I'm Back!

Actually, I don't think I could have asked for a more pleasant trip. It went very smoothly.

Flights were great, the weather was beautiful, my grandma was feeling well the day we visited her, BM was perfect and we ate well and caught up with a lot of people.

I actually met my deceased aunt's parents, who were very nice. It was interesting because the aunt was never very nice but I guess her parents were. So I don't think I had heard much about them or realized they were still friends. When they left, my grandma apologized for the husband for being so boring. LOL. I guess he is a talker, but I actually enjoyed chatting with him. He had some interesting stories to tell - they are all in their 80s.

I don't get a lot of history from my family since I was never close with my grandparents. So I just found it interesting to hear all the stories (some again).

As such, I was very pleased with how the whole thing went. BM really took to my Grandma and she seemed to take to him. I know he would either be an angel or he would be bouncing off the walls. There isn't much in between with him. But for whatever reason he was calm, and did QUITE well. As such, I enjoyed the compliments (I got many). I enjoyed because all I could think was on a bad day the opposite would be what a terrible mom I was. LOL. I've had both. It just depends on the day.

So yes, I was so grateful, I don't think most days he would have sat still for 12 hours. Not that he sat still the entire time, but he did good.

Anyway, I was also a twinge jealous. My other grandmother was just a nasty woman who wanted nothing to do with me until about her 80s. Suddenly she kind of warmed up, but by then it was really too late. My maternal grandma was not nasty, but has always been rather stand-offish. I do have to admit that I was a little jealous to see how well she did with BM. She has also certainly come around with age.

I just can't help but think how lucky BM is that he has had so much time with so many great-grandparents who care for him so much. Dh's grandma we see regularly, and he met dh's grandfather on one occasion. This grandma is the only living grandparent of mine. But BM also sees both of his grandparents all the time and they all adore him. I will always appreciate how lucky he is; he will probably never realize.

I also saw an aunt and a cousin from Kansas. My aunt came to spend some time with my dad since it was a lot closer for her. & oh, BM LOVED her as well. They had lots of fun.

We met one of my cousins for dinner one night. She is working in Denver for now. It is interesting because our family is just so varied. A lot of them just in the backwoods and uneducated (my dad comes from a very large/poor family). But his one sister has the 4 brightest/most educated kids you would ever meet. IT was interesting because I have always thought of this one cousin as a "kid" but she is something like 25 now. Funny enough her brother is a lawyer and wishes to be a farmer. He is trying to save up the money so he can farm for the rest of his life. (That's how my family is I guess, the lawyers just want to be farmers). Anyway, so the cousin I met with is also a lawyer, but just not happy. She is thinking of going into teaching. Anyway, she just said she was saving up all her money so she can take some time off to get a teaching credential, or whatever. We were joking how everyone in her family paid all that money for law school to not even use it. We joked if it had been worth it. I can't say I know if she has school debts between her 3 degrees. But she seemed on top of it.

Just nice, nice people though. Though I never spent much if any time with my extended family I have to admit I always feel comfortable with them. There is just something about family.

Because my family is so frugal, and my grandma is not getting around so well, she just provided lunch and dinner for us. I started to think I would not spend a dime on the entire trip! But I took my parents and aunt out to breakfast on our last day. (We met my cousin for dinner, yes, but we had already eaten and my dad and aunt INSISTED on paying).

Breakfast was all of $20. I told dh when I got home that we owe my parents a NICE meal next time they visit. They paid our $400 airfare and $120 room - 2 nights. I have to say that we could have afforded the trip. I could honestly see repeating that trip on our own sometimes. Not that we could afford to all 4 fly, but the airfare was very reasonable for two.

Oh I am just SO HAPPY my grandma got to meet her great-grandchild (one of 2). Will have to arrange for LM to meet her one of these days. She kept saying she felt bad for our time and expense. Pfffft, it was really nothing. I can see taking LM back next year on my own. Times like this you reason we should have taken more time and expense over the years. I hadn't seen her in 10 years.

My parents are driving back. I will rest easier when they arrive home. It's a shame my mom just hates flying. They spent more on gas than we did on airfare. But they did seem to enjoy themselves!