I think I have the WORST luck EVER...

So my cousin came to hang out with my this weekend. Yes, she willingly left New York City in favor of coming to the 'Ville to hang out with yours truly. That's how much she likes me!

Now, we were pretty excited to hang out, we had a fantastic (ok, as fantastic as you can get in Kirksville) weekend planned: kayaking on Saturday, as well as Farmer's Market and the Java Co, some time spent updating her new iPod, catching up on Seinfeld and doing a LOT of cooking. Monday we were going to spend the day in KC, maybe stroll around the Plaza for a bit, check out the fountains and head to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

Here's what actually happened:
Her flight came in an hour late to KC. We left for K-ville at about 10pm after grabbing a surprisingly delicious meal at Hong's Buffet (Panera Bread had closed about 5 min before we got there of course). Almost as soon as we hit I-35, it started pouring. And when I say pouring, I mean I felt like I was driving under a waterfall. We don't have rain like that in Idaho. Sure, the snow, the blizzards, those get crazy. But rain...? I was going a daring 60, white knuckles gripping the steering wheel, all attempts to catch up on the new developments in our lives stunted by the tense expression on my face and the frenzied windshield wipers whisking the rain in a desperate attempt to maintain some minimal level of visibility. Needless to say, I was terrified.

We finally arrived at 2am; I was exhausted and had a pounding headache. Naturally, we hoped to sleep in in the morning, but my sweet daughters, who are morning people of the worst kind, showed up in my room bright and early at 7:15am. And it was still raining outside. We decided to go ahead and proceed with our plans, but the rain didn't lift. We settled for a quick run to the Farmer's Market and a nice, relaxing breakfast at the Java Co.

Upon our return home, we went about trying to re-arrange the day. We decided to watch a bit of Seinfeld, maybe grab a movie and make delicious dinners both Saturday and Sunday. Camas also still needed to update her iPod, so she went about attempting to get that started. And that's where I need to add in a tiny bit of history: we have two computers, an old one that we're basically waiting to kick and a brand, spanking new gorgeous one. Now, of course, 3 days after Derek left (about a week and a half ago) the new one went on the fritz. It finally just refused to boot. So we're down to the old one. When she went to update her iPod, it had to restart-- and it wouldn't boot either! So we're down to no computers, rainy day, glorious plans and no way to carry them out. Fortunately, we called our local computer miracle worker, Doug, who came over and spent his entire Saturday evening fixing not just one, but both my computers. For free. (Naturally, I made him an apple pie as a thank you. And I don't mess around when it comes to pie.)

So while we're waiting, we settled on two delicious meals for the weekend, both Rachel Ray. One included Chicken with and Israeli Spice Rub with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes. The other entailed something she called "You-Won't-Be-Single-For-Long Vodka Cream Pasta", which we served with tomato & basil bruschetta. So I ran to HyVee for what ingredients I needed (Aside: Even though I'm 23, this was the first time I've ever purchased anything I had to be carded to purchase. Wait... I think I got carded buying glue, once. Anyway, I felt so creepy walking out with my vodka in my brown paper bag. And it was kind of a rush. How silly is that?! I guess that's what happens when you're a Mormon buying alcohol! End of aside.) and we watched a little of The Office and some Seinfeld and just did the low-key hang-out thing.

We wound up eating at like 9:30 or something, but it was simply amazing. I'm thinking about it now, and my brain literally stopped processing anything else as I tried to wrap my mind around the memory of that dish!

Anyway, so Sunday was fairly uneventful... until after church. Avril fell asleep in the car, and apparently that five minutes was all she needed because she resisted napping for the rest of the day. All I wanted was my Sunday afternoon nap! Is that so much to ask?

So once I got the girls to bed, we decided to go ahead and make another late dinner (10:30 this time I think)... and the chicken and potatoes were also amazing. I went back for seconds... and then for thirds. I think I ate for all this next week this past weekend.

We still wanted to go kayaking, so we crammed our morning full: first thing, make apple pies. Next, Camas needed a trim, so to Josie's for that (thanks for squeezing her in!). Drop the kids off at Brenda's (thanks again Brenda!!!), stop at Pancake City for some delicious Georgia Peach and Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, pick up a gift card and head to Doug's to drop off pie and said gift card, rush to Thousand Hills for kayaks, kayak for a measly 30 minutes, rush back home, rinse off, pack bags, etc, etc, finally leaving at 12:30am. That's a jam-packed morning! Unfortunately, it was a little too jam-packed. Camas' flight left at 3:20. It's a three-hour drive... you do the math. So she missed her flight, we booked the next one which left at 6:45, stopped at Target (because of course I'd forgotten to stock my diaper bag with diapers), dinner at Chili's (their southwestern egg rolls are to die for! But I'm sure they're very fattening...) and then drop off at the airport at 5:50.

So between the rain, the extended driving, the broken down computers, the missed naps and the missed flights... was it worth it?

Absolutely!