It was a good trip in a lot of ways. One thing I realized is why I left there in the first place (besides the crappy weather!). My brother drove my dad to the airport to pick me up. I have never been very close to my brothers. I have tried to have a better relationship with them but they never responded to my attempts. When they picked me up, it was like I wasn't even in the car. My brother never even said "hi" to me. Nothing. Not one word from him the whole way back to my dad's house. The two of them talked all the way back. I was really disappointed. Even when I tried to say something, he talked right over me.
When I got to my dad's, he was his usual self and talked non-stop the whole time I was there. He was very glad I was back. He was also his controlling, smothering self. He wouldn't let me drive his car and had to drive me everywhere I wanted to go. There were places I would have liked to have gone by myself (to visit some more friends and visit my mom's grave) without him tagging along. So I felt kind of held captive while I was there. I did get to go out to dinner with my friend Steve for a few hours (my dad drove me to the restaurant to meet him there
). Anyways, enough complaining... on Friday, we went to visit my friend who took my ferret, Moxy. It was great to see him again! He remembered me and gave me lots of kisses! He is doing great! He has 4 other ferret friends to play with there so he is happy. I talked to some neighbor friends of mine for awhile and got caught up with them. By Sunday, my dad was wondering why my brothers hadn't called or stopped by to see me so he insisted on driving to their homes to visit them. It was friendly but mostly they talked to my dad. So I just played with their dogs. Then we stopped at the first Great Clips I worked at and had a wonderful reception from the girls there, so that was nice! I would have liked to have gone to the other GC's I worked at, but my dad didn't want to drive that far.
On Monday, we went to visit my daughter, Naomi! We always meet at an indoor park and playground that has a two story jungle gym type thing (like at McD's). Her mom didn't come since she was sick that day. My dad kept her dad busy talking so I got to talk to her. She is so cute and sweet! She has a great positive attitude and sense of humor. They really have done a wonderful job of raising her! She does know who I am and seems very glad to see me and tell me all about what she is into. We celebrate her birthday and bring a couple of gifts for her each time. I gave her a collection of books all about animals and of course she wants to read the one about horses first! She loves horses and is planning to take riding lessons again this summer which makes me very happy since I was taking riding lessons when I was her age and loved it! We were there for about 3 hours. I will post photos later.
Yesterday, my dad and I stopped at Steve's place so I could say good-bye. I had to ask my dad to stay outside since he was gonna come in with me. I wanted a little bit of privacy! Geez! So Steve and I said our good-byes and he gave me some money to help me with my bills this month. He is planning to come out to San Diego soon so I will get to see him then. (Nothing romantic, just good friends).
I worry about my dad. He is getting old and forgetful. When we pulled out of my brother's driveway, he was wondering why his car wasn't moving forward as he was pumping his foot. I looked down and saw he had his foot on the brake instead of the gas peddle. I hope he doesn't get that mixed up too often, especially the other way around! He is a really bad driver and I am on pins and needles when riding with him (and am probably a very annoying back-seat driver!).
The flight home was uneventful and Lola was a very happy kitty when Mom came home!
So basically, I was reminded of all the reasons I left MN in the first place and am glad to be back out here! I just hope things start falling into place here now for me.
I haven't gotten caught up on the post here yet, so am hoping everyone here was safe from all those horrible tornadoes that swept thru the southern states. Was thinking about you over the weekend! What a terrible mess and feel so bad for the survivors who lost everything including family members.
Oh yeah, we had an earthquake on Friday in Minnesota!!! Only a 2.5 but it sure hit the news! Very, very unusual there!
