12/24 until 12/29. When the snow hit we played it day by day, and it became messy . . . in many ways.

First of all, the snow just kept coming. I'm sure you probably know that because it made news all around the country. Officially, the snow was around 10", but it was 5 " deeper in some parts of the city. There was fog for several days, and it presented problems driving, plus every evening as the temps dropped, it froze and caused an icy mess. When the sun managed to get through, it seemed to help in melting the mess, however, there was between 1" and 3" of water under the 4-6 inches of snow. You couldn't always see it, but stepping on the snow often lead to having a shoe full of icy water. I wore my western boots most of the time because they are actually more waterproof than my snow boots. And you actually wondered why I bought them! My feet were dry at all times. I did switch to the snow boots with tread in the evening and early morning to avoid slipping.

Second, poor Brooke's second flight on 12/31 was cancelled! She and her dad got to the airport and waited a while before getting the bad news. She was crushed again, but handled it a little better than the first one. At this point, she was placed on a priority standby status so that she would be at the head of the list for any opening. Had it not happened, she would have been on a plane tomorrow, but she was fortunate when her dad sat with her on 1/1 until she boarded. She was squealing with delight when she learned that she was going to be home before school started.

Third, my ex and his wife were gracious hosts, but they are not used to having lots of people or kids around, and it seemed obvious that they were becoming stressed when our stay stretched and stretched. There were signs (not just in them, but in all of us) that enough was enough. I began to think of ways to get them off the hook for all of us.

Scott and his family decided to hit the road for Wichita on 1/1, as I-40 finally opened up. Unfortunately, approximately 5 million other travellers decided the same thing, and the highway was a big parking lot! It took them 12 hours to reach Amarillo, a trip that is normally around 4 hours. It sounded like what happens in Florida when a hurricane is on the way. The arrived safely on 1/2.

I suggested to Terri and her family that they might come with me to Capitan, visit with Allan, see where I live now, and I'd drive them back for their flight today. They gave it some thought and decided it would be a good thing. We had no problem going south, and we had a good time together. I hated that it added 6 more hours of travel for them (9 for me), but it was a relief to be out of a hotel room. Last night we played fame and killed off 3 bottles of wine. We were able to sit in comfortable chairs, stretch out, walk in snow (just a couple inches were left here on the north side of things) or clear soil as we chose, and did some shopping and sight-seeing.At least we could get out on the streets without feeling unsafe. I got a call 1/3 evening that they were home safe and sound. Ahhhh.

What was to be a 5 day reunion turned into an 11 day, uh, adventure. It was absolutely wonderful to have everyone together, but there is a limit. You know what they say about family visitors . . . after 3 days they, and fish, begin to stink. Well, try locking either up in a hotel room for so many days, and I promise you, they both stink much worse! We think our next one will be at a time of year when we hope to not have the weather complications!


PS added at 8:15 PM: I HAVE A CRAPPY COLD!! Thank you weather. Thank you stress. Thank you, son-in-law who had one but didn't get really sick!!! I felt a little scratchy in the throat yesterday, was congested this AM, and since around 11:00, I've been coughing, snotting and blowing, fighting to unplug my ears, and feeling just miserable. Arghhh. I hate being sick. Happy Freakin' New Year. Bah, humbug.