And with the roar of engines, and a van headed west and a rental car headed toward the airport, the house is back to its normal occupancy. This was a wonderful weekend, full of family, fun and a cacophony I’ve never had in any house I’ve lived in.

Today, we started out with cereal and leftover apple fritters from the Donut Palace for breakfast. Darla always has the kids make concrete handprints for the garden, and after breakfast this morning, she set to doing that again, along with help from Katie and surprise visitor Kevin. Once the kids finished with that, it was time for the families to pack up and load up for their trips.

Morgan and crew left first, headed for Sedalia, after hugs and kisses all around. Shortly after, the rest of us piled up in our cars and headed to lunch at Miss Sherrie’s Cafeteria with Beck’s dad. As always, Miss Sherrie’s did us well, and from there, the rest of us split up, with the Colorado Days headed toward the airport, Beck ferrying her father home, and me taking Sio home.

I returned to sweet, sweet silence in the house. 🙂

Even with all these folks in the house, I still had no sense of being crowded or sardined in the house. Nonetheless, I can still feel the difference with the house just down to me and Darla again. I wouldn’t have traded this visit for anything though — it was fun!

Time now for a nap though…..

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Invasion of the family, that is! Beck’s brother from Virginia and his brood, along with the Colorado Days are planning to converge upon the house come Wednesday and Thursday. Add to that Sio and Hailey, and this will be the first time all the cousins have been together since mine and Beck’s wedding six years ago.

And, of course, they’re all staying here. Ten extra bodies in the house. Wow.

Not too many years ago, that would’ve paralyzed me. I’ve never had that much family hanging around — there just weren’t many of us growing up, and we were really spread out. When I first came into Beck’s family, it was like instantly sprouting a whole family, and that I was not ready for. Every year, I’ve gotten more adjusted to it though, and now I face the invasion of the Days with ease, happiness, and some excitement!

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Today, Beck and I spent the day with Sio and our neice, Hailey.

Hailey’s a great kid, and visits with Beck’s brother for the summer. She’s just arrived, and we thought it would be fun to get the girls together. Sio just doesn’t get to see the extended family too much, so every chance we get, we try to help that happen.

We started out the day at Carl’s Drive-In — the best burgers in St. Louis! This little hole in the wall is near our corporate office, and since my return to Weldon Spring last year, I don’t get to visit Carl’s too often. My oh my, have I forgotten what I was missing! I’ve raved about their burgers and frosty-mug root beer before in the forum, and I will rave again — that was really good stuff!

After stuffing our faces full of burgers and fries, we went to Tropicana Lanes for a little bowling. The girls weren’t doing too bad, and I was bowling well, so we decided to bowl against each other — their combined scores against mine, with the loser(s) buying ice cream for the winner(s). I bowled horribly that last game, and the girls were thrilled that they beat up on the old man. A trip to Mr. Wizards for some custard and shakes, and the debt was paid.

I think everyone had a good time, and I know we’ll be bowling again — I’ve gotta redeem myself! 🙂

I saw Sio’s grandmother tonight for the first time since her stroke. Man, what a difference.

Judy’s a fiesty woman, and seeing her in the aftermath of her stroke is just flat alarming. To me, her eyes were distant, and it kinda seemed like she didn’t entirely grasp what was going on around her. Knowing what she was like before the stroke, it’s heartbreaking to see that much change in her.

I can truly say that I want to avoid anything even remotely close to this kind of event in my life. If this isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is.

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I went to pick up Sio today… only to learn that her maternal grandmother, Mimi, suffered a “small stroke” sometime during the day. I don’t think it’s life-threatening, but it’s definitely of concern.

Mimi smokes like a chimney, and has for as long as I have known her. I have to assume that there’s some connection there, something about which Sio is gonna talk to her. Sio’s already lost one grandparent to smoking-related illness — she doesn’t need to go through that again.

I wouldn’t wish this kind of affliction on my worst enemy. I’m not a huge control freak — a “lowercase” type A, so I’ve been told — but losing control of myself seems to me to be the worst fate of all. I watched my grandmother — an otherwise active person — taken down by ALS, and I’m sure that furthered my paranoia about losing control…. be that mentally or physically.

I wish her all the best, and a quick and effective recovery.

Today, as on many Sundays, I took Sio home. The sky was overcast, and the radio was blaring. With the temperature near 70 today (in February!), we had the sunroof open, and were talking about deep philosophical things, like music and life, school and slugbugs.

Suddenly, one of the clouds above us starting spitting tiny raindrops, which grew larger and larger. I asked Sio if she was getting wet, and she told me no, but we should leave the roof open, because sometimes it’s good to get wet.

She’s right. In her own way, she was telling me to decompress, relax, and not sweat the small stuff. If the truck gets a few raindrops on the inside, it’s not big deal. And she’s right.

I’ve bruised a lot of brain cells, worrying over “what if” and “why not” and “how come”. Now, it’s time for me to take charge, and not worry about answering those questions — or others — and focus more on living my life planfully, with some good obtainable goals out there for me to work toward.

Yes, sometimes it’s good to get wet. And I think I sense a storm a brewing….. 😉

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Today is Sio’s 11th birthday — well at 9.28pm ET. She’s turning into quite the young lady, curious about everything, and fearful of nothing.

She is blindly confident in the appeal of my photography, and tonight was counselling me, trying to allay my concerns about getting my work out there. Of course, like most children, she believes her parents can do no wrong, but it’s her fearlessness that is inspiring.

I could learn a lot from her… and I have!