A Stop at Home

It has been wonderful to be home the last few days. I left Minnesota early Tuesday morning, driving through some spots of fierce rain to get to Minneapolis where I picked up my mother at the airport. We then headed southeast towards Indiana. The Midwest is never very fascinating to drive through. I got a bit of offensive driving practice in Chicago, trying to re-hone my skills now that I’m heading back east to a big city. And saw what my mom calls the “graveyard of windmills”. Just north of my parent’s, fields and fields and miles of fields have windmills standing up in them, surely enough to empower the entire state of Indiana. But, apparently, they are hardly ever used. An example of our government at work.

At home I have been busy. Dress fittings, packing up all the wedding gifts and wedding/reception décor and such, cleaning out the attic. I spent a couple of hours up there this morning, throwing stuff away that I shall never use again. I almost cut my box count in half. I mean, there’s just no way to get rid of books. But I sure did throw away a lot of other things! Of course, I think I’ve gained just as much through wedding gifts. So, I haven’t really made any headway.

Otherwise, I’ve just been enjoying time with my family. There’s nothing quite as amusing as grocery shopping with Mom, Caleb and Jenny. I was given a few pointers by Caleb on how to sneak things into the cart so Mom never knows. (Or so he thinks.) Of course, we had great fun washing and waxing my car, followed by Jenny’s car. Jenny was the only one who ended up completely drenched. (Which you can witness on Facebook.) Last night we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire. Mom, Dad, Jenny and I played Cornhole. (Jenny and I let the old people win.) And Mom made me homemade mocha ice cream. Maybe not a good thing to be eating just before I get married, but I never get home when it’s warm enough for ice cream. So there.

Tomorrow, Mom and I will load my car up to the hilt and drive to Pittsburgh where Ed is counting down the hours. The next chapter. Very exciting…a little scary.