August 1

I began my day in California and am ending it in Maryland. Here's a visual representation of said reality, as my kiddos gathered to say farewell and my brother Bobby welcomed me by trying to shove a finger up my nose (in jest. We're not teenagers anymore, after all):

My brother and his family have vacation plans this coming week, so I came back east to help my mom. 

It was a long, long day. The flight was uneventful (save the 18-month old in front of me who screamed bloody murder 80% of the time, but hey, I've been there). My sister-in-law picked me up in great time, I heard about my niece's plans to redecorate her room (and was given a primer on taking care of Hampton the hamster whose name I am mentioning solely so I won't forget it), and had a long chat with Bobby. 

And now it's very, very late and I'm beyond the point of tiredness, so I'm trying to turn in, but not before I express gratitude to my brother for letting me use his house, and to God for a nice, long flight that gave me lots of time to myself and lots of time to reflect and read and listen to music and pray for lots of different things.