Driving In The Rain

My older Sister came for a visit with her Daughter and their small dog. They arrived Friday afternoon and left today around 1:00 pm. Thing is, they were supposed to be here last weekend, which is the time my Mom was expected to be getting out of the hospital. For their sakes, I'm glad they didn't come last weekend because they would've been stuck just visiting Mom in the hospital. For MY sake, however, I almost wish they had come last weekend.

When last I spoke to Sis, she said she would be coming the weekend of the 20th. I then emailed friends here in MA to say that I could play D&D (yes, I still play D&D, but that's a topic for another day) on the 27th. It was only after I arrived here on the Cape that my Sister informed me she would be visiting the weekend of the 26th. When I told her my plans of driving off Cape, she gave me the guilt trip. How could I leave her and visit my friends when she'd only be here for the weekend? She only sees me twice a year, how could I spend some of that precious time away? Don't I miss her? Don't I want to see my Niece? Ugh! My dirty little secret is that, if anyone wants me to do anything, all they need do is have my Sister ask me. She can guilt me into doing anything.

Since I really wanted to see my friends, since I really wanted to play D&D, and since I was going to be exchanging an old lap top for a new one, I worked out a compromise: I would leave the Cape fairly late - around 3 - and then drive back after D&D so that I'd be here in the morning before they left. I thought that would be a good compromise because our group had been planning to finish early anyway, so I could probably make it back here by 1 am.

The problem? This is the weekend that a tropical storm was moving through, so during my two-and-a-half-hour drive I had to deal with downpours, flooded highways, at least one major accident, and hydroplaning. It wasn't much fun, but I did get there without incident.

The evening was wonderful: good friends, great food, and a fun D&D session. However, we ended up finishing after the time we thought we were going to, and then Greg had to finish prepping the laptop. Kate's rule held true: whatever time Greg gives, just multiply it by 3. Sure enough, Greg's "twenty minutes" turned into an hour. I in no way can complain - a free laptop fully prepped is nothing to sneeze at - but I kept thinking about my drive home. I almost wanted to take Kate up on her offer and sleep over, but my Sister's words kept ringing in my ears. I soldiered on.

Luckily, most of the heavy rain had already passed, and because of the late hour, there weren't a lot of cars on the road. Still, wouldn't you know that the one time I decided to pass a slow moving car, it hit a huge puddle and splashed water over my windshield - completely obscuring my vision. Because it wasn't raining hard at that point, I didn't even have my wipers on. I was tired, moving fast on a two-lane road along side another car, and I couldn't see a thing. If nothing else, that sure got my adrenaline pumping!

The rest of the drive proceeded without incident except for my hydroplaning and battling fatigue. I got in around 3 am, but because of all the caffeine I drank to stay awake, I was unable to fall asleep until 4. At 8:30 I woke up - probably to use the bathroom - but I could hear my Sister and Niece already up, so I got out of bed and went downstairs.

And here's what really pissed me off. All that talk about wanting me here and spending time with me seemed to be just that - talk. The reality is, I'm tired and GRUMPY in the morning and not much fun to be around until after I've had (lots of) coffee. Also, Sis was on a schedule to leave, so most of her morning was spent packing up and getting ready (including an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom). Not really the QUALITY time she had in mind, I'm sure. So basically, I put myself at risk driving back at 2am in the rain just so I could be a half-awake, grouchy lump in her presence. Not really worth it, I'd say.

The highlight of the morning came as a lesson in why you should write things down as soon as you hear them. While sitting at the breakfast table, my Niece informed us that Sis will sometimes sing in the shower. She said, "She sings to the sound of ________ in the shower." The blank was a word I can no longer remember, but it had to do with the rhythm (beating? tapping?) of the water hitting the floor. It was so poetic! I thought at the time that I wanted to remember it, but I was probably just on my first cup of coffee, so obviously that wasn't gonna happen.

If nothing else, at least I was around for that.