327 miles (and a few blonde moments)

My friend Oscar told me last week that I was so blessed to have so many grandparents in my life. When I explained to him how I have great-grandparents, he was shocked.

"So you have your Dad's dad, and both of your mom's parents, AND your grandmother's parents, all still living, all still loving you?!"

I told Oscar that was correct and this was his response: "You have, like, 150% grandparents. Or 125%. Because if most people just have four grandparents, and you have five, well, that's 125% grandparents. That's like... bonus grandparents!!!"

Oscar is so right. I have bonus grandparents. I call them Dear and Popa. I've been in Dallas with them for the past two days, and we've had some good times. Went to some fun restaurants, watched old reruns on TV, talked about funny old family stories. They are both so awesome, and I've had a great time.

I have had my share of blonde moments on this roadtrip, though. For instance, I left the windows of my car cracked - ever so slightly - on Friday night in Fort Worth. Well, it poured rain on Saturday morning. The interior is fine, no noticeable damage whatsover (I promise, Dad) but the front mats were damp and the car smelled rank. Just ask Sara, she'll tell you. But a little Resolve and an air freshner, we're back in business!

And then today, I made grilled sandwiches with mozzerella, tomato, basil, and a little olive oil. Just call me the Contessa. Dear and Popa were eating theirs at the table while I waited for the last sandwich to finish cooking.

"Daughter," Popa said- that's what he calls the daughters and grandaughters sometimes. "Why don't you come sit and eat with us?"

I told him I was waiting on the last sandwich to be finished. He asked me a few minutes later what was taking so long. "I don't know, this one is just taking forever to cook."

After a few more minutes, I was baffled. I looked more closely and flipped the sandwich in the skillet a few times. It wasn't cooking at all.

Then I noticed: I had moved the skillet to a different burner. A burner that wasn't even turned on.

Oops. I moved the skillet back to the burner that was turned on, and what do you know - that sandwich was done in no time! Brilliant.

My great-grandmother asked me if I'd been putting something special in my iced tea. I know if my loving father would have seen this today, he would have said something smart like:

"Oh, we don't pay too much for those highlights, do we, blondie?" Haha.