A Trip Home

Well, I have to say it's been a crazy, busy weekend! My Dad retired from his job on Friday. He had been there for 26 years and 4 months, can you all believe that? He worked so hard to make a good life for us when we were growing up, as well as for himself and my mom since we left home. Now, it's their time to relax and do some traveling. Hope ya'll have fun! :)

My mom called me several weeks ago to find out if I could fly in for the surprise retirement party she was planning for my dad. She also asked my brother to fly in from California. We were to also be a 'surprise'. So, we spent those weeks planning, making phone calls and talking in 'code' to keep my dad from finding out. It was fun! We had to think of good reasons to call because he might get suspicious of such frequent communication. Mom and I usually talk once a week anyway, so I figured he would wonder what was wrong if I called for no apparent reason more often than that. But, my sweet daddy was completely unsuspecting. Wayland and I both flew into Gulfport, MS, (flights were cheaper) and rented a car to drive to our parents' house. It was nice to spend some time talking to my brother....he was a captive audience for 1.5 hours. I loved it because he had to listen to me whether he wanted to or not! :) I love you, too, Wayland. So we arrived and dad had not gone to work yet. He was surprised to see us, but he believed that we were just there to celebrate that day with him. By the way, my parents are flying into New York next week to see me and my family. I ordered their tickets for them...so I just told dad I thought I had to hand-deliver his ticket information. He knew that wasn't why I flew in....but he still didn't know about the party. So, dad was scheduled to work one last day at Vulcan, beginning at 3:00 that day. The guys he worked with had planned to have a cookout for him. Dad decided to wear a shirt and tie to work-he's worked with a furnace there which is not a shirt and tie position- for the first time in his life. Well, his boss ended up calling my mom when he found out my brother and I had flown in, to see if we would join them for the meal. We headed to work, too! It was good to hear all the nice things, and the jokes, they said about my dad. I've always known he's a hard worker; I'm glad they saw it, too. Everyone really seemed to be glad for him, and to have enjoyed working with him. They gave him some gag gifts, such as a cane with a horn on it, as well as some nice ones like a framed picture of the original four furnace workers and their 'guys'. They had been asking daddy what kind of gift he wanted as a 'going away' gift, and he eventually told them a GPS. (Daddy bought an RV recently in preparation for his traveling days) I wasn't even aware Dad knew about a GPS-I mean that IS a technical product and I wouldn't have considered him a technical guy. I learn something new every day! :) Well, they gave him a compass; the kind that has a suction cup on the bottom so it sticks to the dashboard. That got some laughs....but then they pulled out a Garmin GPS. Now, he just has to have someone set it up for him. Or maybe he'll do that himself since he's so full of surprises... It was a nice meal, and good to hear them praise my dad. We spent the rest of our time there just hanging out, and went to church with our parents on Sunday. They have a new pastor, but we didn't get to hear him speak. They were having a singing group, The Colmus Family, visit to sing for them. It was very enjoyable. I grew up in church with all those hymns, so I felt right at home. If you like country gospel music, you chould check them out for some 'down-home' singing. :) We got to go out to lunch with some of our extended family, then we had to head back to Gulfport for our evening flights home.

It was a whirlwind trip, with some rumors of flight delays. (my flight was delayed by minutes, some others for hours) I ended up arriving home only 15 minutes after I was scheduled to, so it worked out pretty well for me. By the way, the weather in Alabama was sunny and warm, 75 degrees on Sunday. When I touched down in New York the temperature was 3 degrees. Yes, you read that right! I don't think I've ever experienced such extremes in my life. It is sunny and not so warm here at 10 degrees today, and we are all staying inside. Poor Karl did have to go to work this morning and he says it's so, so cold out there! One thing I intended to do was take some pictures while at home (I still call it home even though I haven't lived there in 12.5 years-Karl knows my real home will always be with him!) but I didn't even get the camera out. It slipped my mind, I guess because of all the wonderful food (thanks ya'll) and the great time talking with everyone. I'm glad to be back with my babies and my husband, but I do already miss the south. It just makes me appreciate everyone, and the weather, that much more!

Well, we've gotten a very slow start today due to our late night. We will be eating lunch soon, then get started with school. I hope you all have a super week. I'll try to post again soon. Until then.....