Because The Weekend, It Was A Busy Time

This was the weekend of The Entire Family And Then Some.

Son and his family came in town late Thursday night. I met them Friday after work at the rehab center long enough to say hello and give Cutie a hug before I went to my part-time job.

Saturday I got to sleep in, then got to work cleaning house. By the time Cutie got here to spend the night, I was about a quarter of the way through a job that would take an army of thirty another week to finish if they worked rotating shifts for twenty-four hours a day.

Suffice it to say the house was and still is a mess.

However, I managed to shovel out the greater part of the mess so that we could have the entire family over for a cookout on Sunday to celebrate Hubster's birthday. But not before I enjoyed watching Shrek for the 132nd time with my granddaughter, feeding her the favorite meal of mac and cheese (and ice cream), and settling down to bed with her for the night.

What I didn't know was that she would turn sideways in the bed and kick me in the back all night long. But that was a small price to pay for the gift of having her here. A small price indeed. Even Grandpa loved it when he came in from work early in the morning and found her on his side of the bed. When he tried to move her, she just settled in a little further over. Still on his pillow, but a little further over. He just smiled and stared at her. I finally picked her up and moved her onto my pillow, feet facing the right direction this time.

She's a slow one to wake up. She likes to take her time, taking in her surroundings, not bothering to talk until she's ready. She likes to snuggle when she first wakes up, but she's not much on smiling. That's fine with me. I'm the same way.

So the two of us woke up slowly together before going downstairs to face the day. After Cheerios for her and coffee for me, Shrek got another play as I got down to business and got things ready for the meal at noon. Nine adults, two teenagers, and three grandchildren showed up...the first time we've had the entire family together at our house since I can remember.

We had hamburgers and brats. There were baked beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, potato chips, fresh tomatoes and a relish tray full of all kinds of pickles, olives, and beets. Everyone ate until they could eat no more.

And then we had cake.

Everyone went home except my mother-in-law. She decided to stay a few days. Which, of course, is fine. Because my cousin from Texarkana and his wife and my cousin from Alabama and his wife came in Sunday evening to spend a few days as well.

But not before I collapsed in the bed with a migraine.

Because nothing says "party" like a migraine.