Bits and Pieces (while I can still remember them)

Long post alert. Sorry.

* I flew out of Rochester at dinner time last Wednesday with a box of fried cakes (cider donuts) packed in my luggage. By the time I arrived in Minnesota I'd eaten only airline crackers and pretzels, so I ate a donut before crawling into bed.

* It rained all day Thursday. I had a headache. We did not go out. We ate eggs and donuts for breakfast, lazed around, took naps, and played with the baby while we waited for Austin to come home from school. At dinner time we went out to play miniature golf and eat pizza in the basement of the old American Can Company in Saint Paul. Pretty cool!

* On Friday the sun came out. Mid afternoon Jim and I rode out to Farmington for Dan and Rachel's rehearsal dinner. It was cold and damp. I had my jean jacket along, but the sleeveless shirt underneath added no second layer for warmth. (I should have asked to borrow a sweatshirt.) I stood by a smokey fire to keep warm. Ha ha! We had burgers and hots on the grill and I got a big hug from the bride to be as well as the groom.

* Saturday was wedding day. The little boys were dropped off with Michele's parents for the night. We arrived at the house well before the ceremony and enjoyed the preparations. It was a cowboy wedding with all the trimmings including a chuck wagon dinner.

* There was a baby dedication at church Sunday morning, a trip to the Ren Fest in the afternoon, and then, because it was my last night in Minnesota, I stayed up way too late chatting with my son. And I don't regret that for a second. It's one of the things this mom misses.

* Monday morning my friend Kristina came and took me out to breakfast. We ate on the patio of a little place called Day By Day Cafe. The food was good and the weather was even better. It was a perfect day to be outside and we were both disappointed to have it cut short by my impending departure.

* My bags were packed when my son took me for a ride in his old "farm truck." I should have left my cup of coffee on the counter because it sloshed all over the place on our short drive around the block. Ha ha! And in no time at all the trip I'd looked forward to for so many weeks was over and I was headed to the airport for the return flight home.

* This evening after work a small dark haired boy came to greet me in the driveway as I climbed out of my car. He was smiling. Love that Number Nine!