Not goin' to Miami

It's funny how things go. I'm supposed to be, at this very moment, on a plane to Miami for a conference. I remain here is STL though, because of the effects of Wilma. Apparently, the airport there is shut down, and the hotel I was supposed to stay at is operating on a generator. I think it's probably better that it didn't happen.

In other news, the family reunion was excellent. I arrived Friday, met everyone downstairs in the hotel in a little function room we rented, had some drinks and a box supper. They really know how to do box suppers here in the midwest. I caught up with a bunch of my relatives. Then after that, some of us went out into the Plaza, which is a shmansy shopping/eating/drinking area of Kansas City, the first shopping center in the country as I was told. We ended up at a bar owned by George Brett, former Kansas City Royals star. After a few drinks, back to the hotel.

The next day, everyone gathered down in the lobby for FREE BREAKFAST. This concept is apparently a really big deal, as the entire world showed up for the complimentary bagels and mini boxes of cereal. Except me. I had no idea. There I was, up in my room, watching free HBO, while people were living it up downstairs. Well that's just great. But I did get lunch, which was the big event of the weekend. First there were pictures outside with various groups of relatives, made rather unpleasant by the cold. Then the champagne toasts and mini speeches and the lunch. After a nap, I came back down to the lobby, where a number of my relatives had gathered and were drinking wine. With the weather outside becoming more unpleasant, the decision was made to order California Pizza Kitchen, take over the lobby, and watch the World Series. This was certainly amenable to me. I think people going by were wondering what was going on, with all of our food and wine bottles and people spread out everywhere.

The next day I did obtain free breakfast. And it was all I had imagined. There were many goodbyes and then I drove my family to the airport. It was short and sweet, but always great to see my family.