Uber Fail and then Awesomeness

The morning we flew out of Ft. Myers, we attempted to hail an Uber car for our trip to the airport.  Two of our friends have had great luck with them, so we thought, "Why not?"  Gary had signed up a few days before and had run a few tests to check for availability.  There seemed to be only two local cars, but at the time of the test, they were available for the run.  So we decided would hail them again on our flight morning and save a little money than getting a hired car.

WELL, fail.  Hailing them brought forth no answers.  We had to hire a car anyway, but we got to the airport in plenty of time and had a good flight home.  It had been a long time since I'd flown into National Airport.

I love the window seat in an airplane.  Leaving Florida, I'd look down and see sand and ocean and swamps and seriously crowded neighborhoods and man-made islands.  Coming into D.C., snow had lightened the landscape and the monuments were so beautiful from the air, I almost got weepy.

We rented a car and got on the road and, of course, got stuck in some traffic coming home, but finally, we were pulling into our driveway.

We'd made plans to see my daughter and her family the next day, but we let them know we had arrived.  They came by shortly thereafter.

It was so good to see them; Saul came in the door exclaiming, "I made you a present, I made you a present."  He handed me a box and I pulled out a beautiful string of beads.  He told me if I ever broke it that he would make me a new one.  Who was this taller kid with the full sentences? 

I got weepy then; he tears started to flow.  My daughter laughed and said that he had predicted that, "Oma will cry."  Ha ha.  We had big hugs and my rib injury must have healed because I had no pain, only good love.

I had never been away from any of my kids for so long, so the changes in their little ones were so obvious.  Taller, more talkative, AND, best of all, they didn't forget me.  I saw my son and his daughter a few days later at my daughter's house and then his whole family on Saturday night when I sat for Caylee while they went to a party and then at Saul's birthday party the day before we had to fly back to Fort Myers.  They get together as much as possible for Saul and Caylee to know each other. 

That little girl is a dynamo, always moving and playing.  I did get a kiss before we left, which was a lovely surprise.

Saul had been lactose intolerant for most of his early life, but recently he's been able to stomach cheeses and a little milk.  I had gone grocery shopping for the house and stopped by to see him.  I had some lovely cheese to try so I opened them and we had a little tasting session.  First I gave him some brie and he wasn't too keen on it.  Then we tried a bit of Manchego.  He liked that.  Then he asked to try the Brie again.   "Mmmmm," he said with a smile on his face.  My little gourmand.  Love it.

Later in the day, we were having a snack when he started singing "Let it Go" from the movie "Frozen," which I had just seen while we were in Stuart, FL.  He was awesome; and especially when he lowered his voice for the part:  "Cold never bothered me anyway." I attempted a videotape, but he said he was just going to smile for me.  The second time, he did start singing "Let it Go," but it quickly segued into "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

I know I'm babbling on, but my heart was so full during this time on reconnection. 

Being able to see my best friends was also wonderful; I didn't have an awful lot of time because my family was my first priority, but there was some great visiting done, for sure.  The time spent with my girlfriends is priceless.  A wonderful friend of mine had tried to arrange a flash mob for me.  You see, somewhere on Facebook, I had talked about the sound of the shrimps chewing on the bottom of the boat and how it was a noise that I had gotten used to. How was I going to sleep in a normal bed now that I wouldn't feel like I was in a bowl of Rice Krispies?  Well, she was hoping to get folks to come by dressed like crustaceans and singing some song.  I love her for trying, but she had no takers.  She still came over one evening and during her time there, another friend asked if she could come over.  Sure, I said, more's the merrier.  Well, THIS friend did come dressed as a crustacean.  Oh man, we laughed so hard.  I'm glad I attract a fantastic world of crazy.  They feel like family.

Speaking of family, I made sure to see my dad and stepmom.   After telling some of our sailing tales, my dad said he was sure I wasn't going to make it.  He doesn't realize that has been an inspiration; he was one of the only of his siblings that got out of Mississippi to see the world (via the U.S. Army).  He also made me laugh really hard, though I don't know if it was appropriate.  He's being treated with hormones for the prostate cancer and, out of the blue, with a surprised look on his face, he exclaimed, "Man, I've been getting hot flashes!"with a very doleful look, like Why Me?  I'm sorry, those are words I never expected out of my father's mouth.  Maybe it's good he knows what women go through in their later years. 

My stepmom seems to be doing well, not slowing down very much even though she is plagued by health problems, too.  I like that about her, but understand that my dad has never been a real social kind of guy, so as long as he's comfortable, I'm happy.

It was good having the dishwasher and the laundry machines available at the house, though I do like the speed at which laundry is done in a laundromat (two hours, wash and dried, three loads).  It was especially nice having a car to drive to things instead of having to walk; I did find that when I was at the grocery store, my mind was more on what I could carry rather than what I needed.  I had to remind myself it was okay to get more because I had a mechanized cart to lug things home easily.

As it always is, the time home was short and after teary farewells, we had to hop another plane to leave the cold and head back to the sunny climes in Florida. Well, that's what we thought . . . .