Safely home...

I haven't posted in a while- nothing to write about and then I was out west for Christmas, so I couldn't post. And I missed it sorely- it's a means of escape and I couldn't!!

My sister and her husband live in Tucson, AZ, and hosted Christmas this year. My mother (slightly eccentric, slightly senile...) refused to fly, stating that she has a car that CAN make it so she should make use of it. Well, I couldn't very well have her make this drive (28 hours according to Mapquest, which doesn't include any stopping) on her own- It just didn't seem like a good idea.

So last Friday, the 21st, I drove to my dad's house in Illinois and met my mom there. We left early Saturday morning and hit the road. And I will never, ever, ever do anything like that again with her. She somehow managed to turn drives that are normally about an hour and 15 minutes into 2.5 hour drives. So you can imagine how long it ended up taking us to get to Arizona. Good lord.....!

Once there though, I had a great time. I didn't really realize how long it had been since I'd seen my sister. I mean, I knew, but hadn't really felt the length of time that had gone by. Their house is beautiful, but unfortunately, it's in Arizona. It needs to be somewhere closer, in the midwest, like Chicago. And then life would be good. :)

It was hard being away from Adam for so long though, and the weather was much cooler than I was expecting. ( I was SO hoping to be able to wear capris and flip-flops again!) But we had a really good Christmas dinner, and actually spent quality time together. We went wedding dress shopping the day after Christmas, and then went to Taliesen West (yay FLW). I got back to my usual reading habits, and read The Kite Runner and Me Talk Pretty One Day. (Both excellent books, although VERY different genres!) I was really sad to leave, but so excited to come home.

The drive back was worse than the drive there, and I nearly killed my mother about 16 times, but I restrained. My back, at this point, was completely shot. (Riding in a car for even an hour makes it throb.) I drove for over 10 hour straight so that we could actually make decent time, but I had to relinquish the steering wheel to my mom around St. Louis so I could recline in the passengers seat.

So I'm back home now. My kitties are curled up on the couch and loveseat- looking as adorable as ever. I'm getting ready to go shopping for something to wear tonight- Adam and I are going to our first real grown up New Year's Party!