The cousins are coming... the cousins are coming...

... and I've been cooking... and cooking....

I'm trying to get as much as possible done before my two cousins arrive on Monday. I don't know yet what time they'll be here, being that they're flying into Houston and S was talking about driving to Dallas before coming back down to the Hill Country.  Being that they'll be flying from Hawaii early that morning, he might just be changing his mind about a four-hr-drive up to Dallas, and then a four-hr-drive back from Dallas to get to us.  I told them to just call me when they land, let me know their plans, and then I'll know about when to expect them.

Our special friend C will be driving up here from Galveston either sometime tomorrow evening, or early on Monday morning. She's so excited to be meeting some of "the family," as she calls everyone. Another cousin visited us in Clear Lake years ago, but on that weekend, C was on a camping trip and not able to meet my cousin R.  Then a few years after we moved here, two other cousins flew in from New York for a weekend here, but C was out in Big Bend National Park exploring caves and climbing rocks... so she missed meeting family then as well.

So with this upcoming visit from my Florida cousins coinciding with vacation days that C had to use up, she's just thrilled to be driving up here to finally meet some of my family that she has only seen on birthday videos and in pictures.

I'm anxious to see cousin S's reaction to our house and property. My Uncle Mino always used to say that he wanted to buy a huge piece of property that the whole family could live on, and the only thing he wanted to see of his neighbors was their chimney sticking out over the tree-tops. And that's just about what my husband and I have up here in the Hill Country. Uncle Mino would have loved this big old place, especially since the house itself has so much of the vintage character as my grandparents' home.  I've already set the table in the dining room for Monday night's dinner.... with vintage china that's exactly like the plates my grandmother used for decades. I'm sure that cousin S will recognize the pattern.

Wonder of weather-wonders... it looks like the temperatures are warming up and we won't have to bundle up the Florida cousins as soon as their plane lands in Houston.  Today was sunny and warm, and the temperatures have been rising each day since that latest cold-snap hit the Hill Country last week. This afternoon, I noticed that the plum trees by the barn are bursting out in tiny white flowers, which can only mean that Spring is finally, finally, here. Now all we need is for the pecan trees to start budding, and we'll really know that winter is a memory. And after all the cold-snaps and hard-frosts we've had these past couple of months, that can't come soon enough for me.

If my New York cousins read that last paragraph, they'll be eMailing me to tell me that I have no right to complain about cold weather. And they're right.... they've all been dealing with numerous snowstorms, single-digit temperatures, icy roads and slush-filled streets. But honestly... how many times do I have to tell them that they're living in the wrong zip code?!