FAREWELL TO THE SOUTHERN OOMPAS.

  
Disclaimer:  No Oompa Loompas were harmed during this photo-shoot.  This was a closed track with adult supervision and the children were perfectly safe.  No adults were harmed either.

The Southern Oompas left late this morning, or early this afternoon, depending on how you look at it.  They rode out of here at noon with their parents with a long cross-country drive ahead of them.  The parents had never taken such a long journey with the little loompas.  We recommended a portable dvd player with earphones.  They took our suggestion.  No doubt they will thank us when they get home.  Oh, it might still be bad, but it could have been worse, much worse!  We know, we made the same trip with 4 kids 11 years ago.  When we drove back this past February we had the Miracle Machine.  It made a world of difference.  Add earphones for all of the kids and you have one quiet, peaceful ride... unless they need something, at which time they yell your head off because they can't hear how loud they are with their earphones on.

I haven't written much about my in-laws.  I adore Dickidoo's baby sister.  She stayed with us for a summer when she was a teenager, and she looks the same.  I don't.  Its not fair!  She drinks coffee around the clock.  That just makes me love her even more.  I hate that she is always in so much pain.  I wish I could help her.  I can't, so I do what I can.  I took her children for a few weeks and totally corrupted them.  No doubt she will thank me when she gets home.

I adore my brother-in-law because he adores my sister-in-law.  He also likes to read books that include dragons.  One of the earliest collections I recall reading was Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series.  That was right about the time I got hooked on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series .  He also adores all of the Southern Oompas, even though he is the biological father to only one.  To many people that would make a big difference but I have not noticed any difference and that in itself endears him to me.  He also reads and enjoys this journal and I want to publicly endorse him since I was unable to attend the wedding and voice my approval then.

Its funny, I never realized how quiet my own kids, the Mountain Oompas, were, until we put them together with the Southern Oompas for a little while, and then separated them.  This afternoon has been really .... quiet!  And my kids actually got along with each other!  There was no fussing, no fighting, only suspicious commeraderie.  Thats right folks, I said 'suspicious', because I don't trust them one bit!  They NEVER get along so they have to be up to something!

But I don't have time to dwell on it.  My sister and her husband arrive sometime tomorrow.  They are in town because my brother-in-law has a seminar to attend just outside of town, so my sister will visit with us while he learns how to build a log home.  We have plans to play the Sister-razzi (look, I spelled it right this time) around town, and I am sooooo excited.  Its been 2 years since I last saw her.  Dickidoo has to work and then has a meeting.  I'm suspecting that this may not be a coincidence... but thats okay.  Oh the fun my sister and I will have!