While home for a visit last week...

:: Dad reached high into the tangelo tree to pick a bag full of citrus for us to take home. I got excited just thinking about the many breakfasts to come which would include a glass of fresh-squeezed oj.

:: Grandma read story after story from a 1952 copy of Little Brown Bear and Friends to Karis. She also introduced her to the game dots and boxes, thereby furthering Karis' unending love for "playing games", surely the quickest way to this little girls' heart.

:: I single-parented my child, with one eye on her as she roamed through a home of empty nesters (i.e. not so child-proof anymore) and the other eye on two yappy dogs and the swimming pool out back. It was a juggling act of Olympic proportions.

:: Karis connected with her Cuban heritage. Grandpa and I sipped our cafe con leches and watched her take her first bite of a Cuban sandwich. You wouldn't know she was Cuban to look at her blond hair and fair skin, but she ate up everything on her plate as if she'd been born and raised on the fair island.

:: I made out like a bandit. My mother is a collector of all things vintage, from jewelry to furniture to fine china. A visit home is a lot like a treasure hunt. I spend time looking through the cabinets, closets, and counter tops to see what's new, or old...well, you get the point. She's incredibly generous, and I usually know when to ask for something to be given to me as an "early" inheritance. (wink) Some treasures that this trip yielded: a beautiful string of pearls, an upright secretary desk that will be amazing painted black, a funky set of mismatched tea cups, and a white porcelain dish labeled "Versailles" on the back. My mother and I have no idea what that last piece is, but we have fun dreaming of it's origin and value. I think a little research is in order.

:: I learned the following things:
1. I don't care to inherit my mother's vintage hat collection. Cool but completely useless, in my opinion.
2. Karis, on the other hand, would love them.
3. My parents are total hippies. My mom has always walked the whole foods/natural medicine line, but I think she has officially crossed it with no going back. I was suspicious when she told me she replaced all the chemical cleaners in her home with natural products. I was nearly convinced when she talked about setting up a rain barrel in the yard, but I found proof positive when she talked to the dread-locked cashier at the health food store about growing her own wheat grass. Hippies, I tell you.
4. Karis is an angel on day 1 and 2 of vacation, but when day 3 rolls around, all bets are off. Even Grandma comments on the change in behavior, and I relish the chance to say, "See, I told you she wasn't perfect."