Two of the highlights of the road trip from East Texas to Colorado (via Oklahoma and Dorothy's home state).  As per usual, my visit to the Lone Star State that I call Home (in the born-and-bred sense of the word) has been a whirlwind of happy activity.  Thanksgiving was a bit of a blur (who knew it was possible to actually lose wieght the last week of November?), and this Christmas hasn't been much slower.  After getting into DFW a tad late Thursday night (though the delay wasn't bad, the flight was direct, and my seatmate was an adorable guy from Sarah Lawrence a few months younger than my sister), Darling Josh and his minpin Ellie picked me up and drove me home.  The family got up to welcome me, despite my past-2-am arrival, though we all quickly crawled back into bed.  The next day, Cass came to help me create Christmas presents:  Pillows for everyone!  I made decorative pillows that coordinated with the respective beds of the various pillow recipients, all of which had frames on the front showcasing different family pictures.  They were a big hit!  Thanks to Cass for her helpful eye, her suggestion of a "test subject", and to her awesome mom Lucy who machine-sewed some of the most crucial seams; and to Heather for helping with the stuffing. 
That night we had fewer than expected at our house, because I think I invited nearly every Hallsvillian and Kilgorite I know to come by our house to say hi to "the Milton sisters . . . in town for a short time only".  But we had fun, and there were slice & bake cookies and popcorn, as promised, along with a smorgasboard of other munchies (no cream cheese penguins for this shindig, though).  We had a half-hearted but hilarious round of Balderdash, Cass and I finished the silverware bouquets for her kitchen window (why does it sometimes take me years, literally, to finish a project?), and Heather stayed over and we talked the night away while pillow-stuffing.  The next day was last-minute errands before heading down for a tamale dinner and a round of Christmas presents with Nunna and Uncle Buddy and Marian, though we drove back that night since the family was part of the Sunday service the next day (I'm hoping we'll be able to salvage the recording of my rendition of "O Come Emmanuel").  After church we went to Luby's with the Fritzes; and then later that night it was back to FBCH for the Silent Lord's Supper; and then after that, we opened gifts at our house.  I missed seeing Jeff that afternoon (and thus missed yet another chance to meet Gladys), but what can you do?  The next morning, after a careful inventory of Santa's booty, it was off to Beckville for another family Christmas at Mama Sharp's house, which included nearly 45 of our relatives and a crazy gift exchange, and a TON of food (like we always do).  After meeting my cousin Zack's new baby, Callie Rose, whose birth was heralded here earlier in November, and playing a round of "I'm bigger than you!" with my cousin Mindy's son Colby (now 4), Mindy said, "So Kyleen, when are you gonna have one?"  Not any time soon, I told her; though hopefully eventually I'll be taking a brood of my own to Beckville, and everyone will love them and their Daddy too (though marriage seems so far off for me sometimes!).  

We said our goodbyes, left Beckville, headed home to finish packing up, and then drove to Grannie and PaPa's.  Up bright and early the next morning, we started our trek to Colby (not Mindy's son or Emily's boyfriend but the town in Kansas).  I think road trips may be one of my favourite things.  I love to drive across miles of interstate, taking in the scenery; I love the cat naps in the car (the vehicular vibrations lull me right to sleep); I love having time to read for hours at a time without guilt; I love the munchies we pack to take along the way (SAUSAGE BALLS!); I love the conversations with my family.  I must say that right up there on the list of things I love are the unexpected little joys, like the sunset across Kansas and the cow dog named Zeke.  The sunset was spectacular:  In a state as flat as Kansas, the horizon stretches almost endlessly and the sky is wide and open.  Your view spans miles in a spectacular mélange of blue, indigo, tangerine, crimson, vermillion, violet, scarlet, more colors than I have words to describe, with a richness and radiance even Thomas Kincade couldn’t capture.  Time seemed to stand still even as we moved faster than a mile a minute (more like a mile every 45 seconds if you’re following the proper limit) and the blazing sun set behind miles and miles of miles and miles.  The cow dog, Zeke, was black and white, breed unbeknownst to me (retriever?  spaniel?), with long, soft, thick fur and sweet, caring brown eyes.  As Wendy would say, I’m thankful for interspecies tenderness (and shame on any of you readers who interpret that as anything other than affectionate ear-scratching and fur-rubbing!).  While we were stopped at a gas station just off the interstate, I met Zeke’s owners, from Montana, who were in a rental car and had been mildly rear-ended in the backed-up traffic by a young lady (who hardly did any damage, though they called the state trooper at the insistence of Avis).  That’s why Zeke was allowed out of the car on a leash, and I’m guessing he initially approached me because of my ham sandwich and not because I seemed like a kindred friendly spirit.  (He didn’t get any of my sandwich, but he did get lots of attention!) 

Some people don’t like long hours in the car, but to me, road trips are a lot of fun.  Getting in a car and driving for miles and miles seeing various sections of our great country seems like my own little enactment of manifest destiny – and there’s so much more of the great United States I’d love to see!  (More of the entire world, really, but you can’t exactly cross an ocean in a Pontiac Aztec.)  And that’s just the half of it!  The vacation had just begun, really, when we checked into the Super 8 and supped at Montana Mike’s, but I’ll save the rest of the story for another entry.