The Longest Friday Ever

My cell phone rang at 6:34 a.m.

I was awake but had not yet gotten up; I was being lazy and "sleeping in" until 6:45.  (Henry was up and at 'em, though.  Seriously, that dog has more energy.)

The phone began to ring and, in my mostly-not-awake confusion I began slapping my alarm clock repeatedly, confused as to why it hadn't shut off yet.  Joey, whose wits were about him, got out of bed and dug through my purse to retrieve my ringing cell phone.

He answered it just a moment after Sister hung up.

"It was pretty funny to see you attacking your alarm clock instead of answering your phone," He said, handing me my now-silent phone.

"Yeah, yeah...." I mumbled, trying to remember which speed dial belonged to Sister.

Henry stretched his paws towards me, yawned, and rolled around on the bed, obviously looking to be scratched and petted.  I obliged him.

Joey went back to bed so Henry and I went out into the living room to fold towels and see where Sister and the rest of the kids were.  They're coming to Texas today, don'tcha know.

Henry, however, did not want to fold towels with me.  He wanted to lick Joey.  So he sat at the gate that blocks off our bedroom door (yes, we have a one of those children's gates for our dog) and whined as though he had lost his best friend.

He's so high maintenance.

I made Henry come back over and sit in my lap while I folded towels and talked to Sister.  They had just left Cedar Rapids a few moments before.  Apparently Pops had been unsure if they would actually make it out of town at all.  My assumption is that they had planned to leave at 6:00 a.m., so they were only half an hour behind schedule.  Not bad considering the Parties Involved. (Sorry, guys.)

I hung up with Sister and Henry escaped from my lap, ran back over to the gate and continued whining for Joey.

"He can come in here..." Joey mumbled.

"Not right now, he's being naughty.  I'm going to distract him with something else and then I'll let him come in."  I replied.  Can't reward a furry little dog for his naughty behavior and all.  (Oy, if our dog is any indications...just think what our children will turn out like!)

And, thus, I am sitting here at 10:30 drinking super strong coffee (I know, I know...The Kid told me I could and I'll blame it on him when I'm sick later) and counting down the hours until they arrive.

I have a long way to go.  Joey doesn't think they'll be here until 8:00 and I'm not even sure if I have enough fingers to count that far.  (I just tested it and I do, but just barely.)

We're all going back to Crawford tomorrow.  Since the President is at that G8 Summit he shouldn't be in town, which means we shouldn't have any run-ins with the Secret Service this time.  At least I hope not.

I will, of course, keep you posted.