Only about 5 people on my Buddy List updated their diaries today. I was so surprised. Must be a rough Monday for lots of people, huh?

When we were in Florida, the first thing we did was visit the Kennedy Space Center. That's a very kewl place. I really dug it. The Not-So-Nice-Niece thought it was *boring* but Joey liked it. My favorite part was walking through the full-sized replica of the International Space Station and then seeing parts of the actual space station that are being prepared for delivery. In the afternoon, we got drenched running back from the space shuttle replica to the gift shop where Grandma was hanging with Joey and Niece. The rain drops were HUGE and it took only about 10 to soak you. We got hit by hundreds of the little buggers. There was lots of lightning and thunder, too.

Since the thundershowers were predicted for the next day, the day we'd planned to go to Islands of Adventure, we decided to change our plans and go to my BIL and SIL's house first and then catch Islands of Adventure afterward when there was a better forecast.

My SIL had a baby 2 months ago and they've only been married about 18 months so this visit from the MIL, BIL, SIL and two nieces was a big deal. I could tell she was a little uptight. The house was beautiful and cleaned to within an inch of its life. She had fresh flowers in every room of the house, including the bathroom. She planned huge quantities of food for our light-eating group and she wouldn't let us do *anything*. Nothing. She's running around like a chicken with its head cut off and the baby is being her fussy self (very fussy baby) and I say "What can I do to help?" "Nothing," she says. "I've got it all taken care of." But she didn't. It really bothered me that I couldn't help. The harder she tried to make us feel comfortable the more she drove home the feeling that we were guests there, not family, and the more uncomfortable I felt.

I had looked forward to seeing them. To getting to know my SIL better and forging a new friendship with her but we didn't really have much time to talk because she was either tending to the fussy baby, fixing too much food, or sleeping because the baby was up all night. We did talk a bit but it wasn't what I had hoped for. And the experience really drove home to me the importance of making guests feel welcome and part of the family. Let them help when they ask. I kept wanting to tell my SIL not to knock herself out so much for us. She wanted to get up at 6:30 to make us bacon and eggs before we left. That was very kind of her but there was no way we could let her do it nor did we want that. We just wanted to make ourselves some cereal and let her rest.

I felt so bad for her. She wanted so much to be the perfect hostess and she had a very fussy baby. The baby cried and cried and cried. She either slept or ate or cried. There were tiny moments here and there, usually right after a feeding, when she would smile a very cute smile, but mostly she was fussy and crying while we were there. They don't seem to be too aware that their baby is unusually fussy which is a blessing, I suppose.

They're in serious new-parent-sterilize-the-binky-if-it-touches-anything-but-the-baby mode right now. It's very cute. We went bowling one night and the nieces were riding in their car with the baby. I could hear her saying "Ok, girls, listen carefully. Your hands are very dirty right now so don't touch the baby or any of her things or even the carrier." It just cracked me up. I got over that pretty quickly when Joey was a newborn--couple of weeks, maybe. I wonder how long it will take them to make the transition.

This entry sounds like I'm really down on my SIL and BIL. Not so--I adore my BIL (he's very much like my husband) and I like my SIL. I just hope she'll relax a little.

--L