I think I will adopt this as my new slogan, I actually found a plaque with this on it.

"Blessed is ye who expects nothing for ye shall never be disappointed"

I went on my vacation. I had expected my niece to have called or stop by like she said she would when and if I came up some 300 to 400 miles. Well, Thursday came & went, Friday came & still nothing. I called the phone number I had for her. Disconnected. I called phone directory, no listing for that name there or any near there. hmmm, My stepmom says call her mom and ask her. Her mom is the one I stopped talking to over a year ago when our friendship since 1977 became a one sided friendship.  Well, I called the mother in law instead. she was really good to talk to, she told me how her son , the stepdad drives over 100 to 125 miles one way to work now & home every nite. & the mom she drives over an hour in the other direction to her job. ( the two of them live in a 4 bdr mobile home they bought when the kids were 11 & 12). she gave me my nieces cell phone & her moms number too. I called my nieces & it is not a good number any more.  I called back the MIL got answering machine. I never got a call back. I finally called her mom & got her voice mail. I left a message. she called back around 11pm. she was at a banquet. she asks me how I am, how my stepmom is etc. I fell for it again. She is so good at being cordial & courteous to someone she really does not care to talk to. I must have bored her to death. I am proud of myself & all I have accomplished so too bad. She said my niece does not have a land line & neither does she. they use cell phones. she told me to call back Saturday & she would give me her new cell phone number. I waited till around noon. I left her a message & said "I should have had her call me with the number." She finally calls late & says her cell was out of range while she was around SC. She had drove near where I was. I never saw her or heard from her again. I finally got to talk to my niece. She was full of one excuse after another. I said I would meet her two boys when they moved out & went to college.  Since I have been back I went thru my sent emails & I let my niece know as early as june 16 that I would be in the area July 26th thru Aug 1. needless to say I did not see them. Her mom suggested I get my 80yro stepmom to drive me 100 to 125 miles for a visit & drive back home the same day.    Oh my stepmom said " If I wanted to go spend the nite with my friend the mom, she would get me there. I tried to explain that the mom would not have time to spend with me.

But In spite of that set back, I had fun. I got to see another elderly friend who is a joy to talk to & spend time with we visited twice. My stepmom & I went shopping & to a seafood resturant Friday. She takes my 42yro cousin to work & someitimes picks him up. (I will talk more about  him & why he lives with her another time).  My stepmom & I walked the beach. I do not worship the sun anymore. My cousin does. lol He is so dark lucky boy. I burn. Oh I took my stepmom to the library & ordered stuff she wanted off the internet. she was amazed.lol I installed a new shower head for her too. She was gonna hire someone one of these days.  I went to church with her & my cousin. It is casual & rock band. hmm interesting topic (control). How poetic! I tried to not cry. She showed me off to her friends. She tells everyone I am her daughter. one lady said I can see a resemblance. we laughed inside. We went to breakfast & she saw more friends. We took cousin to work & went to see her sister, who is 91 in a nursing home with demensia. she kept saying "who is she?" to my stepmom. She didn't know me but said I was pretty.  this is my cousins adoptive mom. So my last day  My stepmom &  my cousin & I got to spend the day  shopping & lunch. Then my cousin & I went to walk on the beach & talked. We saw 2 dolphins. I have never seen them like that before. Spiritual!  We went out that nite. I drank some wine & was ok. Might be the stress at home that makes me sick when I drink. I had not drank in a year & half before that.  He took me to the airport Tuesday.

dang it .........got to continue later bad thunderstorm in area now............ power returned at 6am.

Why do I think if someone I knew & loved was coming near my town. I would put in for time off work during there time to travel? I gave a month and a half notice I was coming & when.  One of the excuses my neice used was her hubby had to work.

My cousin & I are both in our 40's divorced without kids.......It seems like everyone we know that was a friend when we were younger , who is now married & has kids.........seems to act like if you can not afford to come visit them & stay in a motel nearby or you are not blood or marriage related then they have no use for us.  We are castoffs like yesterdays newpapers.