The wilds of West Virginia and home

Part of this post was planned for last night, but being in the wilds of West Virginia, I had no phone signal and the wi-fi in the hotel was also not willing to participate in connecting me to the greater outside world.  :-)

Family rolled into central Illinois, congregating at my sister Kathy's home in Dieterich, from all points -- Rockmart GA, Moore SC, Lake Villa IL, Alton IL, Newton IL, Neoga IL, Centralia IL, Mason IL, Effingham IL, Columbus OH, and Carrboro NC.  Although we had been together since Saturday morning, the official celebration was Sunday afternoon, May 25th.  Events honored were

• Michael's completion of his doctorate in Operations Research
• Mommy's (Granny) 84th birthday
• Nate's public confession and claim of Jesus Christ as his personal savior and subsequent baptism
• Henry's jubilant crowning as the newest (and currently cutest) member of the family

As departures began, most of us gathered one last time for a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel, hosted by Peggy and Loren.

Then I drove away.  Hard.

But Michael was with me and we shared a 5 hour drive and 1 hour goose chase (trying to find a Maid-Rite that was open) back to his home in Columbus.

Then I drove away.   Hard, hard, hard.

I originally thought I would drive a couple of hours.  But with a little bit later start than anticipated, darkness arrived before I was ready to stop.  I contemplated powering on through to home just to avoid an encounter with an empty hotel room.  But the number of dead bugs on the windshield and the number of dead deer carcasses on the highway finally convinced me otherwise.

I was on the road a bit before 7AM and with a stop to pick up my precious Butterscotch from the kitty hotel was home before 11AM.

Returning to normal...

Debby is back to work today, catching up on cataloging all the new books (and reading lots of them) that have come in to the Newton Library.   She'll continue to help out Mom and Dad and loving on tiny Daisy dog.  Michael is back to work at NetJets engaged in solving the business puzzles presented by this interesting fractional jet ownership industry.  He's still exploring and learning his new hometown, Columbus.  I'm goofing off this afternoon and will be back to work tomorrow doing that computer thing I do.  But other than that, for the rest of spring and the coming summer, you'll find me outside.  So if you want me, call my cell.  Better yet, stop by! 

I just checked and the water temp has made it to 76 degrees -- definitely warm enough to sit on the top step and dangle my feet in.