Exhausted, still sick in the throatish. Jenn of the golden-halo hair and sleeky sexy martial-arts body came up in her chariot to rescue us from the hell that is LAX. Of course, she'd been in her own LAX hell waiting for us, but that's another story.

Rain pelted down. Hubby got the two huge suitcases loaded into the trunk and we collapsed into the car and let Jenn navigate us back to - I was about to say the world, but so soon after Caput Mundi - Rome really IS the Capital of the World - so will now fall back on unpoetical Los Angeles and our home.

She drove through the rain and the traffic (at 11pm!) while the three of us talked. I coughed, wheezed, and fell into a couple of stupors I think. (We'd been up for 25 hours at that point, with some sleep along the way.) Guilt that I have dragged her away from her warm home. Gratitude that she was willing to be dragged. Sheer tiredness prevailed, but I refrained from babble. I think.

Home, finally. Smelling of dark, and dust, and cold. Lifeless (except in the fridge, where new supercool smelly experiments were taking place, new life forms splurging-emerging). Hub's lost his glasses. It was that damned security line, AFTER customs, AFTER immigration, AFTER rechecking our checked bags and had to go through security. $180, gone. Bad Philly. Bad, bad Philly.

Started the van, let it warm up some before we swooped down on the neighbors to clutch our kiddies to us. They were warm, didn't want to move, but did - not sure why. Eldest has moved deeper into teenagerhood, and grew about six inches the week we were gone. Youngest clings to childness for a bit, but soon will drop that too. I push away the sad and cling to the joy - they are safe, warm, and once again we are under the same roof, they asleep in their beds with dogs on their heads. Stuffed ones, I mean. Or bears. Whatever.

Went out to let the dogs jump all over me and wash my face. Muddy paws meant too tired, so they stayed outside after adding another layer of dirt on my already tired and dirtyness. Tomorrow they'll get their inside floor-play, and I'll need to wash whatever I'm wearing and my face too. At least a few times.

Averno. Just a shot. Then an over-easy egg was called for, and toast. And a friend left a half bottle of red in the fridge from the weekend when he was here, so may as well. We're awake. We need to sleep.

Then the kittly catness of catkind sauntered in and meouwed his angry snarly where WERE you snarl, scattering rain with every stalky step he took. Grease in patches across his side meant I had work to do, so I wiped and swiped and cleaned him down and set him in front of his kitty treats neglected for eight days poor thing.

Teenie age child-man has awoken and is in the living room. Hubster said 'he's mine to torture' so I leave them to their boy-man ritualspeak and save my hugs for the friendlier morning.

I finished "Dangerous Angels" a few nights ago. I'm dreaming in Lia-ese. What a trippy trip trip. And yes, there were Lankas in Rome.

But I bet there are more in summer.