On the other hand, it was my family, and I love my extended family. I love all my uncles and aunts and almost all of them were there. I got to see the group of them three different times and interact with them and that was wonderful.
I think I got hugged more times in that three days than I had been touched in the previous decade. (I hate to be touched so I don't normally let people do it, but I make exceptions for family and exceptions for needing human contact, which people usually need in times of stress.)
I stayed at the same place my parents were staying, with my cousins G--- and A---. (I don't have permission to use their names--they might be okay with it but I haven't asked, so they get initials.)
They were great--both with accepting another guest at the last minute (did I mention I made the train ticket reservations the same day I left?) and with just general hospitality. A--'s cooking is absolutely marvelous. She protested she didn't even spend that much time on it. At which point I'm like, how? How did you make all that food, and food that tasted like that, with "not that much time"? (Because I never have that much time, either.)
She told me and showed me a little of her cooking secrets, and I've applied them already in my own life. They aren't really secrets. You know them, I'm sure. For instance. It never occurred to me that you didn't have to eat an entire hard-cooked egg in your salad. Doing so kind of dictates the size of the salad. I didn't realize you could cut one up and then put just a little bit in a little side salad, and put the rest in a sealed container in the fridge for the next day. So you can have a side salad with your regular meal instead of having either "salad" or "something else."
I went for my normal hour walks while I was there. Although they were too polite to say anything, I think they thought I was crazy. They live way out in the country, but that just means the road was two lane and high speed, with no shoulder and fields on either side. I had to step off the road and wait for cars, trucks, and buses to go by, in order not to force them to drive on the other side of the road. My walks sometimes took a little longer than others due to how many times I had to do this.
There was a cow farm I walked past, and the cows were very interested in me. And they moo'ed at me. At home when I go for walks, I get barked at by dogs. Here it was cows. I found this very funny.
I also found it hilarious that cows say the word "moo." Literally. It's like finding a dog that says "bark" instead of making dog barking noises.
Since my train back would get me home Saturday morning at 5 am, and my parents were driving back on Friday, and would get me there by Friday night, I asked if I could go along and drive if they wanted me to.
I guess they wanted me to because I drove the whole way back! The car they had was easy to drive, though, and I think I like having the seat higher off the floor and may look for that feature in the next car I buy, whenever my Prius is no longer viable.
The cats were ecstatic ... eventually. At first they weren't quite sure. After all, I looked like me and I sounded like me but I certainly didn't smell like me. Colby and Thimble investigated my luggage again to give themselves time to think. Apricot just hung back and listened to me talk to them. I offered "Apricot Cuddles" and he almost came in front of me where this takes place after I sit down in the kitchen, but he couldn't quite do it so he bumped my hand apologetically and backed off again.
But once they decided that I was really me after all, then they were extremely glad to see me. Ginger warned me they'd "punish" me for leaving, but they never did, unless you call being extremely clingy for a week punishment. I just enjoyed having velcro kitties. (Thimble is always a bit of a velcro cat anyway, though.)
I found out (during the trip--I was texting my friend every night to see how the cats were doing) that Colby (shame on him) was hiding under the sofa with Apricot. I don't think he would have been doing that if he hadn't had Apricot's example to follow though.
Thimble, on the other hand, was even talked into playing with a wand toy a bit. My friends really tried to take good care of them, but it's hard when you only get to see one of the three (and Colby's eyes reflecting out from under the sofa when peered in at).
They get weighed every week, and I discovered that during that week they all lost weight. Apricot lost nearly half a pound (and when you only weigh 12 pounds and some, that's a lot). However, as I write this it is two weeks later, and they've all gained weight this week. Thimble even managed to get back above 16 pounds. Apricot didn't gain it all back--I hope he doesn't actually, as he is a little chubby at the moment.
So the trip didn't seem to damage the relationships between the four of us at all, and in some ways, they seem to have strengthened. Yesterday morning when I woke up I had Colby on the one side next to my head (which is not unusual; happens randomly) but I also had Apricot sleeping on the other side of my head. Which is highly unusual and never happens. He often comes up to see me on the bed after I wake up in the morning but before I get out of bed, but I've never woken up to have him there asleep next to me. He didn't do it this morning, but then, Colby doesn't always sleep on the bed with me either.
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