The Dynamic Duo

Sometimes when you have been away for a long time, its kind of hard to come back. There is SO much to tell, yet so little that I hardly know where to begin. Perhaps I’ll ease back in gently so I won’t scare me (and you) off.
Last weekend I spent with family, which is always a tonic to my spirits. When I thought about it I realized that not one of these people is related to me by blood, and when I further thought about it, I realized that it didn’t matter in the slightest. Let me start by saying I don’t think I could live here if it weren’t for my sister-in-law Pat. I have always liked her, but now she has become one of my closest friends. I know I can drop in any time and always be welcome. And, of course, she is Murphy’s Grandmother, as she is the “mother” to both of his birth parents. But the person I really couldn’t live in Carlin without is my husband, UltraDad. If he hadn’t been here, there would have been no point in moving, right? Okay, I know this sappy stuff is kind of boring, so I’ll leave it there.
Pat’s son Billie is UltraBob’s oldest cousin, and they were always pretty close. Billie and his sisters Chenoa and Mary spent a lot of time in Howe when they were growing up. Billie is now a practicing attorney in Cheyenne, WY and is married to Brandi, who also practices law, and who is cute, smart, funny, and an awesome Trivial Pursuit player. Billie & his family lived in Eureka, NV for about 5 years when he was young, and when he was in college in Reno, Billie hooked back up with some childhood friends and ended us working several summers in the courthouse in Eureka. He is still a member of their VFW, and was invited to be their featured speaker at this year’s Memorial Day ceremonies.
Billie and Brandi brought with them, on this long and arduous journey, their 7 year old nephew Dalton, one of 4 children belonging to Brandi’s sister. Second from oldest, with ages ranging from 8 year to 2 years, Dalton suffers somewhat from “Middle Child Neglect Syndrome” and when asked if he wanted to take a trip with his favorite aunt and uncle replied “I would be delighted.”
Besides the extra attention, he got to do a lot of cool things. He got to see horses, cows, geese and kittens at Aunt Kathy Lear’s house, baby poodle puppies at Aunt Pat’s house, and learned to play Cribbage and Crazy 8 with Aunt Kathy McDonald, Pat and Brandi. He had a little menagerie of his own by the time the trip was over; I gave him a little dog I got in a Happy Meal one time. He named it Kizzy after a dog he used to have, and it played pretty happily with my own Happy Meal dog, a dalmation named Idaho. His Aunt bought him a toy horse in IFA, the farm goods store, hiis Uncle bought him a toy snake in the variety store in Eureka, and he also had a lion from somewhere. The snake was sometimes pretty nice, but other times was lying on someone’s bed trying to scare them. (It looked and moved a little too realistically). We all went to see the movie “Over the Hedge.” It was about this racoon who has to amass a lot of very specific foods for an angry bear, and cons other woodland creatures (including a turtle, manic squirrell and a possum who’s daughter’s name is Heather) into going “over the hedge” to Suburbia to raid garbage cans, cars and homes. I slept throught the first little bit, and missed the major premise, so spent a while wondering what was going on. (the story of my movie-watching life.) Anyway, Billie gave an excellent speech, and if I can wrangle it, I may post a copy for your enlightenment and enjoyment. Afterwards he went to lunch with the VFW dignitaries, and the rest of us had an excellent lunch at the farm home of Billie’s good friend Travis and his parents. Susan and Jim Gallagher had a little apricot poodle they called Louie, who reminded me somewhat of Murphy, though she was much older, daintier and had an odd habit of growling at you when petted.
UltraDad had to work through most of this weekend, but did get to spend most of an evening with everyone. Billie really likes and admires his Uncle John from the summer he spent, along with UltraBob, irrigating on the farm. In fact, when we play pinochle, Billie will have no other partner, and they usually win.
So, all in all, a pretty good weekend for me. How was yours?

UltraMom