My weekend with Pa

I went to Atlanta! To see my dad and stepmom! Just for the weekend though, because that's the kind of jet-set girl I am. I got to leave work a few hours early and everything. Most years I see my dad's side of the family for a week at Christmas, and sometimes one in the summer as well. They live in south Georgia, which really is too far to go for less than a week, but I wasn't able to take that much time off work so we decided to rendez-vous in Atlanta for the weekend.

So, it was fun. Our hotel was across the street from this very fancy mall, and both nights we went there for shopping and dinner. On Saturday we spent a lot of time at the High Museum of Art, getting some culture and stuff. (If you have seen Manhunter, you will know this place as the prison where William Petersen went to see Lecter, when he freaked out and ran down the ramps and outside. The all-white building.) Other than that, we just hung out and watched Cold Case Files and What Not To Wear, which I forced my dad to watch and love. He watched and loved.

It was the perfect amount of time to be together in such close quarters. When I am at their house for an entire week, things get sort of strained toward the end. It is sort of a culture clash to be with them, and I am an opinionated pain in the ass, so we have tension. Plus during the holidays my stepsisters and stepbrother and their spouses and kids are there, which I totally love, but...you know. That's a lot of people for one house.

I prefer a little privacy mixed in with my family time - a place to go and take deep breaths when on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But I usually have to share a room with the kids, since I'm unmarried and therefore still a child myself (don't even get me started on the crappiness of this reasoning). It's hard to take calming deep breaths while children are leaping onto you and wheedling you to play Spiderman with them.

On the flight back this afternoon, I sat next to a guy who was pretty cute and we chatted the whole time. But when we landed, he got off ahead of me and...just kept going. Never looked back or anything. Oookay then. I guess I am not as charming as I like to believe!

Another day, another humbling experience.