Road Trip

Applebutter, Buffalo, Carrot, Dolphin, Everybody, Flamingo, Giraffe, Horoscope, Igloo, Jackalope, Kangaroo, Lithosphere, Minnie Mouse, Nitroglycerin, Octopus, Polytheism, Quinine, Robust, Snake, Titicaca, Uvula, Vaccination, Wave Frequency, Xylem, Yangtze River, Zanzibar. There are myriad ways to pass the time while driving cross-country, and they are way more fun when shared with young people. Maggie suggested we do the alphabet game, each of us in turn thinking of a word that starts with the next letter of the alphabet after repeating all of the previous words. I would like to be able to say that the most impressive words in our list (above) were mine, but I'm held to our familial requirement of honesty. I learned a lot about social studies and science curriculum on this road trip, and was pretty impressed. By the way, "polytheism" came from Maggie, and August commented that "monotheism is what we believe." They learned about religion in social studies.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy driving.

After brief stops to see my daughters I spent two weeks with my parents. What a gift it was not to be in a hurry. (I refuse to be anxious about schedule until August 16.) Daddy and I spent some quality time with the digital recorder, getting family history and story logged. I'll have more reflections on this segment of the trip later.

This road trip took me to each of my daughters' homes where I enjoyed unhurried time with their families. Stacey had a project in mind for us (removing holly bushes & replacing them with flower beds), but the torrential rains in Tulsa precluded outdoor work, and we did absolutely nothing quantifiable while I was there. It was delightful. Five-month-old Aiden is adorable, and playtime was a treasure.

At Heather's home we had an equally liesurely plan, but in a burst of energy pulled up carpet in Maggie's room, exposing a hardwood floor, and removed the paneling from her plastered walls. What a sense of accomplishment!!! And Maggie was so excited she couldn't contain herself. The painting will come later, but in the meantime, she organized her room, enjoyed making her bed, and cleaned out her closet.

While in Missouri I connected with old friends Joyce, Kay, Ramie (and Amy, Eric, Braden & Cole Shumaker) and worshipped at Blue Valley CC in Overland Park where I got to hear my former pastor, Rick Butler, preach. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

When it was time to load up the car and return to AZ, I threw my three older grandchildren in the car just for fun. We are filling our days with short trips and training for a hike in the Grand Canyon. But the greatest thrill in all of this for me is having the kids here for a sleepover -- for a week! I'm a happy "gram."