Best part of the day: no cooking.

Worst part of the day: Franny's tears at her cousin's departure. Truly broken hearted.

Skimming a lot to squeak in a happy birthday to Jesse!

I am HOME! And there's like no snow left. I am shocked (and relieved.) I'm going to be so happy to sweep the litter off the steps cause it tracks everywhere.

Trip was good, though I've realized I connect best with my parents if it is just us. I swear, I get more from an hour phone conversation weekly than I did this whole week. But I spent a lot of time with my brother and SIL and the boys, which I don't get weekly. Especially since the boys don't talk on the phone much.

Fun and fabulous gifts received: From my dad, "Purity and Truth" edition of What A Young Woman Ought to Know by Mrs. Mary Wood Allen, M.D. circa 1913. I expect to be sharing many an appalling excerpt. From mom, a woven scarf/piece I had admired in Bhutan that I totally did not realize they'd gotten. I simply couldn't justify the cost. It's lavender and a semi-metallic floss and I just loved the shimmery of it. Pix to come eventually. It's going on the walls somewhere. Also, a stained glass piece of my maternal grandmother's. Goes in the windows! From my SIL, the FU, Penguin book. AHAHAHA! A rubber spider and the SHINIEST pleather bag ever from the Dollar store from Dominic. I have to find a way to use it, you know?? Also, some high-heel shaped carbiners. Perfect.

Also got assorted towels that match my crazy bathroom.

The boys are great. I played Mario Kart with D on their new Wii, and damned if I didn't actually get good at it. I was able to coax laughter from one of T's major tantrums (holy hell, this child has D beat by MILES for stubbornness, and we all thought D was immovable) though he's still not saying my name. He can speak, clear as a bell. When he wants to. Which isn't 95% of the time.

Came home to a message from Ms. Louise. I've been calling her monthly, but not getting a hold of her. Seems she had a bad fall, but is home now. Will call her tomorrow and hopefully visit next weekend.

Worst part of the day: Franny's tears at her cousin's departure. Truly broken hearted.

Awww!

Still, it's good to have a favorite cousin.

Also, I am awesome at airport bar chat. I ended up with an hour to kill behind security and had a blast talking to a couple of totally random people. Made one woman cry twice; once when I asked how her trip was going (very, very badly, I let her vent. MIL drama) and again when I left and she found out I'd paid for her drink and dinner (a paltry pizza, but that's all you get in the B'ham airport on Dec 26!)

I like being anonymous sometimes.

Happy birthday, Jesse!

Welcome home, sara.

I think I broke my laptop. And what with the sudden ticket to New Orleans and the recent car repair, now is not a good time to get a new one. ::sigh:: I will drag it back to the shop for more Frankensteining on Monday. I'm such an idiot. But it could have been worse. It could have been my sister's new laptop I broke. Wait, actually, that'd have been cheaper to replace, and had way less on it. So, no, as computer destruction goes, it was the worst I could have done at that moment.

So, no, as computer destruction goes, it was the worst I could have done at that moment.

Were you using it for a headbutting exhibition or what?

I didn't buttress it properly when I left it on my seat, and it fell to the floor, jamming the power connection. Fuckery.

Ugh, ita. Good luck with that.

Sara, isn't coming home the best? I mean, especially if you've liked where you were. I feel like I need to go out of town to really appreciate where I am (and Somerville doesn't count).

It really is. I've had the relief of coming home before, to my cats and whatnot, but never quite like this. This is Home with a capital-H. And not just because of the mortgage. Everything about it just suits me.

I'm trying to figure out how to get SIL and the boys here. I expect my brother will come on some work related thing, but their time is so much more limited, especially since they cut PJ's vacations (budget.) But since it is only a 2 hour flight, I might be able to arrange for them to fly up on a long weekend or something. Even more so since it looks like I'm going to be forced to take vacation to avoid losing accrual over 3 weeks (again, budget, fuck you company.)

That sucks ita.