Full House, Full Hearts

Our house and our hearts were full last weekend. My mom and sister-in-law from Iowa came for a visit! We hadn't seen them since last fall, before Adam was even walking, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

Oh! I just can't even tell you how much I miss them. Terribly. I do. I miss being able to call my mom to say, I think I'll drive over tomorrow for a visit. I miss holiday get-togethers and mom's cooking. I miss seeing my niece and nephew grow up, and I miss having family around my house to keep me in line and remind me of those things in my life I somehow stored away....way back there in my brain somewhere....

I had a pacifier, a Nuk, until a few weeks before I started kindergarten. Mom would threaten to tie the Nuk around my neck with a pink ribbon and send me off to school. The concept of humiliation didn't quite sink in and I think somehow I'd convinced myself a Nuk around my neck wouldn't be bad. I had quite a stash of Nuks around the house. Some I liked better than others. In those weeks right before school started, one by one the Nuks suddenly started developing small pin holes so they would collapse when I sucked them. I'd just toss the bad ones and move on to another in my stash. I remember when I was down to just one. And I remember when it finally collapsed, too. I could write a stunning metaphor here about how I also collapsed, but it would be over exaggerating the situation. I never did have to bring a Nuk to school. Let's just leave it at that.

For most of my time on this earth, I have been terrible at directions. My mom likes to remind me how I'd ask, "Have we gone through Mason City yet?" when we were on our way somewhere in the opposite direction of Mason City. At least now I manage to find my way home from work every day, but some days it is a small miracle I don't end up in Tennessee or Mississippi.

Speaking of Mississippi, I got knocked out of the 3rd grade spelling bee with that word. I practiced and practiced but just got going to fast. I spelled it M-I-S-S-I-S-S-S-I-P-P-I. Those S's will get you every time.

I just can't tell you how sweet my sister-in-law is. She's been married to the younger of my two brothers forever and a day, and has been teaching remedial reading just as long. She knows a little song for nearly everything in Adam's world, from brushing teeth, to monkey toes.

You can read a little more about my mom here and here. She turned 80 this year and I think it's just great that she'll make the trip half way across the country for us. You never have to wonder what my mom thinks, or where you stand with her. I'm a lot like that. She doesn't mince words, and she also won't chat you up unless she knows you really well. She was a wonderful mom, and she just gets more and more precious to me all the time.

We enjoyed dinner together Friday night, serenaded by the cicadas. I made Baked Blueberry French Toast (with a side of real bacon) Sunday morning. We shopped, got massages, and I introduced them to the Chick fil'a Chicken Biscuit.

I'm counting the days until our next visit.

It's really what makes the world go 'round, isn't it?