Dallas and Mario

Dallas and Mario
Originally uploaded by KDCNMorales.

I'm STILL tired and it's been over 24 hours that we arrived back home! The trip went absolutely great but that is also the reason that we are all tired! The temperatures there did not go down below 70 at night and hovered in the mid 80's during the day... Yuck! here at home? 20's and snow. it's good to be home! we are greatly appreciative to Ashley, as she took it upon herself to take care of our animals twice a day during the duration of our trip! a million thanks go to ya Ash!!!! she has no idea just exactly how thankful we are!
I am also extremely relieved and thankful that dad is doing great! his blood counts are coming up nicely and now he can have his heart cath performed too. afterwards though, he still needs to go through two more chemo regimens. you'll do fine pops! we're all rootin' and prayin' fer ya! super thankful that he is surrounded by excellent friends and family to take care of him and lend him support. that is crucial to recovering from an illness you know!
We managed to see quite a few people in the few days that we were there but the heat and all the driving around left us drained! dallas got to stay with his Johnson grandparents for a few days and they had a blast! they ate at Denny's, went to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, among other things. it was funny to see the look on David's face when he saw Dallas too! he didn't realize just exactly how much Dallas had grown! Dell too was pretty amazed. so funny. this went on and on as all that saw Dallas last were shocked to see how tall and handsome he's become! grandparents Bigham (they're still so cute!) were the most surprised, i think! he now absolutely towers over them. i'm glad that Dallas' grandparents had a chance to see him. that was important to Kim and myself. first was to see my dad, then for Dallas to see his grandparents. job done.
Florida is changing so fast! we haven't been gone for 10 years and the changes that we saw left us aghast! the interstate was dirty too! yuck. what a shame. this trip solidified our resolve and proved to us that we did the right thing in leaving. we miss our friends and family obviously but central Florida is not the appropriate place to raise our kids! too hot too. oh well.
the trip back was pretty unevently, thankfully! i really thought that Dallas, Mei Mei and the dogs would go nuts but they all took it in stride pretty well! like a well oiled and conditioned machine! we travel well together... all told, we traveled almost 3300 miles! 3281.4 to be exact. wow. don't take the Chicago bypass folks! or the Atlanta one either! it's just not worth it anymore as the construction just clogs absolutely everything and makes that roundabout even longer. fuhgetaboutit! i drove the entire trip but the last two hours, i had to cede the chair to Kim as my left forearm and fingers were getting tingly! the pain in my left forearm was causing me to start losing some sensation on my fingers and that was just too much. unacceptable. scary. weird. done.
now we are watching monday night football where Sylvester Stallone is also a commentator. hmmm. Mei Mei is screaming because she does not want to go to sleep. Dallas is complaining because he does not want to take a shower. the dogs are milling about for no reason whatsoever. nothing has changed!