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We're back in Orlando where the sun is bright and the temperature is very warm. While I was looking forward to the fall weather up north, it was hard to enjoy it because of all the rain and overcast skies. So I'm kindof glad to have it 85 and sunny.

Getting up Thursday morning wasn't so fun after the late night. The Sox game didn't finish until 1:30. Thank goodness they won or it would have been a real drag. My dad had been saying that he wasn't going to stay up but I had my suspicions with that statement and sure enough, he was with me until the end - - which I was very happy about. Unfortunately I was getting a headache before the game started and the next morning, it was still there. So it wasn't too fun of a travel day. I'm blaming the headache on my little problems trying to leave the house to go to the airport. For one, I couldn't find one of Calleigh's sneakers. I ended up having to just give up and switch to her crocs. So if anyone finds a random baby sneaker somewhere, it's Calleigh's. Then, as we were trying to run out the door, I couldn't find my pillow. For those of you who don't know, I have a very special pillow. It's very smushy and I can only use that kind - - same as my mother. So it was missing and I couldn't find it anywhere. My dad looked high and low. Nothing. And I had just seen it a few minutes before. I thought I was losing my mind. My dad finally discovered that I had accidentally put it in the washing machine with the sheets. Obviously I couldn't take it with me so I had to make an emergency decision and steal my mother's. I really needed it for the flight. So thanks Mom!

When I looked at my seat the day before, I discovered that there were two empty seats in row 13 so I changed my seat. The lady at the ticket counter said she would do her best to keep it empty but sadly, a stand-by passenger got it. The thing is, flights are so full these days that I guess it's very hard to end up with any empty seats it all. The good news was that it was two ladies sitting next to us who had older kids and they said they remembered travelling when the kids were younger. And because they were ladies, I didn't mind contorting myself into a strange position and having Calleigh nurse. Almost immediately she was asleep. About 45 minutes later, the captain came on the overhead very loudly, and she woke up. I was so disgusted. I thought for sure that was it. But I brought out the goods again and she fell back asleep for almost the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, I couldn't reach my book or headphones without jostling her too much so I just watched the TV without sound. But it was well worth it. By the way, this is a picture of Calleigh on the rocker at the airport. If you haven't been to Logan recently, they have all these different "New England" rocking chairs in the terminal with pertinent scenes on them. They're quite cute.

We had to wait at the airport for about 20 minutes for Duncan to come get us. The road he was coming was shut down due to a major accident. But it was worth the wait. When Duncan got out of the truck, Calleigh let out a little scream and went running to her daddy. It was priceless. I wish I had the foresight to get it on video. Dog gone it. Or is that one long word?

Very late last night/early this morning, Gary, Mary, and Kathleen Spenser arrived from the west coast to stay with us for a few days. Gary is my mother's cousin. They are going on a Disney cruise on Sunday. Kathleen is four and when Calleigh saw her this morning, she was SO excited. Of course, she started off by calling her Mia(I can see a little resemblance). Calleigh had a very good day playing with Kathleen. So although she no longer has the fun things to do like when she was up north, at least she hasn't had to return to her normal existence quite yet. They were kind enough to buy Calleigh a new book which you can see in this picture.

Our activities of the day, besides playing with Kathleen, included going to Walmart to get groceries and then later on, we had to hit Publix for fruit. We try to avoid Walmart fruit if possible. We haven't had good experiences with it. Ron and Elaine came over early this evening and Calleigh was happy to see Memaw and Mepaw. I swear that it sounded like she was saying Mepaw this afternoon.

Although we are happy to back home, I know Calleigh still misses everyone up north. This evening before she went to bed, I nursed her on the beanbag in her room (too much activity down here). At one point, she pulled away, looked at me and started saying, "Shawn, Camille, Steve" etc. I had to tell her we wouldn't see them until Christmas. How sad.