Sunshine and storms - return of the native

For those who knew I was going, I'm back: mission accomplished *HUGE grin* Scanning photos as we speak, and retyping every other word because my brain doesnt work well on various 2 hour chunks of snooze-sleep over a 6 day period, especially when the humidity is around 90%! Imagine sleeping in a tumble dryer and you'd be close.

Ray's face was a real picture when he saw me, its a pity we couldn't get the guard to photograph that instead. For once, just about everything went our way: the warden allowed Melba to come in with me on the Saturday, so she had 4hrs instead of her usual 2, and then I still had the other 4 hours on the Sunday for just me & Ray. That's pretty much unheard of, so maybe they are getting to know us now. The guards were all relaxed because the unit is on lockdown at the moment (the inmates must stay in their cells for 24 hours a day while each wing is completely searched for contraband, usually takes 2 weeks at Coffield), and we didnt get hassled about touching above the wrists or sneaking extra kisses while we were waiting for the photos to be taken. The vending machines were full on both days (again, a rare thing), and we had separate rooms at the Hospitality House this time so I didnt have to put up with Melba's snoring :)

After seeing Ray on Saturday, we drove into Tyler to see the roses. It's what Tyler is famous for, and they have a public trial garden that has a section devoted to David Austin roses (he's an English rose grower). The rain they've had hasnt been kind to the flowers, but the humidity really develops the scent.

Sunday after our visit, Melba was almost asleep on her feet by the time we got back to her house, so.... me & Jay went to the movies and saw Transformers. Yup, that's right, me & Jay. The same Jay who is not completely sober but is still trying, and the same Jay who informed me that right after his dad's death, he hired a private investigator to check me out because he thought I had something to do with it! I asked him what the guy found and Jay said "nothing", to which I replied he should have just asked me himself and saved the $2000 it cost him. He says he knows that now. This sounds crazy I know, but it's not really surprising to me ~ their dad hired a private investigator to tail Melba AFTER they got divorced, and he paid both boys for information about what she was doing and who she was seeing.

Anyway, the film was good, Jay managed to only drink a couple of times while driving, and although he still has me very much on edge, we are trying.

Monday, Melba & me did a bit of gift shopping in Grapevine and then had lunch with Ray's uncle and aunt. And then it was back to DFW and on to the plane home. I say it every time, but I really should book an extra day off to recover when I do this again ~ which fingers crossed should be in October as originally planned, and include a visit to Austin to see Mo & Tim.

Ciel, I have your parcel, will work out the best way to get it to you over the weekend, but it could possibly go by Lily-mail at the end of the month.

Oh yeah, and Americans are stupid. I was asked 3 times while there about the "bombings in Paris". Apparently they think that's where Glasgow is. *sigh*

OK, photos are ready (I'm well aware that the background is going to become tiresome, but it's the only one they allow us to use, and there are only so many poses you can do under the restrictions we have):

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b60/Silva-the-wessex-wench/visit%20pics/?action=view&current=c42b57ab.pbw

Current Mood: loved
Current Music: How To Save A Life ~ The Fray