A Few days off does not A Vacation Make

Oh my gosh - it’s been over a week since I’ve posted. Sorry for that. I’ve been busy in my real life.

Took a couple of days off of work to spend some time doing “family” things. I really need a focused vacation on "get away time", however, these stay at home, work there-for- a-change- type days are good too.
What did I do?
Well, on Friday I went to my mother’s house to help her prepare for the arrival of my daughter, who will be moving here from Colorado this weekend. She has been in Colorado since her marriage to her husband who is in the Army and stationed there. Most of the 4 years that she has been in Colorado, he has been in Iraq. He was due to be out of the service last year, however he was stop lossed (which means that the army can draft them back into service if they need them) There was a quick change of plans. So he’s in his 3rd tour of the Iraq, from November 07 to January 09. Needless to say, Abbie, my youngest daughter is coming home. She's been missing her family and friends here, and although she has made a little life out there, and loves Colorado, she needs to be with her family here. She has a dog and two cats, and because my husband is allergic to cats, she’s going to live with my mother, who is aged, lonely, and this might be a good thing. We’ll see. Mom is really set in her ways and fairly odd now that she is 78 and 2 years post stroke, albeit a small one. So, off I was to Mom’s where I tried to convince her that we should empty out the closet in the bedroom that Abbie will occupy, because a 26 year old woman has more clothes than the 18” space that pushing aside my mothers' clothes provided. She was stubborn, reasons unknown, so I dropped the arguement. Abbie will have to show her the need, and I'm sure then she will understand. So we ventured on to her basement, where, I found nearly everything to be junk and old, so I crammed as much into my car’s backseat and trunk as I could and off to Goodwill I went. That took all day, all of a sunny wonderful pool type day, but nope, I spent it in my mother’s dark, dusty basement.

The next day was my husband’s family picnic. This has been going on for at least 100 years, but they can only document 69 years so that is what they call it. My husband’s family is proudly of Mexican heritage and very, very large. It’s a good day to eat Mexican breakfasts cooked over a Coleman stove, and home made guacamole that will start your nose a running. Play silly games, swim, and last but not least the piñata’s. Fun was had by all; except it was hot, humid and it poured rain until about 11:00 a.m, so we sweltered under the plastic type canopies and plastic rain ponchos. I felt like a left over ham sandwich crushed at the bottom of someone’s lunch box. Ewww. My baby granddaughter who is 5 months old kept crashing her face into my plastic shoulder until I thought she’d smother, so I took it off. We were damp and sweaty the rest of the day.
Next I planned a day of fun for my 5 (almost 6!) year old granddaughter. We were to go blueberry picking and then have a picnic and swim in the pool. We got up very early (for my day off) and started out into the country where there is a U-pick blueberry field. The wind started whipping up, clouds appearing, a small drizzle. We were shown the way- down a dirt winding road, had our plastic buckets weighed, and started out into the rows of blueberry bushes that were 6 foot tall or more. The berries were ripe and large, clustered all over those bushes so the picking was easy. Good thing, because shortly after we squealed with delight over finding large blueberries, the sky turned dark, the wind changed and blew harder, the lightening struck in the field nearby. A scene right out of the Wizard of Oz’s tornado scene, we picked faster! We picked berries, that may or may not have been ripe, because it was too dark to see! When the drizzle turned to drops we ran to the car, barely making it before the downpour of thunderous rain pelted our windshield. So much for that.
The rain eventually stopped, we were able to spend the afternoon in the pool. The Little Miss, as we have always called her that, and I are buddies, swimming with goggles, singing under water, normal fare for 5 year olds. She tells me all kinds of things, shares her thought process aloud with me. “Grandma, I love you so much, are you going to be my Grandma forever?” The sweetness of her voice and intentions make it all worth it. Swimmer's ear, purple blueberry lips and teeth, and puppets made out of paper Christmas plates, we had a wonderful time.

Ahhh, family, can’t live with them, can’t live without them. I love them all so much.

5 more days, and Abbie will be home. My husband and brother are flying out on Saturday to help her load the U-Haul and caravan all the way back here to Indiana, unload some things at Grandma’s and then store the rest. Can I say, although I’m not going to be involved - other than having my brother’s dog as a house guest, I’m nervous and apprehensive, possibly because I’m helpless and want to help.

So, I’ll need some good thoughts and prayers sent our way this weekend, for the travelers and this endeavor, if you've a few to spare. Perhaps I'll have more posts out of this!