Enjoyable, but tiring

That is how my Memorial Day weekend was. I drove to Oklahoma eaaaaarly Saturday morning (about 6:30 am). Traffic was not bad at all. I was able to maintain speeds from about 75 to 80 mph. Anything over that was a little too risky (being a holiday weekend, the State Troopers were out in full force). The last thing I need right now is a traffic ticket.

Once my feet hit the red dirt I was constantly on the go. I was back and forth from my grandmother's home to my youngest sister's and the 2nd oldest sister's homes. We had a big fish fry outdoors on Saturday evening that lastest well into the night. There's nothing like family gatherings under a big shade tree (while swatting flies). My uncle had this large outdoor gas stovetop looking thing. It was shaped like a square table. The top was like a stove top but bigger with 4 burners. He hooked up a butane tank, pulled out this huge cast iron skillet and the fish fry was on!! We had french fries, catfish & hushpuppies. I hate being so finicky when it comes to food. The catfish tasted a bit too fishy to me so I feasted on fries & hushpuppies -- hey, it was still good.

Sunday evening we grilled at my 2nd oldest sister's house. We had pork chops, baked beans, hot dogs, hamburgers & baked beans. We sat outside under her carport while the kids played outside. When it became dark, the kids relocated to her living room to watch movies. We coerced my nephew and a female friend of his to sing a few songs for us. These youngsters can really sing! One of the songs they sang seriously brought tears to my eyes. I can't really hang like my sisters so I ended up calling it a night about 11:30 p.m. and headed back to my grandmothers. There's no telling what time they finally shut it down.

Monday morning we went to the cemetary and put flowers on the graves of my mother and other family members. I will never forget my loved ones but visiting the cemetary is something that I can really do without. To be honest, I think I do it because it's expected -- not that the deceased can see you or are aware that you stopped by. I believe the most important thing is the relationship that you had with that person while they were still living.

We headed back to Dallas Monday evening around 4:30 p.m. We came across some type of checkpoint on one of the back roads that I take to get to I35. The State Troopers were checking for drivers licenses and proof of insurance. I had my license but no insurance card (since I had just purchased my SUV 4 days before). He looked at my license and said that he believed that I had insurance and let me continue my journey. Everything was going well until I came within about 20 miles North of the Red River. The freeway was reduced to one lane and traffic was HORRIBLE!!! On top of that, my daughter was having trouble breathing due to her asthma. She was in the back seat crying and I was trying to console her and tell her that we would be home soon. She finally went to sleep and after about 45 additional minutes later, we crossed the Red River. I took my chance and drove well over the speed limit. My baby was sick, she didn't have her enhaler or pills and I needed to get her home so that she could take a breathing treatment. We made it home around 8:45 p.m. I hooked up my daughter's machine, put the medicine in, put the mask on her face and flipped the power switch. About 15 minutes later she was moving around and starting to feel much better.

As I turned off all the lights, made sure the doors were locked and turned the alarm on before I climbed into bed, I began to regret that I didn't schedule a vacation day for Tuesday.