Trip to Kansas

I made a super-quick, impromptu trip home last weekend. My parents were supposed to come visit us until my dad managed a triple Lutz off of the end of his pick up and broke his foot. For those of you that don't know my dad, he does things all the way and this foot fracture was no exception. They FAXED me a COPY of the x-ray and you could see the giant thing as clear as day (usually you can't even figure out what body part the x-ray is of once it has been copied, much less faxed). So my farmer father was on two crutches with his foot in a boot and not very happy about it. He and my mother were planning on coming to visit us, but it didn't look like a good idea with my dad dragging his broken self around. Jake was already headed to KS for work and I was able to swing a few days off (which probably won't happen again for a while but that is a totally different post) so off I trotted to the Columbia, SC airport at 4:30 a.m last Thursday to board a plane.

Driving to catch a flight is totally stressful. Of course it was worse because I was driving myself as Jake was already in KS. I don't care if you live 8 miles from that airport, there is always something that can happen to make you miss your flight, and at 4:30 in the morning you are pretty sure at least 3 of them will happen. Anyway, I did not get a flat tire, hit a deer, forget my luggage, get lost, get carjacked, hit a homeless guy, forget my ID, get mugged in the parking lot or try to smuggle a bomb on the plane, so I was just pretty happy when I plopped down in my seat on the plane. I promptly took my Dramamine, put on my sleep mask, IPOD, neck pillow and went back to sleep. I am the perfect seat companion on planes because I usually sit in the window seat and I hate to fly so much I try not to be conscious for any of the experience. Unfortunately if you are looking for a chatty seat companion you better lean across the aisle.

My poor dad picked me up at the airport looking pathetic but perky so we went to lunch at a really fun restaurant in Old Towne in Wichita. Some Latin joint that was delicious for sure. My mom and dad got a new car, so I am still recovering from the whiplash that is a result from my father's secret wish to drive all things as fast as they are possibly meant to go.

The rest of the weekend was really low key and relaxing. There were humongous and delicious steaks, some Stuga beers, and a trip to Brookville. Jake's folks came to Lindsborg on his dad's birthday/KSU game and Jake's mom brought 3 types of desserts. We are all still recovering from that. We also got to see all of our grandparents so that was really fantastic. I am also happy to report that with some much needed and brilliant Physical Therapy my dad was up walking with one crutch with a much smaller calf, and was much happier by the time I left. Mission Accomplished. (Probably good that he did well with one crutch as we managed to lose one out of the back of the pickup on Saturday evening...It was Toll-a-riffic.)

Usually when we come home we run around all over the place. I was sad to not see everyone, but really good to actually relax. Don't be sad if we didn't see you this time. We will be through for the Christmas Whirlwind of the world in December!

On the trip back Jake and I were on the same plane to Memphis, where we split up to head to our two different airports in SC, to our two separate cars both located about 1 hour from our house. Lord knows we would hate to do anything the easy way...that is just not how we roll!