Day 14 - Saturday

I wake up at 5 and touch up my son's room. There are a few spots that were a bit uneven.

I get clean and go to Office Depot for a few DVD-Rs. And then I swing by the Game Stop to sell a few games that are never going to be played. On the way through the parking lot I get a call from the family... they're packing up and getting ready to hit the road. I do the same.

The drive up is nice. I put a bad copy of Day Watch in the DVD player. It's hard to watch your favorite movie and drive at the same time, but somehow I manage.

We meet at 351 (the halfway point). My mother in law has a birthday coming so we let her pick... she wants Shoney's buffet. What a strange buffet... Sort of a breakfasty meat fest. I go for a salad, brown rice and something not unlike pepper-steak. We give my mother in law her gifts. We buy her lunch. We ask the wait staff to sing to her.

And then we go for home.

I'm finally alone with my family. It's a thrilling moment. I can't take my eyes off them... except for the fact that I'm driving. They are beautiful. My oldest sin seems 10 years older. My daughter seems 10 times cuter. My youngest son seems so sweet. My wife is just a fox. I drink her up.

The kids watch Brother Bear. Someone makes a joke and the two oldest laugh and laugh and I realize that I haven't laughed or heard anyone laughing since they left.

That says it all really.