Backsies Is What There Is Not: Back At It

Yeah, yeah, it's been awhile.

Every time I take one of these long sabbaticals, I swear it won't happen again. I truly enjoy writing, so why I don't is way weirder to me than it possibly could be to you.

The best place to restart my engine is always the Ten Things of Thankful. I suppose I could attempt to catch up on the last two and a half months, but let's not and just say there WERE thankfuls, many of them, and start anew.

Here goes:

My pre-k class graduated on May 22. We had grown into the BEST class family, and I will miss them so much! I'm thankful for the dance parties, the hugs, the I love yous, the dog piles, the dandelion bouquets, the artwork, the oopsies and the chance they gave us to improve, the endless stories, kissing boo boos, and the opportunity to watch them learn and grow. Hey, that's 10. Done!

This is my why

Just kidding. Here are 9 more:

I'm thankful that my husband is willing to let me take an entire week off to visit my Person, Terri, in Nashville. Perhaps TOO willing. Hmmm,,,,

I'm also thankful that he took on Dad duties for me, spending two weekends cooking and running errands for my dad while I was gone. I truly don't deserve him, but I'm for sure keeping him!

My dad gets a thankful for letting me drive his Tahoe to Nashville. My sweet ride is 2010 Toyota Sienna minivan with 230,000 miles on it, and while I did not doubt its loyalty to me to get me there and back, my husband was less trusting and felt better having me drive a newer vehicle. Not going to lie, I did enjoy the rear camera and the XM radio for the 8 hour trip.

I'm thankful I took my last trip over the Mississippi River on an extremely narrow, two-lane bridge. The bridge is terrifying to cross on at best, and when I approached it last Saturday, I saw a new sign that stated no tractor trailers could go over it. My first thought was Cool! I won't have to worry about meeting one when there's barely a hand's width between it and me (or that's the way it looks, anyway). Then halfway over the bridge, it occurred to me that the reason for no tractor trailers was because it wasn't SAFE to have that much weight on it, and it was there and then that I made the decision that I wouldn't be crossing it again. There's a perfectly boring but sturdy bridge a little upstream that will only add 15 minutes or so to the trip, and THAT is more than worth not plunging into the Mississippi River when the old bridge collapses.

The rest of the driving portion of the trip was uneventful, and that's a good thing.

I not only got to spend the week with my Person, but I got a lot of quality time with her daughter Mackenzie. She actually LIKES to hang out with us, and I sure enjoy it, too!

With Mackenzie

I first started going out to lunch with my friend Janice probably 35 years ago, and we have continued the tradition when I visit Nashville. We had a lovely lunch and got caught up on Life, and I'm thankful each and every time we are able to get together.

Lunch with Janice at The Farmstead

I'm also thankful that my buddy Steve makes time for a visit when I'm there. We've known each other for 40 years. Holy cow, I hadn't realized it was that long until I counted it up on my fingers just now! He is still an attorney at the law firm that I worked at when I first moved to Nashville. He shared photos of his completely adorable grandkids (yes, I'm a little jealous and ready to be a granny in the near future hopefully pretty please).

I'm so very thankful to have had this whole week with Terri. We talked. We laughed. We ate. We ate some more. We spent time with Marianne and with Jeannie, went to Terri's grandson's baseball game (10 year olds and SO SERIOUS about the game!), shopped, watched jets take off from the rooftop bar at the airport Hilton, had dinner with our dear friend Larry, and did I mention we ate a lot? We ate a lot. It was a week of quality time together, and I cherished every moment.

With Terri at Ray Stevens' Caba Ray Theater

Dinner with our friend Larry. We learned things
about him we never knew until this night....

Garlic knots at Five Corners Pizza

Sunset at BNA

On top of the Hilton and I couldn't get any
closer to that rail than maybe 6 feet....

My Person

And lastly, I am thankful that the summer four-day week work schedule begins tomorrow, which means I have Monday off and don't have the Sunday Scaries tonight. Wheeeee!!!

It's not too late to join the Ten Things of Thankful. You've got until Monday night. Come on!