i just flew in from dallas....

and man are my arms tired. {rimshot}

yes. i am back.
yes. it was fabulous.
yes. i miss it already.
yes. i wanted to stuff myself in husband's bag and go back to amarillo with him.
yes. i wanted to have someone else pack up our house and send it to us.
yes. i'm sad.

i left thursday morning and for some reason we flew to CHICAGO to go to dallas. hmmmm.... that seemed unnecessary. but after being in airplanes and airports for 5 hours, i arrived safely and soundly in dallas. i go pick up my rental and someone thought it would be funny for me to fly a thousand miles.... to then drive the EXACT SAME CAR as my husband. where's my cute little sportscar? where's my red and fast and snappy? oh no.... here is a nice TAN ford TAURUS. have a nice day.

at least i already know how to work all the parts and pieces.
so it takes an hour to get from the airport to my grandmother's house. and i was almost to her door when she opens it up and gives me a HUGE hug. she said she could smell me coming. (is that bad? i know i had been traveling all day, but damn... i showered.) so we chat for a while. she is looking well. she is tethered to a giant oxygen machine, so we all have to make sure we don't step on her air hose, but other than that, she looks like my grandmother. my oldest cousin shows up and i am just amazed at how much of his life i have missed. it seems like i only get to see my cousins about once every 2 or 3 years. here is this kid whose diapers i changed.... and he is now old enough to DRINK. that's crazy. i still have a hard time wrapping my head around that one. so them the tornado hits, the one that is commonly called, My Aunt and her Other 2 Sons. so i have 3 boy cousins. i am the only grand-daughter. (can we say spoiled?) now these boys are older than 18 as well. and i just look at them... and shake my head because they have become human type people. i still picture them as little boys. not no mo.

so we eat and talk and laugh and eat and then we all head back to my aunts house. i mean the Zoo. i hope i get this right. they have a Macaw named Big Bird. and when they first got the bird, the only thing it really knew how to say was, "Shut the FUCK Up". and i quickly realized why. i found myself thinking the very same thing multiple times throughout the night. they also have a parakeet named Lucy, an australian shepherd named Bandit 2, 3 cats, 2 rabbits, and iguana, and 4 tortoises? if i have remembered correctly. a fucking zoo. this woman has 3 boys between the ages of 21 and 18, and a house full of animals. i bet she spends a billion dollars on food a week. so.... that part of the visit was NOT boring at all. i got up the next morning and got directions that took 2 hours to get OUT OF DALLAS. holy fuck me. i gots places to be. people to do. namely my husband whose flight into austin was getting in at 1:35.

so i drive and drive and drive and drive.... and drive right through my hometown. which was odd in itself. and finally get to austin. and to the airport. and to the gate. and 20 minutes later, i get my husband. the love of my life i have not seen in 6 weeks. and oh my damn does he look good. i am surprised that he didn't have girls trailing after him. after we pry ourselves apart, we get his bags and we head back to my hometown.

(to be continued)