Welcome Home

 

 

Well...almost....Next stop was Lincoln, NE for a software conference....
THEN it's homeward bound!

It felt like I'd been gone a year and I was so ready to say "hello...again...hello..." to my Sweet Kentucky Duplex.

The last 5 weeks were full of once-in-a-lifetime happenings !

A Hurricane.

An Earthquake (albeit, a small one that no one noticed because they were consumed with Hurricane Hilary.)

Then COVID!  (Two weeks of feeling ugly!!!)

Then a high school football stadium lock down because of a fight in the parking lot! HERE
(Poly still won.) 

I'm just sayin' this was one memorable trip!

But, time marches on and everyone knows things will eventually get better....and so they did.  As soon as I tested negative, I was out-and-about!

Had a quick trip to one of my favorite Southern California shops.  This shop never ceases to inspire.

 

And Finally I was able to attend The Babes' football games. 
Even this was not without its drama (see above) but love to watch them play!

Every trip has its end and all-to-soon it was time to leave. 
Even though I'm ready to be home and have my morning coffee on my own patio, it was still sad to say Good-bye..
Good-bye to my Babes...they are growing up so fast....And,

 

 

 

 

Good-bye to my little chicken.

Until next time....

Free To Choose

 Barbara Mandrell had a hit "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool."  HERE

* Free to choose what gets included on the UFO Challenge list....and in what order....and what gets moved around,
or bumped off the list entirely.

 

 

 

Yesterday I received the sad news that Miss Molly had crossed over the Rainbow Bridge**.  Miss Molly was my sister's dog and my dad's best friend (except for Malcolm, of course.)

Miss Molly's crossing was not totally unexpected as she was 16 years old and had some old-doggie health problems.

Still, we're never quite ready for the inevitable when we have to say good-bye to our furry companions.

 

One more piece of information to add to the back story:  My sister and her D.H. have four children...all of whom are married and have kids of their own, and all of whom live in various states other than where the old folks live.  

They have solved the age-old dilemma of where to spend the holidays....His family or Her family???
They do Every-Other-Year.  Each year all the kids travel to Mom & Dad's on either Thanksgiving or Christmas. The next year they switch holidays.  This year (2023) they will all be here for Christmas. (I say here because I now live in the same town as my sister and so I get included in the holidays...if I'm not traveling, which this year I don't anticipate traveling at Christmas.)

Now with all that information you understand why I need to make a change to my UFO Challenge list to include a wall hanging of Miss Molly...to be presented to my sister on Christmas. (I'll have the tissue box at the ready.)

This is not totally out of the blue, I have been pondering the idea of a Molly memorial for a long time. After googling "black dog wall hanging" to my surprise a lot of helpful patterns and information popped up.
Very inspirational...I can hardly wait to get back home to get started. (Two more weeks.)

 Good Bye, Miss Molly. You were a good companion. 
I hope to see you again, some day.***

**If you've ever wondered where "...Crossed over the Rainbow Bridge..." came from...
It's a poem.

*** Speaking of heaven, ever wondered about heaven? Is it real? What happens there?  Will you go there?  Randy Alcorn wrote a wonderful book Heaven that is available on Amazon.  The author does believe we will see our pets in Heaven.

Man Plans -- God Laughs

Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (NLT)

No one leaves home for an entire month without thinking they are going to have all kinds of fun! 
Especially when you're visiting The Grands...right?

This has definitely been one trip "for the books."  Really, nothing has gone off as planned.

There are still 10 days here in Calif. and even though the kids are back in school, I think there are still a few fun things we could work in before I fly away to Lincoln, NE.

 

P.S.  I am starting to feel better....no longer going through a box-of-tissues-a-day...that's progress.