I feel like I’ve been at home for weeks. I can’t say that it’s been a “good” trip, considering the circumstances, but it is nice to visit with family. I finally got to meet my new little cousin Colton (what do you call the child of your first cousin? that always confuses me) this afternoon.

Baby Colton

At the funeral home on Thursday, I got re-acquainted with my dad’s cousin’s wife…I don’t get to see them much as they live outside of Chicago, but we hit it off quite well. She wanted to adopt me by the time they left on Friday. I had heard that she was from Scotland, but thought it odd that she had barely a trace of an accent. Later, at my grandparent’s house, she was talking with some people and “did” her Scottish accent. She said that when she talks to her brother, he tells her “Talk Scottish, or I’m hangin’ up!” Hee.

I thought I recognized the accent, so I asked her what part of Scotland she was from. Glasgow, she said…ah, yes. X’s family came from Glasgow. So I’ve retained the ability to recognize the accent. 😉 It was then that I realized that she reminded me a bit of X’s mom.

I really liked X’s mom, when she wasn’t driving me crazy. He was my first boyfriend whose family really welcomed me in and treated me like I was one of them. J’s family was messed up…completely messed up…and so it was my family who took him in. K’s family never warmed up to me. I always felt like an outsider with them. So yeah, I really, really missed X’s family when we broke up. I missed them long after I stopped missing him.

Gah…where the heck was I going with this?

Anywho, it’s always the same at these things, isn’t it? Seeing family you haven’t seen in way too long. Hugging and saying “we should get together more.” And you say it, and you mean it…but you rarely do. You’re just back at the next one, saying the same thing. Sigh.

I was pretty together Thursday night at the funeral home…but then at the end of the night, the choir my dad sings with came in en masse, apparently straight from rehearsal. I got a bit choked up. They stayed for the wake service, and at the end of it, they sang a verse of “Immaculate Mary”. My dad’s choir is amazing. People around here almost unanimously agree that the Sacred Heart choir is the best church choir in the area. So needless to say, as soon as they began singing, everyone started to cry.

After the service, the priest came and asked me if I’d do the readings at Mass on Friday. Of course I agreed…and after Mass, several people commented me on what an excellent job I did. Hey, sometimes those public speaking skills pay off…

My uncle served in the Navy, so there was a burial detail. We all stood outside the church, and it was COLD. The little old VFW guys had a rough time folding the flag. Seriously. It took way longer than it should have, and it ended up looking sort of floppy and unkempt.

Afterwards, it was off to the luncheon where we made all kinds of small talk with all kinds of people I didn’t really know. An old couple who used to live down the street from my grandparents came up to talk to me, and reminded me that their dog bit me in the bum when I was a little kid. Ahhhhh…yes. I remember well. Actually, what I remember more than the actual bite was my great fear of the tetanus shot in the emergency room. I screamed and cried and howled, and the very kind, calm emergency room doctor talked to me, distracting me while the nurse snuck in from behind to administer the shot. It was over before I realized she was doing it! Weird…I hadn’t thought of that in years.

Friday night, my mom and I went for a fish fry with my aunt and uncle at their church. We ran into the mother of one of my former classmates who asked “Are you back?”

Back?

“No, just visiting.”

I immediately thought that was weird. I mean, is your immediate assumption upon seeing someone in their hometown normally that they’ve moved back to town? She then goes on to tell me that her daughter (who lives in Raleigh and just *loves* it) got married this fall (aside…I always thought there was a chance said daughter might be a lesbian…) and wants to have a baby immediately. She followed that up with “You know, she’s worried about getting too old.”

Ach. That again. I suppose people just don’t think that those kinds of comments might be irritating to the unmarried woman who is the same age as their daughter.

But anyway…

Mom and I rented “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” which was actually really, really cute. I think Topher Grace is adorable…much more appealing than Ashton Kutcher…and I thought he fit the part very well. I even cried at the end.

Topher as Pete

“I can’t believe ‘Win a Date with Tad Hamilton’ made me cry,” I told my mom. 😉

Actually, it even gave me a wee bit of inspiration for that screenplay my friend Anita asked me to write…

Today, I’ve had the opportunity to be lazy, which I am quite thankful for. Unfortunately, I had to miss Dayna’s baby shower…ah, well…and tomorrow, I must force myself back into the routine…planning, correcting, etc.

Thank you to all who posted words of encouragement this past week. It really means a lot to me.