One Last Update from the Road

I am the comfiest I have ever been in a hotel room, somewhere near six flags, St. Louis and the fam is sound asleep at just 9:15 p.m. I am enjoying insane quiet and an uncontested reign over the tv remote control.

Tomorrow, I'll have some idea of what exactly my house looks like after flooding and a wind storm, which took down our pretty Bradford Pear tree, where the kids spent 2/3s of their free time. So not only do I have to inhale the stench of the end of a vacation, but I also have fear, trepidation, and oh yeah, DREAD at what may be wrong. My landlord assures me that it should be pretty much like nothing happened, but I've gotten reports that it might stink. Literally, stink.

Then there's the matter of my ill-behaved dog staying with Jazz. Her dog is a very nice dog. Mine is a spazz. I'm used to the spazzatude, but Sid is a lot of bad-manners to absorb. And in case you missed that, Jazz is keeping my spazz. I've played too much Scrabble.

I confess that I am coming home with the weirdest yen to move. I want a house of my own. I want to fix something up. DIY. More than paint. I want to lay some floor tile and make an IKEA run...

Probably because we made an IKEA run. In Pittsburgh. I love IKEA. I got some rugs. And also some other things.

Also in Pittsburgh, I sustained a WII related injury. Last night, I bowled over 200, knocking down every pin even, but today....augh...the sore muscles! AUGH! We had so much fun, though, that over dinner, the Ryerse clan made a resolution/bargain with the Devil/deal: If we can all go one year without drinking pop of any kind, we will get a Wii. This is an easy one for me....but my boys....they love them some Coca Cola.

Speaking of giving things up, I need to give up food. Ok, not all food. But a lot of it. After just 10 days exposure to my Pastry Chef sister's creations, my love-handles can see my ankles, but I can't!

What I did see today was three NFL stadiums, 5 states, a sign for a river called "The Nameless River" (it was a big sign, even. Looked expensive), and the Mississippi River...twice. We missed our turn.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow, I will no longer have a committee to help decide what's for dinner, no goofy brother to greet my son in the morning, no screaming horde of nieces and nephews to alternately feed and chase out of the kitchen. I'm trying to change gears from that group of people I love to being present with the other group of people I love....like the ones who have taken care of things for us while we were gone. I bragged on them to my family, and now, well, I guess you'll have to put up with more pics and bragging on my family....

Despite the feeling that I slept right through the holidays, 2009 is here, ready or not. Arkansas is on the horizon, post-flooded house and all. Sunday we are back at it at Vintage, with an afternoon meeting and Robb flying out for a business trip. This is the longest vacation we've been on in years, and I am annoyingly relaxed. Seriously, how am I supposed to freak out when I am so relaxed???