Ahhhhhh....

In all of our excitement, the Aunties/Sisters forgot to get a picture so we enlisted the help of a kind random stranger at the airport to capture the moment for us before Lisa boarded her plane. This morning I put Val on her plane to return to the Yak Farm and a surreal feeling came over me as life grudgingly returned to normal. I had such a wonderful time with my older sisters and am so grateful that we are close enough physically and emotionally to be able to continue a relationship with each other even after we have moved away and made separate lives with our own families. I cannot stress enough to the Oompas how important family ties are... now and in the future.

Don't waste time over petty differences. Always love each other.

Having said that, it really is nice to be back home. Dickidoo had gifts for us girls from the Denver March Pow Wow which we had to miss. And while he didn't say so, I choose to believe that his familiar smile meant that he missed me, even just a little bit. After all, he saved us some of the ribs he was bragging about the other night while we feasted on luke warm hot pockets for the 2nd night in a row.

Zack barely acknowledged us when we entered the door, never even taking his eyes of the WOW screen. When I nagged him, he grinned but snarled in his customary style . It was obvious that aliens had NOT abducted him, same old Zack. Oddly enough his goofy snarl was missed and it was nice to hear it again after 11 days of not.

Art probably missed his Pink Haired Girlfriend more than he missed anyone else, which is as it should be. His own plans for a trip to Oklahoma had been cancelled due to the blizzard so he spent most of the time baby sitting his Pink Haired Girlfriends little Purple Haired Brother... and Jubilee!

Jubilee grew while we were away. And she has learned a new trick, to lay down on command.

She still eats shit. Grrrr!

I think even my Nephew missed me a little and he followed me around sharing his adventures of living the 'Bachelor Life' and other bits of random trivia. I mess with him a lot and sometimes he drives me nuts... Okay, he drives me nuts A LOT! But I missed him too.

But one thing I missed without realizing until my return was my toilet.

I had been in more different restrooms in the 11 days of my trip than I had been in all of 2008. Some were fancy, some were not so fancy. One boasted of being the Cleanest on I80. One claimed to be 'pretty' (it was!). The farm had a motion activated light which shuts off after 15 minutes. (really cool unless you're taking a 16 minute shower). A couple of the motels had a heating lamp which I used on occasion.

But none was as comforting or welcoming (or custom fitted) like mine right here in Loompa-Land. When I finally sat down on my throne after such a long absence I knew that I was in fact home.

My butt sighed. (excuse me!)

Ah, Pocket Yahtzee, right where I left it.