Where is spring?

It's Sunday night, Munchkin is sleeping and I'm enjoying the sofa, a blanket and a glass of wine. I am a little ticked that Rock of Love and The Girls Next Door are inexplicably not on tonight, but I will get over it. The Boy brought me flowers for absolutely no reason tonight, so I am in a pretty good mood, even without the trashy TV. And Munchkin and Smoking Hot Roommate made dinner:-).

I had an absolutely awesome visit with Tinkerbelle! Her Mom told her that she had offered a friend from work a ride home from the airport, and that they were going to pick her up. So, she had no idea I was coming right up until I saw her at the airport:-). She was so excited that she started crying, which made me cry, and that made her Mom cry...so yes, we were quite the sight.

She basically led me around by the hand for the rest of the day, which was really cute. Her party was adorable, and she made me talk to every one of her friends:-). I met them all when I went to school with her last year, but she wanted to re-introduce me.

I think my favorite part is that pretty much all of our cousins came by. There are 17 cousins, and the first 16 are between 15 and 28 year old...she is the youngest by 6 years. And, not having met any of them until a year ago, it would seem to be pretty hard for her to actually be a part of the family. But her cousins and aunts and uncles absolutely adore her, and they all go WAAAY out of their way to make her feel like she is part of the family.

That includes coming to her birthday party:-). Including the 18-21 year old boys who should be way too cool for that sort of thing. I have to be honest, one of them was out on a date, and stopping by could have been simply a means of impressing the girl. Because let's be honest ladies, you'd be pretty impressed if you were on a date at age 19, and the guy said "I hate to be a pain, but I really want to stop by my little cousin's birthday. She is new to the family, and it would mean a lot to her". Heck, that would have made me put out...lol. (Not that that bar is really very high...)

Anyway, her party was fun, and we went shopping afterwards and had some fun. I caught up with the BFF's for a bit in the evening, then hung out with Tinkerbelle all morning and then came home. The flights were pretty rough on each end, which was kind of a pain, but that was the only complication. Lottsa weather floating around between here and Chicago, and it made for a bumpy ride. I did, however, manage to hold my stomach;-).

Munchkin and SHR decided to get dressed up and go out for martinis, which is cute in spite of the obvious likelihood to turn her into a full-blown alcoholic by age 16;-). As long as she still considers cranberry juice and 7up to be a martini so long as it comes in a fancy glass, I think I am OK... Other than that, I think they had a generally silly visit with each other. Munchkin's lucky to have pretend sisters like that:-).

I guess that is about all. I don't think the week will be too busy, but I may end up kinda swamped in getting ready to leave on vacation. Hopefully not...and hopefully the same for the rest of you, too!