I was, wasn't I? Before I left on the Familial Visit, anyhow.

Most things went as I expected they would. There were a few hiccups. My L-i-K-S's A/C went out a couple of times, but the little maintenance man showed up promptly both times and worked until he fixed it, so it really wasn't any big deal.

I also didn't anticipate the Great Flood of '05. My inbound flight was diverted to Lincoln, Nebraska because of heavy storms over K.C. Even after we were allowed to land in K.C., the storms continued, until we found ourselves sharing the highway back to my L-i-K-S's apartment with a raging torrent of floodwater. Little things like an 18-wheeler driving twice as fast as the conditions warranted and subsequently causing a tsunami didn't help.

The Maternal Parent was...herself. Sometimes easy to please, but mostly grumbling and nitpicking about little things almost constantly. I find that sort of thing easy to tune out but my L-i-K-S has more of a conscience than I do and found it quite upsetting. (The secret to my happy life is that 80% of everything that happens around me passes me by without making the slightest impact on my consciousness. I find reality interesting to visit but feel no actual desire to take up residence there.)

My nieces were as beautiful and as charming as they were the last time I saw them, so naturally I loved every moment spent with them.

Rapunzel is too close to being grown-up. Sigh. She has a job, so she wasn't around all of the time over the weekend. She's also rather self-sufficient in that she's at the age where she's as happy or happier alone in her room as she is sitting with the family and "making nice." I sympathize..."me time" is something I can't live without, but with two of us that way...well, it's harder to start a conversation when it's between two people who are living most of their lives inside their brains.

Sadly for my budget, Rapunzel's love of manga may turn out to be a Bonding Event between the two of us. I read a few of her books, purely to see what it is she's interested in, and was appalled to find myself enthralled. We didn't have much time to discuss it when I was there (she had to work, and had other claims on her time over the holiday weekend) but I foresee some interesting discussions in the future.

(After having spent, what? The last five years? Mocking those of my friends interested in manga? And I'm now having to gather up my courage, brace myself to be abused, and publicly admit that I was charmed by what I read.)

(I'm not admitting it now you understand. I'm still gathering courage. I'll let you know when the admission is imminent.)

Pippi was her own delightful self. We discussed fireworks, food, clothes, hair, make-up, and I don't know what-all. She advised me on mascara, I talked to her about the dangers of fireworks, she admired my hair, I regretted that the massive humidity index in KS meant that said hair was actually a frizzy nightmare. We worked on jigsaw puzzles, bothered each other when we were reading, watched movies (and the food channel) and generally (I hope) enjoyed each other's company. She laughs easily.

It's lovely to be able to get back twice in such a short interval to see both of them. I haven't had nearly enough opportunities to spend time with them over the years.

The L-i-K-S is a good hostess. She gave up her room to me and the M-P, and put up with the M-P's grousing with great patience. (Must be a skill people develop when they have children.) And, of course, I enjoyed visiting with her. You shouldn't think I didn't juts because I'm not talking about it. But I know her :) so I didn't "discover" new things about her.

I can't say that I look forward to returning any time soon, in spite of enjoying my visit, but mostly after so much traveling in the past three months, I'm just tired. Besides. It's almost 100 here in Denver today, so the only thing that really sounds like fun is finding a bathtub full of ice-water and trying for a case of hypothermia.

This weekend, with a bit of luck, I'll have time for writing (DS), a bit of reading, a bit of mending (socks), a bit of television watching (I taped the first episodes of Fast Lane and need to get them watched so I can decide whether or not to keep taping), movie watching (I still have Mysterious Island and The Philadelphia Experiment to watch before I'm done with my "cheesy movie festival") and generally vegging out.

Except that, in spite of projected 97 degree temperatures, it's looking like I'll have to spend a couple of hours downtown on Saturday on Company Business. I swear...those are the only hours all weekend I intend to spend not under air conditioning!

It's nice to be home.