Our mid-March sister's trip came and went all too quickly. Each year, for the past 8 years, all the sisters (and sister-in-laws) that can make it, get together for a few days. It all started in Utah after Madeleine was born and since then we've been to Seattle, McMinnville Oregon and now San Fransisco. The reunions became, for many years, a time to catch up on the scrapbooking we never seemed to have the time or space to do during the year. We always looked forward to our niece, Jessica, helping us. She is really talented at putting layouts together and quickly.
Having the reunions in Oregon, at Shellie's house, was so nice as it kept the costs down (ie food, lodging), but this trip we decided to just go somewhere warmer and relax. We had hoped that heading South would make it easier for those in that direction to make it. It is always sad to have sisters missing. This year it was Alisa (her cute baby Joshua came too), Heidi, Shellie and I. This was our smallest get-together, we are hoping for more next year!!!
The three from Oregon/Washington flew together to the Oakland airport and they were to meet me at the San Fransisco airport. Of course things are just never as easy as they seem to be. I call them to let them know I have disembarked and have my baggage. They respond that they are just a few minutes away, we confirm what terminal and door to meet at, Terminal 3 - gate 3. I wait. They call and say that they are waiting upstairs at terminal three. I head upstairs and get excited as I hear laughing and think I have spied them....no, but they were surely nearby. I continued walking the terminal until I reached the end. I called again...by this time they have assertained that the shuttle driver (who had a limited English vocabulary) had taken them to terminal 2 even though they had said 3. Minutes later we were all reunited!!
Then came the most entertaining, somewhat frustrating, completely wreckless shuttle ride to our townhouse. The van was packed, Joshua was crying, tired and hungry but Alisa was waiting to nurse as we thought we'd be leaving soon. I mean it is a pretty reasonable assumption when there are no more seats available and the driver is in his seat. OH NO, we were to wait at least 20-30minutes before we would leave. Why? you might be asking. Well, the driver, of European decent, also struggled in not only speaking English but also in comprehending it. We were waiting (doesn't make any sense as again there were no seats) for a party of people under the name "Heedie". We waited, we wondered and then it clicked. He was trying to say Heidi. Now we must be on our way. OH NO, he had to input each address. Not a big deal if you understand English. When you don't understand what people are saying you cannot type the words in correctly. Shellie was privileged to sit in the front passenger seat next to him. She was dying trying not to be rude but trying to help him figure out what to type in. She kept glancing back with desperation (and amusement) as he would retype another misspelled street name. GPS is handy if you know your letters and numbers.
Finally, we are on our way. The next hour or more was spent wondering if we'd make it to our place alive. Our driver was more interested in his phone and texting than he was in driving. Missed turns, speeding, oh did I mention he was not wearing his seat belt? The two older couples joining us were hilarious. They were completely impressed that the driver could go such a different back road way and still make it to their destination (not impressive to me). We finally arrived. The landlord opens the door to our "weekend getaway" and we are all overcome. With the smell of wet dog or really bad b.o. I couldn't help but ask if he would be offended if I bought some plug-ins as there was a slight (I had to break it to him nicely) odor. He was kind and apologized and soon arrived with a couple cans of air freshener. You could mask it for a while but it would always hit you as you would re-enter the place. Other than the smell and the dirty looking rug in the living room the place was fine. We had good sleeps *all except for the night the garbage lady began her can retrieval at 1am outside Alisa and Heidi's window. Shellie and I were out, but poor Heidi and Alisa couldn't sleep with all the noise and decided to sit at the window and watch the lady work.
We saw all of the "must sees" in San Fransisco and spent the rest of the time walking, eating, walking, talking, eating, walking... you get the picture. We walked hills of San Fransisco that I am sure no one has ever dared to walk, or at least not as many hills as we would do in a day. The only time I felt a little uncomfortable was on a walk back home around 9pm and we were warned not to walk this street at night as there had been one shooting, no two shooting, no one death...ok the guy was not totally functioning on all cylinders so the details of the story kept changing, but he seemed to be sincere in his worry. We saw a pretty normal looking man ahead and decided if we could only get close enough to him, he could, unbeknownst to him, be our body guard. Well, I was feeling a bit like a stalker as we were right on his tail. Finally Shellie broke the silence and told him what we were doing and he smiled and understood our concern though shortly after had to turn. We made it back safely and decided to use public transit after dark in the future.
Most mornings we would casually eat and get ready, all the time enjoying that there was nothing that we really HAD to do. No lunches to make, teeth to brush, house to clean etc. There is a lot to be said for having an open schedule and going with the flow when your normal life is in such high contrast to this. I enjoyed the talks so much. Of course we can never just talk about the weather or superficial things...most of our talks revolved around our callings as a mother and a wife. We talked, motivated, cried, and helped each other see the good we do already and what we can do even better.
Upon returning from our trip I was deeply touched by the love we have as sisters and members of our family. I am truly blessed to have such a family as this.
Shellie had the camera, so hopefully I will be able to add some pictures in the not-to-distant future.
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