Tag Archives: vacation

September 28, 2018 · 9:44 am

Buried

Silver Unpolished

When you’re away for a few days, crazy things tend to happen. One is laundry. Like rabbits left unattended, dirty laundry multiplies.  Our trip home from Thibodaux, Louisiana (pronounced ‘Tib-o-dough, Luz-iana’) was an interesting one with changes in flights, gates, delays, and dodging lots and lots of rain storms. I’m amazed that I was only 25 minutes later landing than expected, and I’m impressed with the way American Airlines and the pilots handled everything.

My luggage was apparently out in the rain long enough when switching from plane to plane that it was soaked. Everything inside was pretty wet, too, though nothing ruined. It took three loads of laundry yesterday to get it all clean and dry again.

I’m still doing laundry today – bed stripped and sheets now in the dryer, and the covers of the first of two very large dog beds in the washer now.

I walked across the living room carpet in my socks last night and they were covered with dog hair, so vacuuming the first floor will happen today.

It’s a good thing that I had a GREAT time in Thibodaux – ’cause it may take me as long as I was gone to get things in reasonable shape around here today!

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October 11, 2016 · 10:36 am

Good Morning!

Whoever “Sam” is, I applaud this drawing. I love the color and the sense of humor! Great job!

This morning I’m remembering our recent vacation, where we drove to Thibodaux, Louisiana to visit our cousins/good friends Murray and John.

To say we had a wonderful time just doesn’t say enough. I’ve been having lovely, random thoughts and emotions ever since we came home. Here are some of them –

  • CHEESE GRITS – I really can’t eat regular grits, no matter how they’re prepared. I avoid them like the plague. When Murray served them a couple of visits ago, I dutifully put a very small spoonful on my plate, trying to be polite while I grimaced inside. I was really glad grits wasn’t the ONLY thing on the breakfast menu, and figured one spoonful wouldn’t kill me.  I’ve never been so shocked in my life. They were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I have to admit I made a pig of myself, timing getting more after the bowl had been passed around the table each time.  My husband simply said that “Linda has to have cheese grits” almost as we walked into their home! I was embarrassed. I wasn’t going to ask because both Murray and John had been ill recently and I didn’t want to put them to the trouble. Murray served them on our second morning there. I ate all that was reasonable, and was delighted when they packed a doggie bag for me to take home. My husband and I enjoyed them our first morning home. Since I’m trying to get the lard off, I won’t have them again until the NEXT time we go visit – IF Murray will be kind enough to make them.  cheesegrits
  • HUGS – I probably drove them nuts, but I sneaked in as many hugs as I could while we were there. They make us feel so welcome. The love simply pours out and embraces you. It’s hard to leave.
  • STORIES AND CONVERSATION – I love their home. Everywhere you look there are treasures. Some have been in the family for several generations. Other things bring memories of trips. All have been gathered with love. I can’t tell you how I love hearing the story behind new things I find each visit. We laugh at the funny stories. We tear up at the memories of ones we love. If it’s possible, we feel closer to each other each time we visit.
  • FRIENDS – This visit we got to meet some of their good friends – Matt, Ann, Gordon, Jacque (sp?) There was good food, of course, but the conversation was priceless. I teared up several times at how they teased each other (as really good friends do, if you’re lucky). I noticed how Murray would ask someone a questions, or ask them to share a story, and some of the richness of their friends’ lives flowed over and around the group. Many laughs were shared.  One example: Matt calls himself ‘The Dumb Plumber.” He has been so successful that he can now pick and choose the jobs he takes. He has chosen million dollar homes as his specialty. He loves to hunt and has four college degrees. His accent was a bit difficult for us to understand, but I could have listened to him forever. His eyes danced as he talked, taking in everyone in the room.
  • OLD ESTATE – This is one of my favorite places in Thibodaux. All four of us went this time. My husband found earrings he wanted me to have, plus a sign that says, “In dog beers, I’ve only had one.” (It’s hanging on the wall in our kitchen now).  This is a beautiful combination of goodies shop and art gallery, owned by a friend of Murray’s and John’s.  (Murray calls it “Jerome’s). I look forward to finding a new treasure to take home each time we go.

I could go on. I find a happy image floating in front of my face from time to time. Or I grin, thinking of something we talked about. We are so lucky to have relatives/friends who encourage us to come see them, make us SO welcome when we do, give us such good feelings to enjoy long after we come home, plus memories to last a lifetime.

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October 8, 2016 · 2:06 pm

I Missed You!

We left Monday morning to drive 9-1/2 hours to Thibodaux, Louisiana

thibodaux

to visit our relatives/good friends, Murray and John. We got there about 5:00 in time to relax before a wonderful dinner and great conversation.

I can’t say enough about our visit. It was so good to hug their necks and have two full days to enjoy them. They always offer to take us all kinds of places, but we wanted a relaxing visit to catch up on what’s been happening without a huge schedule to follow. Our time with them was perfect, though never long enough. We drove back Thursday, getting home about 6:00 in the evening.

I came home with goodies – some beautiful earrings from a shop called Old Estate (I think), though our relatives call it “Jerome’s” because they know not only the owner, but the whole family. My husband chose the earrings, so I love to wear them, knowing they were hand picked.

I also came home with things that have been in the family for years. I’ll treasure these, finding each a place to live in our home.

We made a shovel bird (our version of a bird feeder with personality), since Murray has a gorgeous court yard type of garden lovingly tended by Robin, whom we met. She’s a lovely person, taking good care of their yard and all the plants. The shovel bird was new, so even though it had bird seed in the shovel part, no birds were using it. I figured the paint and polyurethane smell, plus its being new in the garden, made it unattractive to the wonderful variety of birds they have. Murray texted me while we were on our way home, saying, “A bird is in the shovel bird!” :0)

Murray and John are watching sugar, too, and introduced us to many things that made my sweet husband start to believe that avoiding sugar doesn’t have to be the end of the world! We found

  • ICE – flavored water. It has zero carbs, zero sugar and comes in many flavors. We got some of these at Walmart today.
  • sugar free apple pie – we’ll look for one the next time we grocery shop
  • sugar free candy
  • OUTSHINE frozen fruit bars – taste like wonderful popsicles – we found these at a local grocery store

In my own efforts to get the lard off, I’m reading a lot of information on the paleo form of low carb eating. I downloaded and printed a bunch of information and will plow through it this weekend. I’m trying to get my body’s attention, since it seems to have gotten used to my regular efforts and I’ve been on quite a plateau.

We’re pigging out the rest of the weekend and will get serious Monday morning.

Happy vacation to us! We couldn’t have had a better time.

I hope that you had a great week, too.

 

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