8 hours later, but they're here!
Tuesday, 07/06/04 - 10:56 pm.

All my nice plans for today, the day of my kids' arrival from Houston, fell through.

The original plan: my parents and I were going to the mall to buy a remote control, and then to have a snack, at 9 am. The kids, nephew and niece, would arrive at 11:30, my parents and I would pick them up at the airport, we'd go for lunch and then they'd come home with us, and they'd stay home all afternoon.

What happened: kids missed the flight (last minute problems with passports), so they'd be here at 5:55 and not at 11:30. My parents, Javier (my other nephew, who ended up coming with us) and I got to the airport at 4 o'clock (not on purpose, really). At 5:30, we got bad, bad news: the flight was delayed, and would not arrive until 7 o'clock. To top it all off, at 5:50, I noticed the other grandparents of my kids had decided to show up at the airport, too, which meant they'd probably take the kids with them, and my parents and I would come back home with no kids in our car (they split, though...nephew with them, niece with us)

But it was great seeing them. They're teenagers now. I mean, they're supposed to be pre-teens, but according to my Psychology of Development book, kids are developing earlier these days. My nephew, 12, already shaves. And he's got the best-est beatle haircut. He's very handsome and is the height of my mom. My niece is 10 and...well, I am glad she looks like she is 10. But still, she's taller than six months ago, which is when I last saw her. Everybody says the same, she said, after my sister said "look at you, you're so big now!". It'll always be like that, I replied to her. Even I still get that line.

My nephew will stay in my house for two weeks, while my niece stays at the other grandmother's. And then the other two weeks will be the other way around. With occassional run-aways. I won't see them this weekend, they're off to the beach. But next weekend we'll go to the mountains, to a cabin. I'm not excited, if you care to know. But just because I am lazy.

The day the kids arrive I'm only tranquil when I know they're tucked in in bed, finally resting after a long day (and today was longer than usual, as they woke up at 5 am, and went to the airport twice, which is an hour and a half away from their house).

I realized that until we'd left their grandmother's house tonight (we had dinner there, after coming from the airport). My nephew and I were in the backseat, and he was really tired, so he rested his head on my lap. He fell asleep for a while, and I put my arm on his ribs. He was breathing calmly, and I was calm, too. I don't know, I'm so peaceful, when I see them fall asleep. Now he's asleep in bed (sleeping in the bedroom that my brother Alan used to practically live in), and I'm just glad they're here.

I'm very tired myself, so this shall be all for today. I mean it.

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