There's no place like home

I just returned from a wonderful weekend spent in Tuscaloosa. I've come to appreciate going "home" more and more as I've gotten older. Staying at my parents' house makes me feel happy and relaxed and peaceful. I can't pinpoint exactly when the change occurred, but DennyJ and Mom somehow went from mega-embarrassing to hmm-they're-really-not-all-that-bad in the last few years. I'm proud of them for making such a big leap in such a short period of time :)

I spent yesterday afternoon with Grandad looking over books, old letters, and pictures in an effort to soak up some family history. Grandad has spent years and years tracing our family tree, and while I've looked at some of his stuff before, I can't make heads or tails of it. I asked him to sit down with me and explain it to me. I still probably wouldn't pass a quiz, but I learned so much and loved spending time with him. It was neat to see pictures of him when he was little, and to see pictures of family members that I never got to meet but have heard so much about. Grandad gave me some things to take home and look over, and I'm sure I'll have some questions after looking over that stuff. I appreciate him spending his afternoon with me and hope he's willing to do it again!

Last night, I went to a housewarming party for a nearly lifelong friend and his wife (someone I've also known for 20 some odd years). I'm so glad I went. Their new home is beautiful, and it was so good to visit with them. I love that we're still friends, even though we're separated by distance and life stages. I also enjoyed getting to talk to some of the mamas who were there. While I love meeting new people, there's something very reassuring about spending time with people I've known most of my life. It makes me feel grounded and happy.

We capped off the weekend with lunch after church today. Mimi, Grandad, Uncle Robert, Daniel, and Olivia joined Mom, DennyJ, and me at the ol' homestead for hamburgers and 7Up floats. I'm thankful that I live close enough to do things like this; I missed that while I was living in Auburn. Nothing like a fabulous weekend to kick off a (hopefully...) fabulous week!