My cousin popped into town rather unexpectedly last week. By this I mean I had no idea she was going to be here until she was here! This is par for the course for this cousin but do we get a choice in our relatives?
Tune out the negative connotation of that last sentence please.
It should also be said that "in town" means within reasonable driving distance. In this case, Tampa to Orlando. So I tell my boss that a relative popped in and I want the day off.
Now cue Friday, the day of, and I'm eventually off. Things start going bad right out of the gate. Not far out from the pad, the AC packs up. That's no small deal here in Florida either. Especially considering we are talking about the height of summer. Good thing I had an extra shirt in the car becuase it was hot! It doesn't help that I sat in traffic going through Tampa in what was absolutely sweltering conditions. May as well turn up the music and be glad you're alive.
I stopped somewhere about 3/4's of the way there to get some water and call my cousin. I left her a message and decided to have some lunch where I was there (needed to kill some time), which was no more then a greasy spoon truck stop with gnarly food, hairy big guys that spend all day long behind the wheel, and an adorable waitress that seemed way out of place with this sea of junkfood muching human bears.
I'm eventually off and into the Kissime area. I've spotted the Nicklelodeon Hotel and head for the lobby. No answer on the phone or via text so after sitting there for 30 minutes, I head out looking for a bookstore to blow some more time. May as well.
Of course, I just can't get away from mis-fortune. 1 mile down the road and the temp on my car has shot for the moon. Eventually getting into a parking spot and popping the hood provides a curious picture. The coolant overflow bottle is blown up like a ballon?!?! What the heck is that all about right? By this time, there are some really dark thoughts knocking around my head. I check the oil and at least it still looks like oil. I slowly release pressure from the cooling system then pour in some cold water, zip the system up, and head back out on my trek. Now everything is fine which just makes it all the more strange.
After questing around Kissime based on bunk directions I get a call from the point of this trip and head back The Nick. Sitting in the lobby, I start wondering just how different she's going to look from the last time I saw here. Her being Vanessa. I was terrorfied I wouldn't recognize her. But no, she is just as gorgeous. Even behind the gigantic black framed glasses, it was that face.
My cousing Vanessa is THE BOMB!!! I don't know why but I just dig her like no other. We just hang out and it's all good and all that easy.
And on top of all that, her kids are absolutely beautiful. I was so smitten by Alex and was very close to taking her back home with me. A perfect blend of 'Nessa and Vernon (her husband who is cool and mellow as h311!) with a rich and dark complexion unlike 'Nessa and I with our milk chocolate hues. The youngest girl, CC, has the amazingly subtle and exquisite features.
And boy could those kids raise hell! When they started throwing rocks at one of the windows at Friday's, I about died. LOL.
But what I was really looking forward too was when everyone else knocked off for the night and I could have 'Nessa to myself. I hadn't got to spend any alone face time with her in 15 years. Remembering now how I felt, I can't believe I let it go that long.
And that's something that has to change a bit. My aunt and uncles are less then 8 hours drive away and cool as ice in addition to being real characters. Everytime I get to see them I'm reminded of just how bitchin of a family I come from! All the coolest things a group of people could have. Beauty, intensity, hilarity, kindness, and unconditional love.
Leaving that evening was hard. I got three hugs out of the deal tho so I'm not complaining. But I also had the best drive home ever. It was 2 in the morning and had cooled off. The stereo worked and the turbo was as faithful as ever. The temps stayed reasonable so you could say there was nothing to spoil the after glow of the visit.
It's funny how good of a decision it was to just ignore the problems and conditions knowing that it would end up being more then worth it. I was so worth the trouble and will still be worth the trouble of the work I'm about to get into to fix the blown headgasket that was the cause of so many problems on the trip.
Thanx 'Nessa
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