Piano Man

This weekend, the four of us traveled to South Bend, IN to see Billy Joel perform in concert at the University of Notre Dame!  This entire experience was WAY outside of my comfort zone, but I'm so incredibly grateful that we did this!  I had written about this all the way back in 2019, and after two years of COVID delays, it finally happened this weekend.  My sister had found us a house to stay in that was a mile from campus, so we were able to walk (and I was grateful that it was a safe walk) to and from the concert, and we were even able to take our sweet pup (she's had quite a summer as well).  My sister was sitting with the kids, which they all enjoyed, and I was grateful that Andrew and I were just a few rows back, but almost like we were on a date!  It was an AMAZING concert.  He sounds exactly like he has sounded on the radio for all those years.  My sister was with us for just about 16 hours, so it was really a nice bonding trip for the four of us...although we did enjoy our time with her as well.  I'll never forget getting to hear him sing "Piano Man" or "We Didn't Start the Fire" or "Uptown Girl" or "Only the Good Die Young."  And of course, to be able to experience it in Notre Dame Stadium on a gorgeous weather night was even more spectacular.  It's been an incredible month!  I can't lie though, I'm looking forward to some time at home!

Last part of 2022 vacation

On Thursday, we awoke to the most beautiful weather.  Knowing that Friday, our last day there, was supposed to be hot and humid, I decided Thursday would be beach day for me.  Andrew and I had taken a beach umbrella, but we also bought another one as well as two beach chairs.  I ended up staying at the beach much longer than I had originally intended.  Although I took things to read, honestly I mostly just say and watched my kids and enjoyed the view of the ocean.  It was truly an amazing afternoon, and one I know I'll always remember.  

That evening we ventured further inland for a dinner.  It wasn't anything fancy, but it had the best menu we'd seen all week.  By that time, even I was getting a little tired of seafood.  It had a teriyaki chicken that was awesome, and it was next to a used bookstore.  We enjoyed a bit of browsing before heading back to the house.  Unfortunately, about 10:00 that evening we had quite a storm go through.  We were all inside by then though, enjoying our TV episodes.

Friday, I decided the sinus problems I was having were just too much.  I felt pretty lousy.  We walked over to some near-by shops and did some shopping.  Andrew and Thomas spent the afternoon at the pool, and we had an early dinner at a near-by restaurant that is always a "must" on a trip to Garden City.  We took my mother-in-law to do some shopping after dinner, and then finished the evening with some ice-cream.  It was really a lovely ending to our week together.  We packed as much as we could that evening, and of course finished with some TV episodes, before the rain poured down again overnight.

Saturday we had gorgeous weather for the drive home, although we had a significant amount of standing water around the house before we left.  Traffic was pretty heavy on many parts of the drive home, but it still only took us 15 minutes longer than the drive down.  We ordered pizzas for dinner, and I was never so grateful to be sleeping in my own bed as I was that night.

It was really a lovely, lovely vacation.  Realistically, it was my mother-in-law's last major trip.  As it was, she only left the house for dinners and near-by shopping.  I also know, there are absolutely no guarantees that my kids can join us each year.  I filled my heart with as many memories as I possibly could.  The trip was truly a blessing.

Vacation recap 2022 part 2

The first 24 hours of the trip was really the craziest.  Life settled down after those rains on Sunday.  Monday was spent doing a bit of shopping.  We ate dinner at another restaurant where we eat every year, and after dinner we strolled along the ocean, except for Thomas who had a blast with some other teens at the pool.  This was also the evening we realized our location was NOT ideal, as we were just a block from the pier and next to public parking.  Some really loud young people made a lot of noise that evening!  And of course, the evening finished with episodes of our favorite TV show.

Tuesday we really just hung around the house.  I even took a nap, and Thomas spent more time at the pool.  We decided to try a new restaurant that evening, and we all really liked it.  To me, it was the best family atmosphere of the week, and they had amazing hush puppies as an appetizer.  We will be happy to add it to our list of places next time!

Wednesday we wanted to take the kids shopping about 40 minutes away, and then hit Hard Rock Cafe on the way back to the house.  The shopping was fine, although with the heat our family wilted quickly.  The lunch plan wasn't workable either.  They had changed the location of Hard Rock, and we weren't interested in navigation another shopping area.  Instead, we found a Fuddrucker's, and we were thrilled.  The best burgers ever, and we miss having one around here.  It was really the only time Thomas had a true "meal" at a restaurant.  It was a late lunch, and for dinner we just grabbed a hot dog for my mother-in-law.  She rarely left the house with us except for dinner, so she hadn't eaten lunch with us.  That afternoon, Catherine and Thomas took their new boards to the pool, and we loved listening to them laugh and have so much fun.  The way the pool was situated, it was in plenty of shade except for just a couple of hours in the middle of the day, so we could all sit there and read and watch the kids have fun.  We walked over to the ocean in the evening, and enjoyed the view from our porch before calling it a night with our TV episodes.

I'll easily be able to wrap up the last few days in a final post!

Vacation 2022 recap

Last week was truly a very, very lovely week.  I'm so grateful we were able to make the trip, and Andrew's mom repeatedly mentioned how grateful she was that we had taken her.  In many regards, it was the calmest vacation I think I've ever taken.  Little to no drama, but a lot of fun!

We picked up the rental van Friday afternoon.  It was an awesome vehicle!  It had just over 2k miles on it, so it was basically a brand new vehicle.  It was so needed, and truly a great ride.  We were all packed Friday evening and were able to mostly pack the van.  We watched some Big Bang Theory, but we were all in bed early as the alarms were set for 3:30AM!

No one seems to mind those early wake-ups when it involves a drive to the ocean.  We were ready to leave by 5, but it took us a bit to figure out how to use all the gadgets in the rental!  None of us slept much on the way down.  Traffic wasn't bad, and overall it was a pleasant trip.  We made it to our rental house about 6:15 that evening.  The house itself was really just the right size for us.  We had pizza for dinner and made a quick trip to the grocery.  Because we were literally across the street from the ocean, we could sit on the porch and see the waves, which was really all my mother-in-law wanted to do all week.  Her mobility is a struggle, but she enjoyed the view!

Sunday we slept in, and then Andrew and I made another trip to the grocery.  Given the high gas prices, Andrew and I were especially thrilled that nearest grocery was a Kroger, just like we have here!  We were able to earn fuel points and help keep the costs down.  Andrew really wanted to visit the flea market that he's often gone to.  The four of us went, and it was clearly a mistake for me.  It was stifling hot with unbelievable humidity, and it was just too much.  I was happy to hang out in the car, and the rain began to fall.  When everyone else was done shopping, we picked up my mother-in-law to go grab some ice cream.  While we were eating, the skies REALLY opened up. so we decided to visit the attached beach store.  Of course, we all found things we thought we needed while we were waiting for the rain to subside.  We had a lull in the rain and made a run for the vehicle.  We then sat in the car, waiting and waiting for the rain to stop.  Finally, we decided that since our sweet pup was in the house waiting for us, we just needed to make another run.  While sitting in the van we had been watching the road flood, and there were definitely places it wasn't safe to cross!

A couple of hours later we decided to head up the road to the place that is almost always our first restaurant we visit each time we are at Myrtle Beach.  I even have a picture of our family eating there when the kids were so very little.  This year, we decided to eat outdoors since it is an ocean front restaurant.  Our table was on the edge of the deck, but covered and so therefore shaded.  However, we began to notice that it didn't matter it was shaded because it was awfully cloudy.  We checked the weather  and there didn't seem to be any chance of rain, but apparently Mother Nature didn't get that memo.  We tried to just wait it out, but it started raining sideways.  We found two tables on the other side of the deck to push together.  The manager didn't love that, but we pointed out we needed to eat, and we weren't going to sit at the bar.  While we were eating, two of Andrew's co-workers came over to say hello!  What are the chances??!!  It really ended up to be a lovely evening after the rain.  We took a walk on the ocean, checked out the community pool, and watched several episodes of our favorite show before heading off to bed.

This post is so long that our recap will have to be told in parts...

There's no place like home

We got home about 7:00 last evening.  It was something of a rough trip home, and I was so grateful to finally make it home.  We walked through the house and did some unpacking, and my heart was full of so much gratitude not only for our amazing vacation, but for the house where we spend the majority of our time.  I felt like I was seeing home through new eyes, and I couldn't have been (and continue to be) more grateful for the home in which we live.

I'll write later this week about the vacation itself.  Today, I'm getting ready to face reality again with back to work tomorrow, and I'm enjoying celebrating my husband on this Father's Day!

Beach day!

I'll write a more complete synopsis of our trip after we return next week, but I did want to take a moment and note that today was beach day!  Where we are staying the beach is easily accessible (we can see the ocean from our porch) and it's not overly crowded.  Today was warm, but not oppressively hot.  We have two beach umbrellas, I use AT LEAST 50SPF sunscreen, and I wear a wide brimmed hat.  It was truly a lovely time.  I LOVED watching the kids try to catch waves on their body boards (Thomas was much more successful than Catherine), and I just soaked it all up.  I can tell they are tired, and that's okay too.  In about 36 hours, we will be getting up to head home, but this week has been everything we all hoped it would be!

Nursing student

Catherine has not had the easiest of times at college.  Her first semester was entirely online, her second semester was over half online, and even this past year she had nearly half of her classes online.  She struggled significantly in those classes.  She had struggled enough that she had to delay her application into the nursing program.  This spring though, it was basically now or never for the application.  She had been advised that an interview may be requested, but it wasn't a bad sign.   When the request came, we coached her and advised her they probably just wanted to know that she was committed to being in the program.  Last Thursday before we left, a letter arrived from the School of Nursing.  Catherine gave me permission to open it since she was at her apartment, and I was thrilled that the first word was "Congratulations!"  Catherine gets to begin nursing classes in the fall!

We made it to the beach

Vacation 2022 is in full swing.  I was extraordinarily concerned about driving 700 miles with our two kids, the dog, and my mother-in-law, but I needn't have worried.  It was a fine trip down, and although I had mentally prepared myself for 15 hours, we arrived just 13 hours after departing.  We were ready to go at 5AM as we had hoped, although we actually left 15 minutes later because we have a rented mini-van, and we needed to acclimate ourself with how things worked.  I didn't sleep nearly as much on the trip as I normally do, and no one else slept much either...although that is normal for all of them.

I can't tell you how wonderful this trip has been in just the 48 hours we've been gone.  There has been so much laughter and so many smiles.  My mother-in-law has found herself emotional at times, because there are so many memories from my husband's childhood here.  Last evening we ate at the same restaurant we always eat at on either the first or second night we are here.  This was the first time we ate outside though, and it's ocean-front so that was lovely.

I am feeling so grateful and beyond blessed.

Does my heart good

Catherine has been around quite a bit the last week, and it's truly been lovely.  Although it's been a challenging few months, she and Thomas have gotten along a little better since school has been out.  And today has been beyond lovely.  We are leaving for our vacation tomorrow, and with Catherine and Thomas, it has been just like old times.  They have been making all these awesome plans of things they want to do together.  This vacation is proving to be far, far more expensive than I had originally planned it to be when we first decided to do an ocean trip this year, and current gas prices are only part of it.  There has been a part of me that wondered if we'd made a mistake, but the last 24 hours has shown me that it's not.  We aren't going broke by any means, and this trip is going to a memory-maker.  I'm so very grateful.

A tornado

A line of storms came through the area this evening, and a tornado hit my hometown.  Nothing much was happening here, and in fact it was barely raining and there was no thunder or lightning, so I wasn't really paying any attention.  I'm actually kind of glad, because I have a feeling I would've been panicking with the path of the storm.  It destroyed the warehouse of a major distribution center that was right across the street from where my grandmother used to live, and just around the corner from where my mom used to used to live.  Now Grandma is about a mile away, although two cousins live nearby.  Everyone in the family is fine though.  I'm so very grateful!

A bucket-filling kind of weekend

This weekend is going to go down as one of my all-time favorites.  It was definitely a "bucket-filling" kind of weekend.  The weather has also been absolutely gorgeous, and it just made an amazing weekend even better.

Friday I was thrilled to be finished with working at school at 1 in the afternoon.  I spent a couple of hours at church, then Andrew and I drove to a restaurant where we could sit outside and enjoy the lake view.  Honestly, it was an absolutely delightful afternoon and evening.  It was the best way to start our weekend!

Yesterday Catherine arrived here just in time for us to head north.  We first visited my grandmother (after making a quick stop to see a former neighbor).  Grandma was doing the best I'd seen her in quite some time.  We then went to the graduation party for my cousin's son.  My aunt, the wife of my mom's brother, was there for a brief time.  I'll write my feelings about that another time.  My mom and sister, and a few other family members were there.  Thomas was working, but it was nice to spend the time with the family we could. We brought Catherine home, then went to yet another party.  It was for the daughter of a friend, and I absolutely adore this young lady.  She has been through so very much, and I am so very proud all she has overcome.  We were able to visit with our good friends here in town whom we haven't seen in entirely too long.  We were thrilled to spend hours at this party visiting with everyone!

This morning, the four of us went to church.  It was so very nice to have all of us in church together, which hadn't happened since August.  We then drove to visit my best-friend from high school.   Her daughter graduated and today was her party.  Steph and I have not only been friends for over thirty years, but we lived together after we graduated from college and before we were married.  Her parents moved away nearly twenty years ago.  It was so wonderful to see them again, as well as her siblings and their families.  Her nieces and nephews are all grown up, and I loved seeing them as well.  So many of our other friends were there as well, and some of them we hadn't seen in over two years thanks to COVID.  It was such a fabulous time visiting with everyone.  And of course, there was fabulous weather through all of this!

I've had a crazy couple of weeks, and this coming week is also a little crazy, but at the end of this week will be our vacation.  This weekend gave me exactly what I needed to get through it and ready to hit the road!