Wild?, Wonderful?, West Virginia

I took Thursday off so that Jay and I could head up to West Virginia to visit his family.  His parents live in Ohio, but all of his mom's family live in northern West Virginia - right on the river that borders Ohio.

The weather had been calling for snow, and we were expecting 20 inches in some part of our travels.  I got excited because we rarely see snow around here - I borrowed my mom's ski suit.  It hadn't been worn in a decade, but it was either that or borrow a pair of Carhart overalls from Jay.  My fear was that the overalls would either fit me perfectly or be too small for the thunder thighs.  Remind me again why I married a skinny boy?

We would be there 4 days and 3 nights, and I ended up packing in the same bag I took on our week long trip to California.  I had a wicking base later for every day, a long sleeved t-shirt, a sweat shirt/fleece, and then a shirt to change into after all the snow playing fun.

I was glad that we were able to get a jump start on the snow and didn't have to drive through a storm.  When we arrived at our destination it still wasn't snowing.

Jay's parents were already at Papa's house (pronounced Paw-Paw) when Jay and I got there.  Papa is in his 80s and insists on living at home by himself, even though he's not in the best of health.  Jay swears that he's in better shape than I give him credit - I swear Jay fools himself into thinking his Papa is in better shape then he really is.

Either way, visiting old people is hard. He won't wear his hearing aid and so conversation has to be made at a yelling voice.  Which means when speaking to him it never goes beyond one or two sentences.  

Between stories of his time as a POW in WWII, we're pretty much left to entertain ourselves.  Jay's mom is a great cook, who loves serving people, so she takes care of the food while we're there.

Can you imagine your life without responsiblities, obligations, or chores? 

Don't beat me, but its not as wonderful as you would think.  This WV town is tiny, so there isn't anything really to do.  The TV stays on Fox News or ESPN the entire time we're there. 

I was excited thinking this trip I'd be able to get outside for a few hours each day and play in the snow.  Only the 10 inches of snow never arrived.  We never got more of a dusting of snow and it certainly wasn't enough to play in.  Needless to say I was disappointed.

Books were my backup plan. And magazines.  This trip I read 4 magazines, 3 books - and started my 4th.  All in within a 4 day time span.

Jay teases me that I don't like his family - but that's really not it.  His parents try their best to make me feel at home.  I actually told Jay I'm not sure if its his dad or me or both, but when we start chatting about something our conversations last forever!

One morning Jay said "Isn't it nice how people are quiet and you can sleep as late as you want?" 

Immediately on the defensive I told him that I tried to be quiet at the house getting ready in the mornings.  He assured me that by closing off all the doors I was very considerate.

So he means my family - and he's right - when we visit my sister no one gets to sleep in.  The little man is awake by 5:30 and playing with his roaring dinosaur toys.

Have you ever stopped to wonder what your family is like to your spouse?  What crazy inlaw stories he has to share with his family/friends/blog?

I started thinking about my family and wondered what about visiting them keeps me more entertained than in WV?

There, of course, is the obvious.  With an 18 month old and a 5 year old there is never a dull moment.  But what were we like before the kids?

If you haven't notices already I'm a little scatterbrained this morning - jumping from here to there.  So I'll shut up now and leave you with a few questions.

What do you do for entertainment when visiting family/inlaws?

For my diet concious friends - how do you cope when you're eating habits are completely different than those you are visiting?

Hope everyone has a great time ringing in the New Year!