Home at last! Three weeks and 3,450 miles! It is good to be home. Spring arrived on the prairie while I was gone. The air is hazy and thick with smoke from the prairie fires that have been happening. My grass was burned while I was gone and there is a fresh growth of green coming up. This is one of my favorite seasons of the year.
The drive home went quickly today. Traffic was light and construction zones weren’t backed up. I stopped for gas and to get an iced tea. I needed some caffeine to help me stay awake. I am tired tonight! Thinking it will be an early bedtime. I have a very busy day tomorrow starting with working a volunteer shift at the Emporia Public Library at 9:00 for their spring book sale. After that I have a meeting with my realtor and business partner and I need to get groceries and pick up my taxes after that meeting. I go back into Emporia at 5:00 for a tax shift. Thursday after I do a tax shift in the morning I will have the afternoon free.
I had ordered new batteries for the dogs electronic collars. The batteries arrived while I was gone but now I need to find the dogs and see if I can figure out how to put the batteries in their collars. Both dogs are MIA this evening. I haven’t found the cats yet either. Maybe they are hiding from me!
The trip with my Match guy was a great success. Seeing Kathy started us off on the right foot. We then went to the Washington, DC area and I got to meet and spend time with his son. We had a grand time in DC touring around and helping his son do some repair work and painting in his condo. I wouldn’t want to live in DC but it was nice to visit. The cherry trees were beautiful.
I got to meet my Match guy’s three brothers and his sister while we were in Asheville, NC. I could see the family resemblance in each of them. I also met lots of his nieces and nephews. Not sure I got all the names rights and who belonged to who but they were all nice people and accepted me into their family with much grace. They all worked hard to accommodate my dietary needs and fixed wonderful food that I could eat.
I gained five pounds on the trip! Ouch! It is back to strict menus tomorrow. I think my problem has been snacking. I have stayed off sugar and flour but haven’t followed the three meals a day routine. It is so hard to stay on a schedule when I travel – especially since my Match guy doesn’t like to eat breakfast or lunch. He snacks through the day and then eats a late dinner. We did some hiking but did more sitting. Thinking it will take a couple of weeks to get back to where I was before I left. I took it off once. I’m sure I can take it off again. It was a good wake up call to me to stay more vigilant next trip and not to allow myself to snack. I snacked more out of boredom from traveling then I did from being hungry. Not a good idea!
My house sitter did an excellent job while I was gone. I think my house is cleaner now then when I left. She was gone when I got home this afternoon. I will need to track her down this week and get her paid.
My Match guy and I are already planning our
next adventure! This time we will be headed northwest and will be gone for three weeks again. Can you tell we both like to travel?
The hills were so beautiful driving home today. I love seeing the magic happen after the hills have been burned. I saw a few pastures being burned on the drive home and many of the pastures already have a fresh carpet of green covering them. I can barely see the sun tonight as there is a thick smoke film covering it. I want to open the house and let some fresh air in but am hesitant to do so as the smoke and ash will also come in. It reached 88 today! Spring has definitely arrived on the prairie!
Grateful for a safe trip home, grateful for my house sitter, and grateful for the great memories I will hold and cherish from this trip.
So happy for you ! Sounds like you are doing great .