What A Long, Hard Trip It's Been

I just got back from 4 days in Oklahoma. I fly there every summer to visit my father and his wife Jan and my youngest brother Dusty (16) , and as a bonus I get to see my older brother Randy, his wife Darla and their two kids JT (26) and Skylar (16). I love to see my dad because, well, I love him dearly, and he always tells great stories of famous people he knew or things that happened in his/our past (of course, I have heard many of these stories MANY times). My dad is a pretty remarkable man as he is almost 84, had double kidney failure almost two years ago, still teaches Tai Chi and loves to go swing dancing. He also puts on shows about WWII, with music and reminiscing from that era. My stepmother Jan is just 3 years older than me, but we get along really well. We come from very different backgrounds and lifestyles, but she is very nice to talk to, very sweet nature. I did nothing this trip but spend time with them, and one evening with Randy and family. My nephew JT just made Dean's List for being second in his class at law school. Darla, my sister-in-law, graduated last year with a 4.0 GPA and top honors, and one year of her MS under her belt. Way to go, Darla!!! Randy will get his BS this coming spring. Skylar, who I don't know very well, is a lovely young girl, quiet, polite and not at all streetwise, which I say as a good thing. I really enjoyed myself with my little brother Dusty. For a 16 year old, he is so polite, caring and cute, too.
Between the time I spent in the house (too hot to hang out outside) and time spent either in transit or watching my dad teach Tai Chi, I got a lot of knitting done. I worked on a white newborn baby sweater, but I'll display and describe it in a later post.
The trip home was "something else." I took a bump in OKC for which I received a modest $150 travel voucher, and first class seating on the flights to Dallas and FL. The flight to Dallas was short, so first class consisted of just a wide bulkhead seat and free orange juice before we took off. The next flight started good, same wide leather seats (no movie or radio, but luckily I had my iPod Nano) and....Houston (sorry...DALLAS) we have a problem! There was a mechanical problem with the cargo hold, so we had to deplane and wait for another plane. Almost 90 minutes later, our next plane (same kind as before) took off. First class is sooo nice...free drinks - I'm not really a drinker, but hey, who could pass up a free wine?...warm cloths to clean your hands...choice of dinner entres with chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Mmmmmm! We got in at 1 AM and by the time I got my car, I got home and to bed by 2AM. LONG DAY, but being alone, it was no big thing to deal with!