1. My daughter is home!!! I went up on Thursday and collected her at the Amtrak parking lot where three and a half weeks earlier the same bus had pulled away as tears rolled down my face. I cried this time, too, but with the sheer relief and joy at seeing her jumping up and down and waving at me as the bus made the turn. Her eyes were brimming, too, as she clung to her new friends and the counselors, promising to see everyone next year. When I asked if camp was too long, too short, or just right, she replied, "Way too short!", then gave me a big smile and asked where the closest In-N-Out burger was. She sang me every camp song there is as we drove to the airport, showed me that she kept all the e-mails and letters we sent her in a special place in her trunk, and then she fell asleep on the plane ride home.
I say, way too long*.
2. It's no weeks until my niece gets to California. She called me yesterday:
Her: Hi Auntie Shar! Tomorrow I am coming to California. But you know what the problem is?
Me: There can't possibly be a problem with coming to California tomorrow! We're so excited to see you!
Her: The problem is, I have to get on an airplane for about 5 hours, and the airplane has to go to Arizona, and it stops for a long time, and then it goes again, but it's more hours, and then it comes to California.
Me: I see.
Her: And, I have to get up at 8 in the morning and go to the airport first.
Me: Here's the thing. Imagine if you did all of that. You get up at 8 in the morning. You go to the airport. You sit there for hours and hours. You go to Arizona. You sit for some more hours. And at the end? You were right back in MICHIGAN!
Her: [Huge fit of giggles]. That would be BAD!
Me: See you tomorrow!
Her: See you tomorrow, Auntie Shar!
Report from my sister this morning: She gets on the plane, and literally is pushing the side of the plane with both feet and one hand to make it go faster to California. I love that girl.
3. I got a free fro yo today at Menchie's.
4. Jazzy, fan of strawberry shortcakes, is pregnant!
5. Michael Jackson is doing well. My mom gave me the full report on our drive to my house the other day.
Her: Well, Michael Jackson is just fine.
Me: [Afraid I have missed some major news bulletin about autopsy results] He is?
Her: Yes. [Beaming] His fans have paid off all that debt. Isn't that something?
Me: Mm hmm.
Her: And, he's helping all the other celebrities.
[Now I'm just afraid in general]
Her: They can see what not to do now. He showed them the pitfalls of all that craziness, and the drugs and the doctors and doing shows when you are sick and all that nonsense. You know how I'm worried about Beyonce. She came right out and said she has dual personalities. She says she is one person when she goes onstage, and then a totally different person the rest of the time. It's just not right, but that's someone that Michael can help. Poor Brittany, too. Even Miley Cyrus is in danger, but because of Michael, I think she might be OK.
[She sighs with relief]
He can truly rest in peace.
And, with my whole family back at home, so can I.
* In truth, it was probably just right, as every single stitch of clothing that she owned was absolutely filthy, her legs were a scabby, mosquito-bitten mess, and it took an hour in the bathtub for her to become recognizable again as she emerged from under a thick layer of dirt. If all the kids came home this way, they may need to truck in some more soil for the farm. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the stains on her shirt.
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