Travel, travails

Mama and I have been on the road the last couple days.. Me for work. Her to visit with Aaron, Maggie and the grandkids. We left early Tuesday morning on a flight to Charlotte, NC. Since Maggie and Aaron live only a few hours from there, they drove over to meet us. The flight over was one of the most uncomfortable I have been on recently. I took the middle seat so Mama could accommodate her non-bending leg. The seats were the narrowest I have ever sat in on any plane. It would not have been so bad but the man to me left was so large that he took a portion of the shoulder of my seat requiring me to sit crookedly the entire trip. He never offered to accommodate my shoulders. Never hinted that he would be willing to share the armrest. He got comfortable and never budged. His shoulder and his arm against me the whole way. So, I had to lean into Mama’s space. It would have been interesting if Mama had not been there to share her space with me. If my row-mate ever realized he was crowding me uncomfortably, he never made mention of it. It was only three hours so, Mama and I made do.

Maggie, Aaron and the kids met up with us right outside of the airport. Their timing was perfect.  We had to play find-me-if-you-can for about thirty minutes, but we got it all worked out and had a leisurely lunch together before heading to Rock Hill where I was to teach a class on Wednesday. Aaron went with me to the site where I met with my host and got a feel for what I would need to do to set up for the class the next morning. That took about an hour as I visited with a couple employees who would be in the class. Then Aaron and I headed for the hotel to catch up to Mama, Maggie and the kids. By that time, it was after 4 pm. The room we got was a suite – sort of. We made do with one bed and a foldout couch. The kids slept on pallets of blankets on the floor. We only got fussed at one time because Kathryn and Walter were too loud and we, the adults, were talking over them. Hotel management came to the door to tell us that someone near us was complaining about the noise. So, we toned it down as much as we could. Overall, we had a great visit. Both the grandkids warmed up to Mama and me very quickly. I think it helps to do the Facetime chats, so we are easily recognizable to the grandkids. Regardless, Walter attached himself to Grammy right away. Now they have something to really remember us by. Both Kathryn and Walter are delightful children. Don’t get me wrong. Maggie and Aaron have their work cut out for them, but they have the beginnings of great personalities.  They just need to be kept busy – very busy.

I was up early Wednesday morning, managing to get dressed without disturbing anyone. Getting out of the room was another problem. The light in the hallway and the noisy latch on the door prohibited a quiet exit from the room and I was quickly joined in the lobby by Aaron and Kathryn. Mama followed a little later. I left them a little later and headed to work.  My class went well other than a huge issue with the electronics at the facility. We ended up bypassing all the built-in electronics and adapted with some secondary substitutes. It was a good class. For a municipality, it was a relatively young class. It struck me that the information we were sharing was timely for this client. I was done at my normal time – about 3:45 pm. Everyone was waiting at the hotel for me when I finished. They were ready to get back out.

We went out to Chick-fil-a for dinner because they had a play place and the kids needed a place to play. We were there for about an hour before we ordered, which allowed the kids time to get some of their energy out. We wandered around Hobby Lobby for another hour before we went back to the hotel. Still, when we started to get the kids laid down for the night, they had way too much energy left to burn. Getting them quieted and stilled took a while, but eventually they slept. And they slept well. Parting the following morning was no fun, but we got through it. Maggie and Aaron got home well before Mama and I did. It was a really good visit. I am glad all of us made the extra effort to make it happen.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Victoria was dealing with her own issues. Late in the evening on Wednesday Kobe tracked down a skunk that has been raiding the dog dishes on the front porch. It did not go well for Kobe. She took a direct hit in the face. Victoria told Mama Kobe was scraping her face on the grass to try to get the sting out of her eyes. We suggested Victoria use buttermilk to wash Kobe down. Even though we did not have any buttermilk in the house, we had milk and vinegar to substitute. That seemed to do the trick. By the time we got home, Kobe had already been cleared to get back into the house. All this happened while she was watching Trace and Krystal’s boy. Krystal is in the hospital waiting to deliver Savanna.

It’s good to be home.