1. Being done packing.

2. The McDonald’s in Germantown, TN. Whee! Well, at least the salads are good and you can’t beat not having to cook.

3. Visiting one of my oldest best friends from college, Hannah, for one night enroute, at her house in Meadville, PA, which I’ve never seen before. So now I will be able to “picture” her there. Also, meeting her 5 year old for the first time! If I’m lucky I see Hannah once or twice a year, but I’ve never met her youngest!

4. Reading my advance copy of America, America because Monda recommended it. Also, eye-candy shelter magazines and a couple of other books tba.

5. Driving pretty much the width of Pennsylvania for the first time, which has famously been described as “Pittsburgh on one end, Philadelphia on the other and Alabama in the middle.”

6. Not needing an excuse to sip a diet coke with crushed ice.

7. Wearing my two new hats. 1. Reharsal dinner=straw panama with black trim. 2. Family Wedding= poufy off white organza. More about the hats soon; they’re getting their own post.

8. Seeing my extended family for the first time in gosh, at least a year and raising eyebrows throughout the Northeast with my “y’alls,” because they have not evolved enough yet there to realize it’s the perfect word. At least my youngest has given up calling his brother “Bubba.” Eyebrows were regularly meeting hairlines during our “Bubba” period. I kind of miss it, though.

9. Hours of uninterrupted time on the road with my family. Strange as it sounds, in our hurried lives, sometimes road trips offer the only respite from the madding crowds.

10. Coming home and loving on my cats and discovering that the hydrangea bush didn’t actually bloom while we were gone, it just looked like it was going to. Also, finding out if Driwater actually works.

I’ll let you know.

Bye y’all.

SV