In Which I Am Not in the Right Time Zone

It's 3:15 am here and 11:15 am back home and–as tired as I am–apparently I am not tired enough. Eventually I'll get it sorted I suppose. Random ephemera:

• I hadn't realized how much I missed the sound of crickets. Even now the chorus is singing outside my parents house.
• I also can hear the freight trains as they pull through town, I never once heard that sound in the UK, despite it being nation of trains. It's kind of sad as I think about it since the blast of the diesel engine's horn is my most favorite sound.
• Rona, who is coping fantastically (and did exceptional on the flight–and layovers–to Spokane), is still a little over stimulated and under rested, exclaimed to us yesterday in the car, "Why did we leave Aberdeen!" It breaks my heart and there was no answer Sara or I could give her
• Grandma Stolte stole Rona's birthday (and our welcome back from the family shindig, we let her as we knew we'd be too tired organize it our selves) and since she doesn't do it for anybody else, "There are just to many people now, y'know?" she exclaims, Rona and I are not sharing our birthday. I am find this incredibly disappointing.
• Scotland misses us so much that it sent high, high humidity with us. While the lightning and thunder were much appreciated, I am not sure that we could have dealt with the heat (85˚ F/29˚ C), or will deal with the heat and lower humidity (as I write it sits at about 67%).

We Gave Up and Went to Breakfast (Eventually)

Sara and Rona were up shortly after me this morning. We thought we'd go to Knight's Diner (closed), Dolly's (closed) and Frank's Diner (closed). We were also going to swing by Fred Meyer to do some shopping for Rona (she needs more pants) and a some odds and ends (Thistle needs a good shampoo as she's too fat to clean herself now and reeks of stale urine) they were closed too. At this point it was nearly six so we headed back to Dolly's. Tracy, the Best Waitress Ever™ was there and was ecstatic to see us. We got hugs and then she poured my hot chocolate (as always). A Denver omelette, a serving of hash browns, some pancakes, a sausage patty and an English muffin later and we felt much better. It's nice to be the permanent regular no matter how long you've been gone.