Back Home again in Indiana

Jeff and I got back from the wilds of the Dominican Republic late Saturday. We'd set off on Tuesday right as Indiana got hit with another round of snow. For at least an hour into the trip, the left engine was encased in snow and ice.

Assisted by a Bloody Mary and a good book, I forced myself to stop looking at it until the sky outside had shifted from cotton swab white to cotton candy blue.

The trip was great fun right up until I got malaria. That's what I'm calling it anyway. Malaria sounds better than what it really was. We had 2 1/2 days of great sun before my malaria swept in with the rain and wind. None of it ever let up for long after that.

Jeff was a great sport and despite my urging him to go have fun without me, he took on the role of the good doctor. I suspect it's easier to be self-serving when room service is 24/7, paradise is chilly, windy and wet and you're inside with good books and movies. But still. He could have been at one of the many bars.

We'd left Alison with Team Ogden, who'd whisked her away Monday night because our flight was so early. Hoping to keep the chance of homesickness to a minimum, we'd not called her at all during the trip. By the time was touched down, I was more than ready to hear her voice.

As Karin & Crew came in to get her that Monday, Ali had her first chill from cold feet. She mumbled something like, "I'm not really comfortable having new parents."

I'd been fretting about plane crashes and the potential for her to actually need new parents, so this wasn't really what I needed to hear. It was only momentary discomfort, though, and the trio were off in a flash and a few squeals.

I'd checked on her via email and knew she was doing just fine. But I called as soon as our wheels hit the tarmac in Indy. I'd torn her away from SpongeBob, but she seemed pretty happy to hear we were back in town. She was packed and ready to go.

When we got there, she locked onto me like a chimpanzee and all was well with my world.

We heard stories of Ali and the Ogdens stopping by our house to find Annie and her boyfriend here. Well, more precisely, they found Derrick. "The dude wasn't even wearing a shirt!" Ali and Hannah reported. Hannah -- all of 9 years old -- further reported on Derrick's 6-pack abs.

Karin fled the scene and called Annie to assure her they wouldn't be visiting anymore that night.

Ali helped Jeff make dinner tonight: Grammie Reed's special chili with an allowance of cornbread for me and the standard garlic bread for Ali and Jeff. Chef Alison mixed up and baked the cornbread "golden brown on the outside and treasure chest yellow on the inside."

The chili, she later pronounced, "is a little spicy on the back of my tongue" but otherwise is good to go.

It's good to be home.

Um, about me and that bull: We had the Angie's List Stan's Club Beach Olympics. One of the events was bull riding. It wasn't pretty, but I won.