Visit to California

Okay, I'm a week late, but here's what happened on my trip last weekend to sunny Cali:

Upon arrival at LAX, I was whisked away by my sister and law and bestest friend Tiffany and taken directly OUT of town for a weekend spent at the spa, the movies, the bowling alley, various yummy restaurants, the hotel, and the casino. We talked and talked and TALKED, and by "we", I mean I'm pretty sure I never paused for a breath. I might have missed my best friend just a tad with all the drama this summer. It was SO good to reconnect and RELAX. And no, we're not going to discuss just how much money I lost at poker. We're NOT.

Funny story: we almost became small-time criminals. We went bowling, and while I was putting bowling balls away and Tiffany was putting shoes away and getting coupons, we neglected to actually PAY for the bowling. We discovered this half an hour later while waiting for a movie to start. Of course, because we believe in Karma coming back to kick us in the cajones, we went back after the movie and did the walk of shame up to the counter. They gave us some good natured ribbing as well as gesturing for security to take us away, then THANKED us for returning to pay, which is awesome and also very sad.

Next I got to spend the night at my friend W's house, where I watched football, sat in front of a warm and delicious fireplace, and got my hat handed to me in Chinese Checkers by a 5 year old. Good times.

On Monday, I went to visit my mother-in-law. I was excited and trepidatious at the same time. I hadn't seen her since they took her down off the mountain, and I was trying to prepare myself. I was afraid she wouldn't remember me, but those fears were put to rest about 3 minutes after she woke up. She immediately knew who I was, squeezed my hand and touched my cheek. We got the breathing guy to put in the tube thingy (sorry to get so technical with y'all), and she was able to talk to us for a LONG time.

We joked about the troubles she and Tiffany had with the trailer when they first left for the lake. (They had a hell of a time attaching it to the trailer hitch, and a few minutes after starting out, it FELL OFF, and some nice gentlemen stopped to save the day and help get it reattached) I reminded her that she threatened to leave it to Tiffany in her will, and Tiffany countered with the suggestion that when her mom kicks the bucket (yes, we're THAT family), she'd bury her in it like Connie did with all the family pets in the back yard.

Tiffany: "Here lies Constance, who passed away at the ripe old age of 102, with the trailer..."
Connie: "That put her under."

We burst out laughing. It was so wonderful to see Connie's personality really shining through. The expressive eyebrows, the grin, the sparkling eyes. A coworker of hers also came down to visit and brought a small photo album for Connie to go through. She spent a LONG time looking at the pics of her coworkers, recognizing all of them, giving details about what was happening. I could not have asked for more with this visit, and have a renewed hope that she will improve by leaps and bounds with every day and every visitor that comes.

On Monday night, Tiffany, Mama DB and I went out to dinner at Red Lobster (mmm, seafood), then proceeded to DB's house where we harassed her hubby into setting up Rock Band for us (thanks Mr. DB!). Side note: cats know instinctively the best time to plop in the middle of the room and lick their butts. I'm just sayin'. We rocked da howse until Mama DB cried uncle. She apparently had a raging case of bronchitis, but I don't know. I think she's just getting old.

Speaking of which, after the late Monday night and then early morning flight, I was convinced I was coming down with the H1N1 last week. Turns out I'm just getting old and set in my ways, suffering mightily when I don't get a requisite 7 hours of sleep. What a wimp. At least on the flight home I was able to score a row to myself and snore my way back to Texas.

That's about it. Good times were had, people are now sorely missed as usual. Let's work on that "mash Arizona and New Mexico together, creating 1,000 fewer miles between Texas and California" machine, shall we?