"Make the best of this test and don't ask why ..."

So I took a day to recover from the drive.

We left on Friday morning to visit family in Columbus GA. Nice, sunny day ... made for a lovely trip. (If you don't count the tension in the car.) Oh, and my earbuds for the new-to-me iPod were drowned in a sea of spilled sweet tea. Only one side works now. Guess I'll look for an affordable replacement soon, since I was truly enjoying my new toy.

Columbus was in a mess when we got there. On Thursday evening, an F2 tornado had torn a path through the north end of town where my Mom lives. Thankfully, the damage was all around her neighborhood ... not IN it. Jimmy got out on Saturday morning and took some pictures of some of the devastation to the businesses in the area. There were many homes destroyed, as well. Mother was without electricity for about 20 hours, and had no cable TV (GASP ... QVC withdrawal!!!) for 48 hours. But less than 2 miles from her, people lost their homes.

Sister Laura drove down for a few hours on Saturday ... and we enjoyed some time at Michael and Patti's house that night, as the family celebrated Hallie's 17th birthday. (17!!?! How is that even possible?)

All in all, a nice weekend ... enjoyed seeing everyone. Well, everyone except the owner of the restaurant where Sister Kay and her kids work ... he's an asshole, who thinks he should be on tour with the Blue Collar Comedy guys. Thhhbbbt. And we never got to see our nephew Josh, who had a bad stomach bug. :-(

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I was thinking outloud while I was there, tossing around the idea of putting together a small family reunion for my Mother's side of the family this summer. There were nine of us cousins who saw each other on a pretty regular basis while we were growing up, and now we only say hello at funerals anymore. And the older generation is down to my Mother, her brother and his wife, and another brother's wife ... only 4 of them over the age of 70. Dat's it. Sad. Anyway, I was thinking maybe I could pick a Sunday in the summer, and a central location like the Pine Mountain/Callaway Gardens area in GA, and send invites. Everybody could bring food and drinks, and we'd all get to know each other again. Key Word: THINKING.

So then the phone rang, and it's my cousin calling to speak to my Mom about my Aunt's recent discharge from rehab, after her heart bypass surgery ... and I hear my Mom telling him, "Oh yes ... Dawn is planning a reunion for us all this summer!"

Gotta learn to SHADDUP.

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*WAVE* *AIR KISSES* *ANOTHER WAVE* ... to Adam, who is all the way up in Montreal again. This time, for fifteen-freaking days. I hope it goes by really fast for you, honey. We miss you.

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I'm taking advantage of the "available to me for life" psychologist today. I'm going to try to talk as fast as I can while I'm with him, so I can get it all OUT. I'm hoping he'll whip out the narcotics AND the Valium, but he'll probably just make me stand up and say "I AM WORTH WHATEVER IT TAKES" ... over and over again, until my time is up. We shall see.

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Tomorrow is the night Jimmy will be hosting his poker buddies here. I should probably start to think about what to throw out on the table for them to eat. I can't decide between taco soup in the crock pot, or a layered Mexican dip with tortilla chips.

Either way, I'll be in the bedroom with American Idol ... with my Antonella-hatin' self.

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Thanks Amy for the compliments!!! I don't hear it very often, and it's hard for me to "just say thanks" ... I should probably add that to the list for Dr. Russell today.