Like a Vapor.....

Our "travel trailer"


Well, I know that I have been making sparse appearances in Blogville lately and then vanishing for long periods of time. Life has been a little more hectic than the usual chaos that surrounds a family of 7, and that is saying a lot. I've just come to the realization that I cannot be everywhere at one time, so sometimes, "Grit Gravy" will be a few priorities down the list.

We just returned from about 9 days of being up North. While I am not generally a fan of the area above the Mason-Dixon line, I felt quite blessed not to be mixed up in the drama of the South over the same time period.(i.e. We actually overcame Murphy's Law for once and did not book our vacation in New Orleans!!!!) While we felt a few pangs from the gas "shortage" and experienced humongous gas prices while North, that was about the extent of our sufferings, other than just crying for the pain being experienced by our sister states in the South.

Since I do not have cable at home, I was quite pleased to be able to view the drama in New Orleans as it unfolded. I guess I am a news/weather junkie at heart, and I was happy to at least be "in-the-know" as opposed to being at home trying to adjust the rabbit ears to get a weak news report off a local channel. While the images were heart-breaking, I am glad that I got to witness this little bit of history, and it gave the kids and I a chance to talk about it together. We surely are counting our blessings while re-living a little bit of our experience with Hurricane Hugo.

I did not announce our vacation online, as I did not want to advertise that the house was going to be vacant until we decided to come back. Since the date was open-ended, I decided to just wait til I got back to tell you all we were gone!


Our suite in Akron....and oh, you should see the bathroom....

Before we left for Akron, for my husband's business end of the trip, I called to try and find where a family of 7 could get a suite in Akron. It was not easy, and it was looking like we were going to have to book two adjoining rooms, until one spectacular customer service person found me the best suite I have ever had! It was awesome! The master bedroom had 2 KING-sized beds, and the den had a pull-out sofa for some of the kiddies. The den also had its own t.v., a huge desk for Daniel to use his laptop on, and a kitchen area with refrigerator and microwave and sink. Both the den and the bedroom opened into the HUGE bathroom. When I get to design my own one day, it will be a lot like this one. The sink area was huge. Three people could stand there at a time, which came in handy when combing hair for church. This part also had a full-size jacuzzi, in which I could stretch out my entire 5'7" body. No scrunching up here! That was my favorite place---letting the jets of water melt away years of accumulated fatigue and stress. (Haven't had a real vacation since '98!) The guys had their own shower room complete with potty. So it was really like having 2 bathrooms in one. So while we waited for "Dad" to come "home," I had the bedroom t.v. and the kids had the den one, so all were happy. And the best part was that we paid for ONE room! If you are ever going to Akron, get with me, and I will give you the details!

Tim was there for a company audit, which his team passed, we think, so he was happy with that. We worshipped three times with the Brown Street church, which was a pure delight. I have not seen services run with such respect and honor for God in a long, long time. I grew up "old school" and I still have a really hard time these days worshipping in places that take more and more of a casual attitude toward worship to God. I mean, really, it is the Almighty we are talking about here, but anymore, people come to services with the attitude and dress of coming for a slumber party. While I am equally against stiff and unfeeling worship toward God, I hate it when people treat God as though He is unworthy of any special effort. While I cannot know the heart of every member of Brown Street, I was impressed by their worship services and Bible study, and the elders are super! They just got a new preacher, too, and he was there for his first Sunday. He was as bleary-eyed as we were, as we had all driven well into the night to get to Akron Saturday night.

Thursday morning, we left for New Jersey to visit Tim's family. What a treat the entire visit was. The cool breezes were outstanding. There was enough sun to warm you, while all the time, cool breezes blew through the windows or across your face! I loved it, after the heat we have experienced this summer down here. They treated us like royalty the entire time we were there. Ginny, Tim's mom, and her sister, our Aunt Rita, planned and made some of the most delicious dinners! On Friday night, Lisa, our sister-in-law, made a wonderful Mexican dish for the entire family--and that is saying a lot. Tim's brother Billy, his sister Mary and husband Anthony, brother Pat and wife Lisa and three girls, Kelsie, Maggie, and Emma, and our family of seven, and of course Tim's parents, Bill and Ginny and Aunt Rita were all there! So that was a lot of Mexican! We celebrated Mary's birthday while we had the whole family together!



Aunt Mary with all her nieces...Hannah, Maggie, Emma, Kelsie and Sarah

We enjoyed just relaxing and sitting out on the deck with the aforementioned cool breezes by. Bill and Ginny have bird feeders at strategic places through the back yard so that cute little birds are constantly showing up to feed, and it further relaxes one to watch the sweet little things come to feed. The cooler was stocked with cokes and the coffee pot always had a fresh pot brewed. Bill made us steaks and salmon and burgers on the grill. Ginny made a hot chicken salad that was killer! Aunt Rita took me to some of her favorite stores on a Saturday afternoon shopping extravaganza! How much better can it get?



Bill and Ginny's friends and family love to go to their house and stay a few days because they know that there will always be refreshing times waiting. The only thing we did not get to do that I would have loved was to play some cards. We stayed on the go all the time or were doing other things and just did not get to the cards. That was o.k., though, as maybe we will get to do that another visit, either here or there.


A view out through Bill and Ginny's tranquil back yard...

Sarah and Hannah had a blast playing with their NJ cousins! They got to go to the park together several times, and Kelsie, Maggie and Emma were not only good playmates but also were good protectors and watchers of their younger cousins. Aunt Lisa and Hannah bonded really well, and Hannah would cuddle into Aunt Lisa's shoulder whenever she got the chance.


Aunt Lisa helps the wee ones make chalk drawings on the pavement and blow bubbles

Everyone who knows Hannah knows that was unusual, as Hannah does not warm easily to everyone. Hannah did learn how to say "Rita" before she left and was using Aunt Rita's name liberally as we packed to leave.



Sadly, we started back for home Monday afternoon. We drove as far as Bedford, PA the first night, then stopped and stayed the night. We brought it on in the next evening. It was kind of hard to come back to my bathtub without the jets and to making my own coffee again! :) We commented that we wished we could have had longer in NJ, but we were afraid that if we had stayed much longer, Ginny and Rita would have worked themselves to death! Ginny washed and folded all our dirty clothes while I was out shopping and when we went to church. She is an amazing woman!

Ginny also presented us with a book she has done on the genealogy of her side of the family. We got the Nolan side last year. These books are several inches thick and just filled with countless hours of research and work she did to put these together. They are real treasures, and we appreciate them so much. Our daughters will have a good start on knowing their "roots."

Everyone could not get over how much the kids, especially the boys, had grown. On Sunday, we worshipped with the Wharton church that we had worshipped with for a time when we lived in NJ for a year. Many of the members there have died or drifted back into the world, but a staunch group of believers is still faithful there. After services Sunday night, they all took us out to dinner at a true NJ diner! We were able to catch up a little bit on the news with the brethren there and enjoy a good meal with them! We were also touched that Gemma, wife of the preacher who died last September 11th, gave us some of his books. We will put them to good use as we homeschool this year. Jon was an avid history buff, so he had more books than we could fit in the car, but we brought what we could. We will appreciate their gift for years to come. We had to share some tears with Gemma. Jon was surely a special man. He baptized Tim, and beyond that, he just was a wonderful human being. We have every hope, I told Gemma, that he is waiting on the rest of us in heaven. People like Jon are my inspirations to keep going when the old body fails and times are hard. Jon never gave up, and we will never forget him.

All-in-all, we had a nice little get-away. While it was not a full-blown vacation, it was the closest thing to it we have had in a while! Now it is back to reality in Gravyville, with homeschool getting into full swing, boys looking for jobs, etc. We have much to do this fall to ready for the winter, so we will be busy. Hopefully, I will be able to update more, when I can wrestle the computer away from all the kids.