November 14

It's truly shocking to realize how much traveling wipes me out. I pushed the snooze button on my phone alarm at least five times this morning before finally dragging myself out of bed after 11. I got ready, went downstairs and said hi to Reaya and Charlie, and then went off to the nearby Mother Ship (which, by the by, means I've been to Mother Ships in three different states so far this month. It feels like an accomplishment. A bizarre accomplishment, but one nonetheless).

Then since I didn't have anything pressing to do, I took a drive along some of the old country roads I navigated during my younger days. It's always a bittersweet experience and today was no exception as I rode along and snippets of days gone by came to mind -- the cow in the road, getting stuck on ice while trying to drive up an incline. Sledding down the hill in the backyard of the first house I ever called home. Yep, I'd call bittersweet a good word for all of that.

Anyway, I came back to Bobby's house and chatted with Charlie for a while before the two of us took his rental Tesla over to the library to pick up my niece at her bus stop. She and Reaya were home for just a brief time before they went off to Bri's dance class.

After a quick visit from my mom, Bobby returned home from work and he, Charlie and I went to dinner at The Hornet's Nest. It was a relatively brief outing, but the food was good and the company better. And honestly, I can't remember the last time the three of us went out together, just us siblings. I'm actually not sure it had ever happened before tonight.

And now, well, now I'm tired. Exhausted, really. We just finished watching the Commanders beat the previously undefeated Eagles on TV and I'm fading fast. So today, I'm grateful for my family of origin and for the (albeit brief amount of) time I have with them this week. It's not perfect, but it's good.