Vacations and Family Rememberies

I'm back from a wonderful week-long visit with my Tennessee family. I enjoyed every minute of it except for the 11-hour drive home in pouring rain. That tired us out more than anything else. My friend enlightened me this morning in an email: "Isn't it surprising how riding in a car can make us so tired and, even more surprising, how dirty clothes always take up more room in the suitcase than clean clothes!" AMEN!! We made it safely home though and that's what matters most. We spent most of yesterday emptying out suitcases, washing all the clothes and all the other tasks of coming home from vacation. (I think I need a vacation from my vacation!)

I love my family and I'm so proud of them. My dad and step-mother have been very successful in their business but they don't let grass grow under their feet. They are both busy with life, supporting outside endeavors as well.

I have two sisters, both very successful, too. My oldest younger sister, (I'm the oldest of three), and her husband own two businesses and have all the headaches of being "the bosses". My youngest sister has the most beautiful voice and has a number of CDs (I think eight cds??) to attest to that. Both sisters' husbands are also very successful in their own right. Darn it! I'm just so proud of all of them!!

My only complaint? I'm retired.....they're not! So, even though I can visit when I want, they can't just take off when I want to come down. To be honest though, my oldest younger sister, with whom I spent the better part of last week, did take off from work for several days, bless her. I did get to visit with all of them, working it out to spend at least one night with all of them. I owe them all much thanks for taking us in! THANKS!!!

So, what did we do on our vacation? We scrapbooked!!! Yes! My sister's stepson had gotten married and she wanted to make a wedding scrapbook for them. It took us the better part of 2 days, but we scrapbooked 24 pages and finished it before I left. It's beautiful! I've asked her for permission to post a few pictures of the book so maybe I can share them later this week.

To be fair, my husband, who loves golf, only got to play one day because it rained the rest of the week, including the awful 11-hour drive home. But he was such a good sport about it, going with us girls wherever. My sister spent one afternoon driving us around town and visiting the Bible Museum as well as the Pink Palace, the home of the owner that started Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. That was fascinating! The Pink Palace has been turned into a museum and you would not guess the name of one of the exhibits! (Well, if you have young kids, they probably would!) It was called "The Scoop on Poop"!!! Okay, I did beat my sister in the "dung beetle" race, but I don't think that's "resume stuff".

We had a wonderful visit and I'm sorry it had to end. But as the old saying goes, "fish and family stink after 3 days". I don't want to wear out my welcome!

I know this has been a long post! I have spent most of my time since returning, just getting my home and office back together again. But I promise to have at least one card to show you tomorrow! In the meantime, stop over at www.stampinup.com and check out the preview of the new Occasions Catalog! We've got some new products coming out the first of April and I know you will really like them!

Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow!
Mel