Anyways, my ancient status aside, it shaped up to be a really nice weekend. It was good catching up with everyone and things were relaxing. And the space in their house! Rooms and rooms to go to when you wanted to get away from other people (hey, you stay with five people for 2 months in a one bedroom apartment and then judge). My brother lives on a very large plot of land in a woodsy area. Long Island friends, I know what you are thinking: 80' X 100'? 100' x 120'? Bigger? A - gasp - quarter of an acre? We are talking rural Massachusetts people - 8 acres! (Which beavers are trying to turn into waterworld, but that is a story for another day). There was lots of snow, which was exciting enough for the little ones; but an unexpected bonus was a frozen pond down a hill and through the woods, just a few hundred feet from the house, that a neighbor had walled off into a little skating rink (see pix below; people included for perspective - don't worry, I am not exploiting my family for profit).
I did it - I added a picture! I just couldn't figure out how to put this caption below it
We had no skates (mini-me the Elder wanted to know why I didn't bring her skates - um, because I had no way of knowing there was a skating rink in the backyard and no, I didn't think to ask? Why didn't *you* bring them?) but it was still fun to slide around on it (once I was convinced that it was indeed fully frozen and no one would fall through - can you blame me for not wanting to take any chances with my luck lately?). My nephew did manage to find an old pair of his hockey skates which Big Guy tried out (and despite steadfast filming on my part, I did not get a fall on camera) along with some sticks and a puck - and we had lots of fun.
The next day, Sunday, started really well. Lazy morning and then a visit to friends of my sister-in-law who have chickens and a neighbor with horses. Everyone got to feed the chickens, gather eggs (we even got to bring some home - pretty blue and brown ones!) and pet the horses and feed them carrots. There was an attempt to give the mini-me's a ride on a little Shetland Pony but it was a little unhappy with the arrangement and pretty much bucked off mini-Me the Elder twice (I am so very proud of her for getting right back on the second time - and quiet anyone saying "you let your kid get back on a horse that tried to throw her?" It was a shetland pony - she wasn't going far and the owner was right there). Again, lots of fun and if the brand new car got some mud and chicken poop in it, well so be it (quiet Big Guy - so be it). We arrived home to the surprise (sort-of) presence of niece and boyfriend, with nephew and girlfriend present as well. A return trip to the pond was a no-go (temperatures had risen and the frozen status of 3 feet of water apparently shifts pretty quickly - just a little pressure from my toe and that thing cracked) but hey, shit happens. Or it will...
The dark cloud clearly had to assert its presence (I did not realize it had stowed away) and I can only apologize profusely to my brother and his family for bringing it to their house (by the way, Big Guy considers it *my* dark cloud and won't assume any part of it - after twenty years together I thought we should share everything) . My brother had been clamoring for a ride in the new car as he was thinking of purchasing the same one. Now, he is in a wheelchair and on the way out to the car something got caught in the wheels and he flipped out of it (much like Mini-me the Elder off the Shetland I guess) and hurt himself (it should be noted that he did not mention any hurt until after he obtained said test ride in the car - men). Afterward, he copped to a significant amount of pain and his wife and daughter took him to the emergency room, which took a long time (it ended up being a big hematoma, nothing broken thank goodness). Those of us left behind cooked the dinner that was planned and had an enjoyable time together, but with a bit of a shadow as texts on status flew back and forth.
We had to leave at about 7 PM (I had to go to work - boo on my office for not closing on MLK day) so didn't see my brother or SIL before we left. We ended up seeing my niece for about 20 minutes total - and I assume she had not planned on the surprise visit to her Dad taking place in a hospital. My nephew and his girlfriend also had to leave and so I think the worst experience (except for my bro) goes to my niece's poor boyfriend (who is just *such* a nice guy) who ended up staying behind and essentially babysitting my Mother - he wanted to go keep my niece company in the hospital but my SIL did not want to leave an 82 year old woman who has a history of falls alone, while out awaiting the news on whether someone else's hip was broken - this is what is known as courting disaster (I wonder if they were also worried that I would be leaving the stink of dark cloud behind for a bit). This poor guy...alone with my Mom in the house and he had a two hour drive ahead of him at some point so he couldn't even drink.
Seriously, dark cloud. People are going to stop inviting me to visit them.
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