6/14 - a family reunion

Yay for me - a bunch of Jim's cousins, including the not-so-optimal houseguest Chester, were in town today for a mini-reunion. Present were Chester, a cousin, Ulysses, another cousin, and Penny, a third cousin. Chester had come in from Michigan (he said he'd hitched a ride with a trucker hauling mattresses, and he'd been allowed to ride in the back and bounce on them at his leisure, as long as he didn't remove the plastic or the "DO NOT REMOVE" tags), but the others were not forthcoming with their previous whereabouts. The bad houseguest characteristics have proved not to be a family trait - Penny and Ulysses have been wonderful to have. Ulysses has been visiting for a few days, and he's helped with the dishes, as well as cleaning up after himself. Penny has scoured the tub after Chester's baths and has generally kept him from making a nuisance of himself.

Any inconvenience on my part, though, is worth it. Jim has been so happy today. He has a constant grin, and keeps sighing contented sighs and saying "super duper" and hugging the cousins any chance he gets. It's good to see him this happy. When asked, though, Jim of course acts like it's no big deal that his family has traveled to see him. Gotta keep up that tough exterior, to hide the soft, mushy center.

Chester

Jim's relative Chester came to stay with us on November 27 and left a few days before Christmas. Jim was very excited and happy to have him come, as he hadn't heard from his family in quite some time. I suppose Jim's happiness was worth the trouble of wild and noisy parts til 3 am on work days, and having to scrub the strange stains from the tub after Chester showered, and having to pay the fair for Chester to travel via First Class mail to Michigan to see Jessa, as Jim had promised.

We got word on Christmas day that Chester had arrived safely and enjoyed a nice Christmas dinner with my family in Michigan. I even got a picture on my phone of Jessa and Chester. Very cute. I wonder if I should warn them about the stains?

11/24-25 - Michigan, soda, and Chester

While I was on the trip to Philly with Jim, I found out that my grandma, my Dad's mom, died. The funeral was the next week, and Jim came along to console me and my family. He proved very useful in distracting my cousin's small daughter, Jessa, during the funeral. He bore the rough handling with strength and dignity, and never once mentioned how she kept dropping him on the ground.

There are, for obvious reasons, no pictures of Jim at the funeral, but we did go to the grocery store, which Jim enjoyed. He especially liked climbing in the cooler with the Sierra Mist cranberry splash. Evidently, his planet is cooler than ours and he's been super-duper hot this whole time. Also, he was very enthusiastic about the color of the labels on the bottles, for obvious reasons.

When it came time to leave Jessa, my niece, didn't want to part with Jim. Jim told me to tell her, as a consolation, that his relative, Chester, would soon be visiting and Jim would direct him on to Michigan to spend some time with Jessa. This was the first I'd heard of Chester, and I wasn't all that thrilled to be entertaining another house guest. One small alien was enough to handle.