Kidnapped by the Ridens
Grandma Perry drove Great Grandma Mandy to the Nashville airport on Wednesday.. spent the night and then drove back to East Tennessee with Callia. Laura and I really didn't want her to go.. we know how much babies go for on the black market and my parents are shifty folks.
Naw, they're all right.. they were trying to give us some "time off" but we weren't sure we wanted it. I'd been in San Francisco for five days two weeks ago, and those last few days away from Laura and Callia were really tough. Laura hasn't been away from Callia for more than a day. Asking her to let her baby go away for a few days was like getting in between a mother Grizzly Bear and her cubs.
It felt really weird not to wake up and get my little snuggle muffin ready in the morning and talk to her on the drive in to daycare. After work I'd catch myself driving all the way up to the daycare before remembering that she wasn't there. Laura and I did have a good time together.. but we found ourselves wishing the baby monitor could tune her in even though she was three hours away.
Friday night, I had a show at the Comedy Catch in Chattanooga, so afterwards I spent the night at the Hascienda. Saturday morning, Grandpa David was on sales calls. Grandma Perry drove some visiting kids (drifters, really) in to Athens. Callia and I took a walk around the property for a while. When Grandma Perry came back home, one of the kids had forgotten his luggage, plus her car had a bad antifreeze leak.. so she had to go back into town for a while.
It was a pretty morning, so Callia and I jumped in the Jeep and drove around. This was the first (and only) time I didn't use the baby seat. She rode in my lap as we rolled around the hills. It had been raining a lot.. so everything was nice and muddy. I saw where their driveway was washed out and went back to the house to get a shovel. By the time we got back to the spot that needed work, Callia was asleep. I strapped her into the baby seat and started digging a new ditch.
Within a few minutes, Grandma Perry came home and drove Callia back up to the house. I ended up spending the whole afternoon digging a ditch about 50 feet long. Grandpa David came home and helped me finish up the job before going back to the house for dinner.
Callia and I drove back to Hermitage and got back in time to play with Laura's friend Mandy and her daughter Nova. Last time Laura & Callia had been to Dickson, Mandy took a bunch of photos of them & she had brought them with her. They turned out REALLY nice.. Mandy's taking a photography class & has built her own darkroom, so we asked her to make more prints for us.
Laura was happy to have Callia back, and every part of my body was sore enough to swear off ever helping anybody do anything. Grandma Perry sent a thank you card: "She was such a jewel & we had so much fun together! I certainly found out how weak & out of shape my arms are!! Uff. They ached after carrying her around.. but she wanted to be a part of everything I did!!" That'll teach her to kidnap our little Bubba..
