TEXAS!

Here we yar in Texas. We got in the day before yesterday, with a surprise for Joedy's parents, June and James: our cat! As I told James, they don't need to worry, we're not trying to pawn Lapis off on them, but I must say he does look very cute on their dryer!

The trip here was long but actually pretty fun, if you like getting in a loud verbal altercation with your husband in the airport, at your gate in front of your fellow passengers. An altercation about, essentially, a certain gourmet airport quesadilla someone #1 wanted to have but that someone #2 didn't walk quickly enough to allow someone #1 to get. Someone #1 was of course extra displeased with this outcome because she had been thwarted out of her first attempt at that quesadilla on the way to Costa Rica! Because, among other things, she'd had a baby strapped to her in the airport and in her lap on the plane! Which was obviously very stressful, and which she kept reminding someone #2 of during their peaceful, harmonious exchange at the gate.

We got to San Antonio in one piece and it was, ok, a huge relief when we saw June and James, who'd already found the eight large and five small suitcases that had come on the earlier flight, the one we missed, and which were waiting there off to the side of baggage claim, Lapis in his crate a few feet away.

Did I mention that June noticed Lapis recognized her when she looked in his crate? That he and she almost seemed to share a special bond (not her words exactly, but it was clear...)? That she fed him salmon as a mid-morning snack today? A few words to all new cat owners: when your cat is being fed salmon by an outside source (though June isn't actually an outside source), you may as well consider yourself a one-time cat owner, as in, the cat is now hanging out with the salmon-provider.

We're staying at June and James's house in Corpus Christi, which I visited this time of year exactly twelve years ago for the first time, when Joedy and I had been together just a few months. Here we are, back with our two kids. And our cat! Did I mention we brought our cat, who looks very cute on their dryer?

We got here with colds, and in addition to a variety of Costa Rican and American cold medicines, we've been fighting them with alcohol-soaked herb poultices, so I'm not feeling quite myself right now. But Lula just called from Jesse and Melissa's (Joedy's brother and sister-in-law) to say she'll be spending the night, and she sounded really happy, as happy as we all are, I think, about--heck--everything, but especially about a couple "things"* happening this spring!

Tomorrow we're going to visit Joedy's grandmother, Earie. I last saw her eight years ago, in 2001, and it goes without saying that I can't wait to see her again. We'll be able to see her and the rest of Joedy's family quite a bit this trip, since we're staying a few weeks, and already it's been great hanging out and reconnecting. I'm looking forward to going back to Costa Rica, it's true, but it's also really nice to be here in Texas, eating Whataburgers and laughing with family...

*secrecy enforced by parents-to-be of said things