A Much-Needed Break

Yesterday morning, the wife and I woke up early, packed the car with clothes for a few days, and headed out for Lexington, KY to visit my sister (one I haven't fucked!) and her family. My mood Tuesday night should have been pretty good, but for a variety of reasons I was in a mid-level snit for most of the night, and it started to extend into the morning. Within the first 10 minutes on the road I was well into a coarse, aggressive running commentary on all the idiots who dared to think they belonged on the road with me. The wife finally said (gently) "Babe, this isn't going to be a very fun vacation if you're going to be in a bad mood the whole time."

I thought I'd kept my bad mood fairly well disguised the night before, but apparently I hadn't, and the wife was worried. I apologized, blamed it on general stress and a lack of good sleep over the past two days (at least partially true) and promised to do better. I made an effort to calm down, adjusted my expectations of the other drivers, and went another four hours of the eventual five-and-a-half hours without flying into a rage at every little transgression of everyone else on the road (real or imagined.) By the time we reached our destination, I no longer had to work at being relaxed.

Ever since L came into our lives, my relationship with the other two sisters has been strained. As I wrote earlier, for their own reasons they simply refuse to acknowledge her as a sister and don't want anything to do with her. I used to talk to the middle sister (the one we're visiting) fairly regularly, and the wife and I would get out here on vacation for at least a long weekend two summers out of every three. In the past three years, though, that has changed. I've only talked to her on the phone a handful of times, and those have been polite but obviously strained conversations, and they've been into town to visit the family once.

But a few months ago my sister called and said she really wanted us to come visit, and we decided on this weekend since it worked well into everyone schedule. We got into town just before 2:00 p.m. yesterday, and my sister greeted us warmly and enthusiastically, hugging and laughing and almost crying. My niece came out and I barely recognized her; she's 16 now, about 5'10", and is nothing but legs. She and her older sister (away at college and unable to make it home for the weekend) are both beautiful, and if you saw my sister and her husband you'd know they come by it honestly.

We sat outside for a bit, then decided to head downtown to my BiL's office (he owns a business in the financial field) and to shop a bit. I didn't bring any cigars with, and I wanted to pick up a few for the weekend. The BiL is actually the one who got me started smoking cigars, so I picked a few good ones for him as well. He's a good guy to sit and have a beer and cigar with, and I look forward to that as much this weekend as anything else.

We went to a baseball game (they are part owners of the local, lower-A team) and it was pretty enjoyable. The wife talked someone else's ear off, and my sister and I talked and caught up. We got home and had a few drinks, then off to bed late after a relaxing shower. So a pretty good start to a long weekend.

I don't know how much more I'll be able to write before we get back on Saturday, but know that we're safe and well, and having a good time. Happy Fourth of July to those of you celebrating it, and for those who don't, have a really good weekend!