And Now We're Home

We got home around 4:00 this afternoon. It really wasn't a bad ride back--the traffic wasn't too bad and we only got lost once. I would rant over how K doesn't listen to me and that is why we get lost, but this is absolutely no one's fault! We got lost in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Now, this is a small town--smaller than ours--but there just is no way to get in and out of the place easily. Every single time we have had to go there--and K's sister lives there--we get lost. It is understandable when we visit the sister, as they live off of the beaten path near one of the gazillion lakes in the area and you even have to negotiate some dirt roads to get to their house, but the business/city area is no easier to navigate. I told K, as we passed the same spot for the third time, that being in Rhinelander is like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone--you can get in, but you can't get out! I must say that part of the problem is the fact that Wisconsin has to be the worst place in terms of signage--or lack thereof--in the entire US. You can drive for miles and miles and not know just what road you are on. Then, when signs ARE posted, you usually are PAST them when you realize you needed to make that last left turn. A very, very hard state to drive through. I will plot our course more carefully next time--we will avoid Rhinelander at all costs.

On Thursday we went to the outlet mall and I was very disappointed. While there WERE 100 stores, there wasn't all that much I was interested in. I managed to find a few good deals, but not as many as I had hoped. We got to see the animal hospital A works at and got to talk to her boss for awhile. His niece has moved here with her husband recently--she is a dermatologist and he is a cardiac surgeon--and I had just been making plans to move from my dermatologist to her. I guess this proves (hold on, cliche coming) that it is really a small world!

While I am very happy to be home, I can never just walk into the house and unpack and relax. The house ALWAYS looks as if the cat threw a wild party while we were gone--that is the only explanation for the amount of fur everywhere. I had to vacuum before I could do anything else. She is very happy to have me home--she will not leave my side for longer than a few minutes--when she goes and eats--and will "talk" to me frequently.

I don't know if we will have any time to do much of anything when we go back next month. We will be there for one less day and will try to do something with A and her husband. But the concert WILL kind of throw things off. Maybe we'll be able to have a couple of meals together, but probably not much more than that. And I know A will probably want us to get together with her in-laws, but I just don't know how we'll have the time. Oh, well, what happens, happens.