I’m back. Took an extra day to drive even further across the country to drop the kids off with the inlaws. My mother-in-law drives me batty sometimes. She is the nicest person, but . . . So Mr. Geeky called her to confirm our meeting place at a hotel outside of Pittsburgh. That was an issue in and of itself. We wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, a city I actually like, but the inlaws didn’t. They have issues with cities, even though their own city is roughly the same size as Pittsburgh. Whatever. Anyway, we’re driving from the coast of South Carolina. It’s going to take two days for us to get to Pittsburgh. Mr. Geeky calls his mom from the road. His mom freaks out.
MGM: “What do you mean you’re on the road? We’re not.”
MG: “Mom, it’s a 12-14 hour drive. We’re stopping tonight. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
MGM: “Oh.”
We drive about 7 hours the first day, stopping in Virginia for the night. We leave as early as we can the next morning because we’re not sure how far we have to go or how long it might take. We’re in the middle of nowhere the whole time. Seriously, I had no cell phone service the whole drive. Finally, just outside our destination, we call the inlaws to tell them we’re almost there. They’ve hit traffic and are hours away. We check into the hotel, change into swimsuits, go for a swim, come back and call again. More traffic–and they forgot about the time change from central to eastern. Sigh. Finally, they arrive. We go out to eat. I have a margarita.
The next morning, my mother-in-law is in full swing, trying to feed everyone mass amounts of food from the breakfast buffet. Every couple of minutes, she asks someone if they want more food. “Do you want some fruit? A banana? How about a waffle?” Even if people say no, she asks them again. Ugh. After breakfast, I coach the children on how to turn down food politely. “Thanks, Gram, but I’ve had enough.” “No, thank you. I really can’t eat any more.” We practice.
Ah, the joys of coming home. And tomorrow I return to work–bleh! We’re kid-free for two weeks. Good and bad. This is always a bittersweet time of year. The end of summer; the last free moments of lounging on decks, of leisurely evenings without homework. But the fresh start of a new school year. New books. New things to learn.
