Goodbyes, Hellos, and Softball

After last goodbye visits to Ernestine and Leah from brothers Garry and Keith and wife Barbara, Gerald loaded the car trunk with multiple suitcases and bags. He transferred the car seat for Emmy over to our back seat from Garry’s car that Ernestine and Leah had been borrowing during their visit here from Wyoming. A little later than we hoped, we left Woodsong and headed to Saint Louis. We weren’t on a strict schedule, but Ernestine and Leah wanted to check into their motel by the airport in time to have a good night’s sleep before the flight back to Rock Springs.

We stopped at the post office in Marion for Leah to take in excess items collected while here to mail home, and we stopped at Saint Clair Square to find a restaurant for our evening meal. By the time we were in Saint Louis heading west to the airport, Emmy was protesting loudly that she had enough of that car seat. At that point, we began to notice that we were moving very slowly and finally to realize we were stuck in a traffic jam that had been created by a wreck ahead. With her mother on one side and her grandmother on the other to entertain her, Emmy quieted and really did well as we sat still or occasionally inched forward. When that ordeal was over, we were almost there.

Their first floor room was waiting for them with a crib in place, and Gerald quickly found a cart to pile their luggage on to take to their room as they would have to do the next morning when they caught the shuttle bus to carry them to their flight. We left hurriedly because we were saddened by farewells and we knew how tired everyone was. (We learned from follow-up phone calls this afternoon that Ernestine had not slept very much worrying that the crib was not up to code. Leah slept well because she had been up and down every hour and a half the night before with teething Emmy at our house.)

Gerald had been working in his shop all week when he had spare moments to redesign some part of the softball batting tees that he delivered last weekend and then found out one part did not work as he hoped. He thought our daughter-in-law Vickie would be coming through this weekend and could take them on to Athens. After we got in late Thursday night from Saint Louis, he also talked the next morning of delivering them himself to Oxford, Mississippi, where Georgia played Ole Miss. I just kind of shook my head in wonder at that idea, and he too decided he was too tired for that jaunt—which he had pointed out was only as far away (one way) as our round-trip to Saint Louis. Sure enough Vickie did come through here to pick up her mother for a visit in Athens, so early this morning Gerald took the redesigned parts over to her car at her mom’s place.

Because of so much rain and wind and the absence of my favorite hair fixer on the days I could get to town, I had a bad-hair week the entire time the Eilers and Ernestine and gang visited here. I was very happy to have an appointment for a much needed hair cut and styling with Stefanie on Saturday morning—another reason I was not going to go to Oxford, Mississippi. Afterwards I ran by Katherine’s hoping to complete a couple more coats of polish on her nails that we had worked on the day before when she said they were splintering. She was in bed and smilingly sent me on my way.
I knew the Taylors were down for Brian to start farming because Gerald told me as I left the house that I had missed a brief visit with our daughter Mary Ellen. I’d not heard her come in, and she didn’t want to slow me down when she learned I was going to town. So coming home from the beauty shop, I’d run by their camper. Only Brianna was there, and I asked her if she wanted to come over to Woodsong. She said no because Uncle David was bringing Sam out.

When I arrived back at our house, Sam was there thinking that was where Brianna was going to be. So he and I drove back to the camper and picked up Bri and Fifi. Fortunately, the lunch meat I had planned for Gerald’s and my lunch was adequate for everyone to have sandwichs. Brianna got to eat the last piece of the bunny rabbit cake—a cake that her mother, as a young girl, had started making us each year, but she had not had at their Florida holiday meal.

(I learned that Sam’s other grandmother makes the same cake but instead of a white cake, she makes a carrot cake. You know the cake where one layer becomes the bunny face, and the other layer is cut so you have two ears to place on the head and the remaining middle is placed under the head as a bow tie. I thought carrot cake was very appropriate, but since Mary Ellen did not like carrot cake, I know why she used the white cake mix we have used ever since.)

Sam and Bri had a good time together on the “mule,” riding bicycles around the lake, and doing their cousin Desyngia project (a book they are collaborating on), while Mary Ellen and I had a long mother-daughter talk we seldom have opportunity for. I was able to hear about their Florida vacation with Gma Dot.

The Taylors were back over today from the camper, but they had a very late breakfast and couldn’t eat lunch with us. When I came home from church and realized the chicken I had put out last night from the freezer and then into the fridge was still frozen, I hurried and fixed Gerald and me sandwiches again, so we could go catch the Georgia Bulldogs on the game tracker.

Bri was watching something on television in the family room, and Mary Ellen sneaked an afternoon nap in the brown room. For some reason, there was no audio announcer today and it was a long game (10 innings). It was not as thrilling a viewing experience as that close game should have been, which is why Mary Ellen chose to retreat to the brown room.

I fell asleep in my chair in the middle of the game. I was disappointed to learn I had slept through Brianna Hesson’s home run and Alisa Goler’s two homeruns. (All-American Alisa is so good and, thus, is walked so often, that she doesn’t have many opportunities to hit.) But I was wide awake during the extra innings and was able to experience Jenny Auger’s winning homerun in the top of the l0th. Alison Owen was pitching and held Mississippi scoreless in the bottom of the inning allowing Georgia to sweep the three-game series.

When Gerald then started telling me how close Starkville, Mississippi, is where Georgia is playing a double header Tuesday night before returning to Athens, again I just shook my head and went upstairs to cook the finally thawed chicken.