The Family Reunion . . .

So I make my way to Atlanta late Thursday night. Leaving work to go to the airport I could not catch a cab in the middle of Manhattan and then it starts to rain. Im actually calm and thinking as long as I make to my hometown all is well. As we get to the airport my mini van driver (the random guy who comes as Im trying to flag cabs and tries to overcharge me to get to Laguardia like I haven't caught a cab there from work) says the airport looks mighty empty and that a lot of flights had been cancelled in the last few days. I make it to curbside check in and am nervous my flight isnt a cancelled one. The guy tells me the 8pm flight is cancelled. Lucky for me Im on the 9pm flight which has been delayed until 10:30pm.
So that turned into 11pm but all that matters is I made it. i felt bad for folks who had been there all day and had flights pushed back hours, just for them to wait all that time and the flight get cancelled 10 minutes before they are to board and they announce the next flight to that city is saturday morning, as we wait on thursday evening.
So I make it to Atlanta.
Friday morning after a huge argument with Mom Dukes I head to the dentist. With my dental insurance expiring the next day I am hoping to get this root canal fixed and maybe a filing or two. She sits me down and says all they can do today is xrays and a check up though I know exactly what I need. At the counter I start crying as she tells me how I could have seen a dentist in NY before the insurance expired and Im just frustrated to be uninsured and completely make the other nurses get on my nurse for making me cry. So wasn't her fault. Well, after an eventful morning and the bank of america outside the bank malfunctioning with my card inside and the lady at the bank acting like she's doing me a favor by helping a machine she then says they already knew acts up, me and my mom make it to Charlotte for the family reunion.

How was it? Just what I needed. Grounded me. Made me put some things in perspective and remind me how cool it is to have a family that is stuck with you.
I got to spend some time with my lovely sister cousin Aisha, who is doing her thing on a golf scholarship at Hampton, but she'll always be that bratty cousin who always feels like no time has past when we're reunited. Summers in South Carolina, we use to take baths together and iron skirts (the washcloths) with the iron (the soap) . . .until the time we got in a fight and they put a end to our baths. Even now, she still brings the kid out of me from the candy we stock up on at Walmart to our constant quotes of our fav movies Jawbreaker and Mean Girls. Her sister is the one I was suppose to babysit for.

It was great to see my grandma and aunts and great aunts and cousins and babies of cousins. It would be easy to spot my mom there, the loudest one in the room, and my grandma, the cute little lady whose favorite thing to say for the weekend was how it was a shame my mom's cousin had four grandchildren from three of her four children and none of them were married. That has south circa 1950 written all over it.
Also cool about this reunion is it was way multi-cultural. Between white wives and adopted white children it was a rainbow affair.
Saturday afternoon was free time so we hit the huge mall. The Off Fifth store had a great sale and who knew Old Navy had edgy clothes? Am I the last one to know they got an upgrade from tshirts and floral skirts? I got cute trench for a steal and this big striped tshirt dress.
After shopping we hit the heated pool.
That night we had our family banquet and everyone was asked to wear black,red, and/or white for the family picture. For the third time in two weeks (dont tell) I wore the dress from my graduation party because I felt good in it and it fit the requested colors perfectly. We had a auction where you bid on wrapped gifts and didnt get to see what it was until you bought it. I was already having fun bidding on things and after the husband of the host got a two night stay at the embassy suites for $50, everybody really was stepping up the bidding. Though I bid a lot and I only one once - a framed photo of my great-grandma katie who I am named for which was so appropriate.
Next it was time to dance. I was a little leery of a dance floor at a family event, especially with some of those older cousins giving me that "you surely have turned out nicely" look. But with the electric slide followed by the cha cha they knew how to get folks on the dance floor. I had the best dance partner in the room - JJ, my seven year old buddy who I was suppose to baby sit. Though it was our first time meeting he quickly took to me and begged me to come paly more cards with him afterwards. Cutest kid ever and clever as hell!
So it was great, and I didnt hang to hard at the bar downstairs because you know how the embassy suites are set up and you can see everyone's comings and goings.
And all the family reunion characters were there, along with that older cousin who makes you uncomfortable is
the "If you weren't my cousin" Cousin.
This is that cousin you meet for the first time at the reunion and when you see them hope you aren't related because they are kinda cute. yeah, he was so there and had "the back."
So instead of thinking about some sixth cousin , and giving proof to being called a country bumpkin by JE at work, Im enjoying the single-dating life . . .
CJ