Home once again

I love to travel but there is nothing more satisfying than opening your back door when you arrive safely from your trip. The road to home always seems longer than when you start out on the trip fresh with anticipation. After a week away it seems you have been gone forever. Walking into your kitchen and the idea of sleeping in your own bed is delightful. 

   I had a wonderful time with my Tennessee family and Chris who came down. The grandchildren keep on getting older and I spent as much time as I could playing with them. Of course they were in school, except for Sara who ended up with a stomach bug and had to stay home a few days. Ryan also had a few days off and we had some great family time. I also swam in their pool and enjoyed the new deck that Chris and Ryan had put on at the beginning of summer. On the way home we stopped at Chris and I got to spend time with both my grandchildren there. Dan had just gotten back from work in Hawaii and he and Gretchen had been to Toronto. Next week he will be in Charleston. They live life large. 

    I shopped a little (and I mean a little) at my favorite stores. In Kirkland’s I got a large mirror to replace the one in the hallway that I moved to the end of the fireplace. Everywhere I went the fall decorations were in full force. You will be seeing a few of the new ones that I bought later. It was 94 down there so I wasn’t out in the heat shopping for sure. I have found that I can’t take the heat as I did when I was younger.

    So today will be one of getting everything back in order. The flowers in the picture above were gathered together so that Evan could water for me while we were away. This season in early September I am always torn between wanting to extend summer with the flowers being at their peak or tossing them all in favor of mums. All over the internet there are blogs who have already put up all their fall decorations. I am going to hold off a few weeks before all the pumpkins come out at my house. The decorations will be a little easier to get out this year since I moved them all to the basement instead of the attic. 

   Fall is always a time for renewal and since I was a teacher I’ve always felt the Fall was my January where resolutions were made. After a week of eating out I am eager to get back to dieting and exercising. 

   Sadie loved being with family also. She is getting worse because her back foot is now collapsing. It is getting time to let her go. She struggles to walk even to go to the bathroom. Otherwise she doesn’t walk at all. It is a hard decision but one that soon has to be made. 

  I don’t want to end on a bad note so I will say....Chris is getting an award from a company in China for a project that he has been working on. He is a mechanical engineer in research and development for Tyco Electronics.