How's the family?

Wednesday, after running around for a few days trying to catch up on stuff, I headed down to Columbus to visit Will at his parent's house. It took me 3 hours to get there, thanks to Atlanta traffic, but fortunately I was entertained most of the time with All Things Considered (up to the point where it started repeating, anyway).

It's an interesting situation. Will has spent countless hours with my family. He is so comfortable with them (and vice versa) that it's ok to leave him alone with them at graduation or talking with my dad while I run errands with my mom (weird, I know). Not so for me and his family. In almost 2.5 years (Jan 26!), I've been down there maybe 6 or 7 times.

They're definitely very nice, but they don't have that friends are family mentality that my family does... most likely because they are blessed to have plenty of family around (a luxury the Carneiro clan does not have). Then there was the stuff about his mom disapproving. He says it's because she doesn't like anyone.

This visit was definitely the best. Perhaps they're becoming accustomed to the idea of me... hey, I think it's about time! Doesn't hurt that I try to butter them up with wine every Christmas. But this time, they had gifts for me too... one for graduation and one for Christmas.

I enjoy spending time getting to know his family. His brother and sister (especially his sister) have really warmed up to me and this time I even met one member of his extended family, one of his aunts.

But mostly I love the visits because I get to spend lots of relaxing time with Will in his element... such as building bonfires for us and his sister's friends to roast marshmallows and hot dogs... and drink booze from Boo's later after his parents have gone to sleep.

There was one hiccup this visit, though. Will agreed to go shopping with me Thursday since I didn't have time to finish everything on Wednesday. His sister went along and we grabbed some lunch. After lunch, Liz and I were in Bath and Body Works while Will was getting something in Bed Bath and Beyond. As we were walking out, they run into someone they know. Then someone's mother. Then I caught on... hey, isn't that Will's ex-girlfriend's last name? To help me confirm, there comes ex-girlfriend herself and another member of her family.

So that was awkward. Even more so for Will since he hadn't seen any of them since they broke up in early 2003. All I have to say is I'm really glad I fixed my hair that day.

I know girls who refuse to leave their house looking like bums, ever... I think I now know why!