The good and the bad

We have returned from our trip. It was relaxing, fun and great to reconnect, even with some folks from high school that generally always intimidated me.

The Good
Seeing my family, celebrating my birthday with them for a change, seeing my older sister 38 days from giving birth to baby number two, seeing my younger sister who serendipitously was in Dallas after all, taking a trip to Pecos with my mother, seeing family in Pecos and checking that everyone was doing well, the excitement that life in the small oil towns now that life is finally perking up, visiting the sand hills of Monahans with Mom even if we couldn't go sledding on the sand, seeing the meteor site in Odessa, getting my picture taken in front of a pump jack, eating lunch at the double-wide Pecos Valley Country Club, renting a PT Cruiser in Odessa since my mom has always wanted to drive one, watching Andy catch his first fish with his uncle Mark, giving a baby scrapbook to my sister, going to the Dallas World Aquarium and seeing the sea otters eat, visiting the Dallas County Club and watching that Andy is loving the water after years of being afraid, watching Andy swim with my dad, visiting my grandparents graves in Pecos with my mother and Oak Hill in Dallas with my dad, watching Andy play with his cousin Megan, seeing my pediatrician who gave good advice on the ear tubes question, leaving Andy with my sister overnight so Bjorn and I could go out without a deadline other than our own fatigue, seeing high school classmates, all the awesome thunderstorms that I love to track and watch, the great birthday presents including clothes, a GPS, books and Dots candy.

The Bad
Arriving in Dallas with poison ivy and then developing heat rash (I am oh-so-sexy), mosquito bites, lack of sleep due to Andy waking up scared in a new location, the crowds at the aquarium, my mom having her wallet stolen at Northpark, losing a bag coming back, the Texas heat, running into high school classmates, wasting $18 and 2 1/2 hours of my life on Spider Man 3.

All in all, a great trip. It is going to be hard to go back to work on Monday.