Vince went back to work for the first time since Friday. Chad is still sleeping. Speck has finally calmed down and is asleep. The Christmas decorations are mostly packed away. XM has been turned back to it’s regular station, Christmas music will not be heard again for about 11 months.
Part of me feels good to be home alone and part of me is fighting back tears. When Mom and Dad leave or when I leave them, I always cry. I remember as a kid we would go to my grandma and grandpa’s house 100 miles away almost every weekend. Every Sunday afternoon when we’d leave, Mom would cry; my grandma would cry and being the weenie that I am, even as a little kid, I’d sit in the back seat of that big old Buick and I’d cry too. Didn’t have a clue why but I guess if everyone else was going to cry, I might as well too. Today, about 50 years later, I’m still crying when we go our separate ways and I don’t even know why. Chad and I will go home for Spring Break so it’s just a few months before I see them again and I talk to them every day so .. I’m just being a wimp. As much as I love living in Missouri, I hate living so far away from Mom and Dad. If I could just live where we’re 4 or 5 hours — an easy drive — things would be so much better.
Despite my best plans, I didn’t think about Speck being so unfriendly until right before they got here. When they got here on Friday night, it was constant growling, snarling, showing teeth and trying to get at them. I had given them each some banana to give to him. He loves bananas! Mom was so scared of him I think she was ready to leave about an hour after they got here so we finally stuck the crate in the master bathroom and put him in there for an hour or so. I guess he decided to be nice because when we got him out of the crate later that night, he was ok. He was never friendly enough that Dad could touch him but he did hop up in the recliner and sit with Mom for a while. Dad fed him from the table so Speck was his best friend as long as Dad was eating.
We had a great visit except for a just a few bumps along the road. Put my south Louisiana family together with Vince’s Sicilian heritage and it’s a mix about like oil and water. I’m constantly on edge explaining to Mom that Vince didn’t mean it like it sounded to her and explaining to Vince that Mom doesn’t hate him and everyone just does things and says things differently.
I think the highlight for Mom was Interior Motives. Mom bought one of the W. F. Norman framed tins (the same one I have, in fact), along with quite a bit of other stuff. I think she’s already planning to go home and re-do some of her rooms so she can come back here and shop.
Dad got to see snow so he was happy, although he swears he’ll never come back here in the winter. He and Vince went over to Ft. Scott, KS so Dad could say he’d been to Kansas. They ended up walking through the buildings on the fort and I think he enjoyed that. I’m not sure he ever got warm. Last night he had his wool socks I’d made for him over his regular cotton socks trying to get his feet warm!
My menu plan went perfectly. I had thought they were staying through Friday so I had food planned for today too and then yesterday, they just wanted more turkey and dressing and asked me not to cook anything else so we had leftovers so I didn’t spend as much time in the kitchen as I had planned. They raved about my cornbread dressing and I would have thought they were just trying to make me feel good except that Dad ate about five helpings of it last night. We have leftover brisket, a whole smoked turkey breast we didn’t even cut, ham and roast beef so if I add a few fresh veggies, I might not have to cook again til New Year’s!
Vince’s second sock was finished this morning and as always, I promise myself I’ll do better with getting my gifts made earlier next year!
