I just returned from a week visit from the US. It was good just to see my family and let my grandmother know how much I love her. Right before I left, my godmother told me that our family isn’t very demonstrative but she knows how much this meant to my grandma. We will know more about the cancer later on but her spirits and mind are well. Maybe the trip was more for myself, I don’t know – I just wanted to feel better about myself for doing the right thing? There were a lot of good conversations with my family and it’s always good to feel like you are learning more about yourself and them. I’m not sure what will happen when my grandmother passes away because she is very much the matriarch of the family.

I saw my a-mother while I was there. It is still awkward for us all. I try to be civil but most times I find myself being very judgmental of everything – how fake her personality it, how morbidly obese she is, how thankful I am that I am not longer part of that family. I picked up a card at the local Kwik Trip and I hear a-mother say, “OMG I almost bought the same card. THAT would have been awkward.” I was talking to my cousins about having a paper route when I was there age and I hear her say under her breath, “ You never did the paper route, I always did it with ‘the boys’.” I just sit there thinking to myself WTF but at the same time I feel sorry that she has such a skewed sense of reality. My sense of reality is off so the fact that I can all out hers is something else.....

I also got to meet up with a few friends when I was there which is always nice. I saw my in-laws and my SIL took my shopping so I could buy some things to bring back to the US. I never really know what to think of my SIL, but it was really nice of her to take me around shopping.

When cHubby tried to pick me up from the airport, we developed a scheme so we wouldn’t have to pay without having to actually park the car. It turns out that you can’t do this, and you can only drop people off in certain areas. I was tired so we swapped places – cHubby had my luggage and I drove the car and parked. He found me 15 minutes later and we headed home. There were a lot of phone calls and screaming.....all to save 10 dollars. I actually miss traveling with him. I like having him there to lean on during my flight, someone to watch guard when I clean the seats with my wet wipes, and travel companion in case the plane ever crashes.