Florence Fun

I spent the weekend in Florence again visiting with my family and trying to help Mom.  It's always good to go back home and visit with friends and family.  Even though I'm always quite tired from getting home late, I'm so glad every time I get the chance to go home.  Sorry, but no pictures during this trip.  The only picture-worthy moment was when I was alone with Grandaddy and I'm not very good at self-portraits.  To be honest, my camera was the last thing on my mind during those precious moments.

It's funny how confused I make people when I say I'm going home.  Home has multiple meanings to me--my house here in Brentwood, Florence and specifically my parent's house.  I've taken to saying I'm going "home to Alabama" when I'm at work because so many people were confused and didn't understand that I was going home to Florence instead of home to Brentwood.  This probably makes no sense--oh, well...

Friday, traffic was awful, as per usual especially on a Friday night.  There was a wreck at my exit, so I had to get off the interstate two exits early and work my way through a few neighborhoods to get home.  Once I finally got there, I had to get my things together and get Emma ready for a car ride.  I don't know how a "child" (yes, she's my fur child) of mine can hate to ride in the car so much.  It's not that I love it, but I'm in the car so much that I've learned to accept is as a necessary evil--and a two hour drive is SO much better than the 4+ hour drive to Auburn.  Emma, however, hates any and all car rides with a passion.  She shakes and whines every time (except for a few very nerve-wracking times when Daddy lets her sit beside him instead of in her crate).  Also, as I was loading the car, my 7 year old neighbor wanted to play with Emma.  She's not too fond of this little boy, but I didn't want to be rude, so I let her play for a minute before finally getting to leave Nashville.  By this point, it was after 7PM.  I spent a good bit of the drive talking to my good friend Molly and, before I knew it, I was in Florence.  I watched some TV with Daddy while we waited for Mother to get home from putting Grandaddy to bed.  Not long after, we all went back to the bedrooms and I read for a while before going to sleep.

Saturday, Emma decided she needed to visit Mother and Daddy sometime between 3 and 5 o'clock (I couldn't see the clock from the bed without my glasses) in the morning.  After fussing at her for a while, I finally put her in bed with Mother and went back to sleep.  When I did decided to get up, it was time to start the laundry and do a few other things around the house.  I also ran to Muscle Shoals to our Vet to get Emma her "special" food.  She's delicate, so she needs "special" food---actually, it's just something that she will eat!! After that, I visited with Grandaddy and fed him lunch.  In between sitting with him in the living room and the den, I made him shave.  Sometimes, I'm the only one that he will listen to.  It was so nice to have some quality time with him, though.  Grams and I were/are hand holders, so it's nice to sit with him and hold his hand like she and I used to do.  I went home for a while before coming back to tuck him in to bed.  It about broke my heart when he said he couldn't go to bed because he didn't know where Grams was.  Thankfully, I got him to sleep without many more questions and Mother and I were able to go back home.

Sunday, I went to choir practice and church.  I also managed to get a lesson on pie crusts aided by napkins and reading glasses!!  It was pretty funny, but an effective lesson nonetheless!  I'll have to try out my new skills this weekend and report back on my progress.  I'm always so glad to get the opportunity to sing with my choir friends.  I'm already looking forward to learning this year's Christmas Cantata.  I also heard that the Back-to-Choir party might be hoppin' this year--I think I'll need to take off early for that party! :)

After lunch, it was back to Grandaddy's house.  I'm sure he doesn't remember it now, but it was so peaceful to sit on the sofa with him, hold his hand and rest my head on his shoulder.  Definitely a memory to cherish!

I needed a little Sunday afternoon nap before heading back to Nashville.  Emma is getting a haircut, so I made the return trip alone.  If I didn't think I had OCD before, it was confirmed when I couldn't sleep because I hadn't completely unpacked.  Once I unpacked (and scrubbed my kitchen with Clorox wipes), it was time for bed.  I think I checked four times that I'd turned my alarm back on (I did), but it always worries me after a weekend.

This weekend was over much too soon!  I'm so looking forward for Labor Day Weekend and an extra day off from work!