Finally home

I wanted to do a post "Christmas by the numbers" but really, I'm too tired for that.

It was going to be something like:

1800 - miles driven

253 - emails unread

5 - presents that hit

15 - presents that missed

1 - call from work, missed as the phone went dead in the low cell service area

5 - consecutive days without internet access

4 - beds slept in

2 - maximum number of nights spent in the same bed

4 - generations visited

3000 - times a child said "I'm bored"

5000 - times a child asked "where are we?" or the altnerative "how much longer 'til we get there?"

17 - family members visited

But with numbers that are more accurate. But then I read the emails and promptly forgot the beginning number. And I have no idea how many miles we traveled except that it's approximately 750 miles to MIL's house and we did some traveling back and forth. The real number is probably closer to 1900 miles.

I'd forgotten how much I hated the cold. I mean I remembered I hated the cold, but forgot why, beyond the fact that it's cold. I'd forgotten the static-y hair thing and how much I HATED it. Nevermind the fact that my hair goes straight and loses any natural curl (seriously, all the teen and preteen girls in the family got hair straighteners and I couldn't even imagine why they would want that). The allergies from the wood smoke which are exacerbated by the EXTREMELY dry air (which caused the static in the hair). The dry skin. Etc. Suffice it to say, I'm happy to be back in humid South Texas. My hair has curl again and is staying in place rather than defying gravity. My sinuses are slowly clearing.

I had coping options when I lived there, but they weren't options I wanted to use for a short visit. Things like a humidifier weren't appropriate for the situation - my mother refuses to use a humidifier and in fact, has to be physically restrained from using a dehumidifier because her windows "sweat" and ruin the woodwork (heaven forbid she research some weatherproofing for her windows). And while leave-in conditioners or hair spray tame the static, I HATE products in my hair, I put up with it while I lived there but always hated it. Now I couldn't imagine going to buy something like that (throw away good money?) and then figure out what to do with it when I head back home (Mr. Gaia would not be happy at transporting any additional "liquid" items).