Phone calls -- a fun pain

The phone ringing always cuts through whatever I'm doing and fills me with a need to answer it. It's hard to ignore even though you logically know voicemail will handle it. I think that's why wake-up calls are so effective--no matter how poorly you slept in an unfamiliar place and how exhausted you are, the phone ringing will drag you awake. Do you ever answer the phone reflexively, even though you are busy or don't want to talk to the person on the other end?

I was driving home from a hike with the dogs, just pulled up to the scary-busy intersection, windows down, dogs panting so hard they're dripping drool all over me. My only thought is which one to bathe first, and how thirsty I am. Ok, I guess that's 2 thoughts, but they both involve water. My phone rings and I see it's my mom, who I know is out of town visiting extended family. I answer it without thinking, and before I can explain that it's not a good time to talk she hands the phone to my great aunt. I tell her that I'm driving but will call back in a few minutes. I call back and try to explain to mom that I have 2 filthy wet dogs to deal with, and I just walked in the door. I can tell she really wants to pass the phone around for everyone to talk to me. I'm afraid I got a little testy, but the dogs were eyeballing the couch, and I still wanted to get to a store that was closing in less than an hour.

So she called back a few hours later and started passing me around. It actually ended up being really enjoyable talking with everyone, and I think I spent about 20 minutes with each person. I particularly enjoyed talking with one cousin I haven't seen in probably a decade. We just clicked back then, and even moreso now. I'd love to visit in person, I think we could fill an entire evening chatting. I told everyone we'd be in Chi-town next may for business and were planning to take time to visit family. I think some other out-of-towners might try to come at the same time so we can have a bit of family reunion.