Extended Family

I moved out of my mom's house 4 weeks after I graduated from college. Out of the 4 years I was in college, I lived at home for one summer, but I worked 2 jobs that summer so was hardly home. We never had a grandparent live with us, and even though my father is the oldest of 4, we really only saw aunts and uncles for major holidays for a few hours. We saw even less of my mother's two siblings. The point being that I've never really had extended family around in my every day life. 

Now that KTDID is returning her Budget rental truck, and all of her possessions are in our basement making kind of an "in-law" suite, it changes the dynamic of the house a bit. I'm about to install a lockable doorhandle to keep X-man out of her area. KTDID has a cat and the apartment is hers -- not to be disrupted by my cats. My cats have been kept out of the basement since my Loosey cat died in February, so that shouldn't be any big deal. She has a lot of storage, a closet and a full bathroom to her disposal, not to mention her own parking area in the garage. 

I am so happy to have her home that I could burst. Somehow I always hated that my best friend barely got to know my favorite person in the whole world -- X-man. And now, she gets to see the delight and the challenge up close and personal. 

As for X-man, he helped carry things to the basement today. And when he couldn't carry things he directed KTDID's family members about where to go. The only thing he is confused about is where KTDID is going to cook her food. When I explain that she'll use our kitchen it crosses the boundary line I'm trying to create that the basement is KTDID's home, and we live upstairs. It, of course, didn't stop him from dragging his doll and crib downstairs. But I'm sure it'll be a work in progress for a while.

In other news, the jackasses at the apartments next to us (I usually find them to be fine neighbors except around the 4th of July) have started setting off fireworks at all hours of the night. Last year they were smart enough to do it over the lake in the park. This year, the dummies just set them off in the middle of the complex. 

In other news, we were supposed to head up to my Dad's on Saturday morning for the holiday, but he currently has the flu with a fever. So, we're going to call him tomorrow a.m. and see how he is. If he's sick, we'll stay here. Which makes me think maybe we'll go to the Monticello fireworks tonight. Should have bought the train ticket, I guess!