This weekend started just like any other...
It's Sunday, early afternoon, the sun is shining, and the house is still. Both kids have just crashed hard into their afternoon naps. Daddy is tap-tapping away in the other room working on a research paper, while I sit here quiet in thought. I guess I'm feeling sad, but it's a happy kind of sad, as barely one hour ago we all waved goodbye to one of our close pond-ling friends from the other side..
Yesterday morning (Saturday) the whole family piled into the minivan, set for an adventure of browsing, strolling and grazing within the myriad of antique, toy and bric-a-brac market stalls sprawled on the land behind the local high school where my husband Teaches.
We'd arranged a Skype date for 1pm - or so we thought - with close friends of ours, which we'd made during our stint in Scotland, and no sooner than we arrived at the market, the hubbie got a call from the husband of the couple. Being a little shy of Verizon biting him in the butt for taking an International call, my frifty hubbie cut the call short promising we'd make the Skype date for sure...
The morning came to a natural close. Kids and parents were all well over the market, and so, with sausage wraps in little hands, the kids nodded to sleep in the back of the minivan as we headed home for a good internet catch up - little did we know...
As soon as we pulled up onto our land, something felt a bit off kilter. A silver car was parked on the left, with a pair of trainers neatly stacked atop the boot. My first thought was that the Father-in law had popped round for a quick visit, but the shoes on the boot didn't add up. Then as we pulled into our parking spot, just right of the cabin, a familiar form (rocking nonchalantly on our deck - Shiner beer in hand) came steadily into view... and we just about flipped. Skype date, my arse!
What an awesome surprise! I haven't seen the hubbie so psyched in months! Our sneaky Scottish buddy was over in Houston on business, and had managed to snatch some time to come our way for a real catch up. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to have someone you care about visit from afar. We've been living in the states for almost four years now. In that time, visitors from good ol' Blighty have been few and far between, and - well let's face it - non existent from my actual homeland, England. If it weren't for our three year stay up in Scotland we'd be 'S' out of luck!
His visit lasted barely 24 hours - a flash in the pan really - but what a difference it made! I'm sure we'll be buzzing for some time to come. Our eldest son, still only a toddler, made a new best friend this weekend, and although I'm sure we all wanted to cry, his tears were the only ones to fall unabashedly, as we waved our fond farewells to a great friend.
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