Too much napping

Yup ... I was afraid of this. I'm still awake and I do have to go to work tomorrow. Whoops! Too much napping today followed by a bottle of Diet Mt. Dew.

You know, I have the best family. We have so much fun together. It's nice to hang out with Jim's kids. They are growing into terrific young people. And their personalities are so wildly different, yet they are really very loving. Janet obsessed over getting the meadow mowed. She didn't quit until she was done. Carol obsessed over basic cleanup. She'll never quit. (Relax girlfriend!) Emma was proud of her incredible texting capabilities. I've never seen someone spend that much time texting friends. Good heavenly days! Jim taught Max to grill (it's about time someone did - I've been trying for years and the man has resisted). Jake worked on killing a willow tree stump. He and Jim beat the heck out of it and one of these days, it WILL be gone. Jim and his boys put an immense cedar log into the cabin to act as a support for the roof - it's gorgeous and now things are quite stable.

We have no hot water or shower in the place. Jim took out the main part of the bathroom months ago in preparation for renovation. The only thing left is the toilet - and now it has a curtain around it. It's a good thing we're all family.

Emma and Matt love driving - every time Carol drove into town, there was a discussion about who was driving back. Max and I rented a hotel room - Sunday afternoon meant that everyone finally got a shower ... in our hotel room. The kids swam in the pool and Carol got 20 minutes of peace and quiet in the room.

Leica is exhausted. She hasn't moved off the couch all day long and has barely raised her head to look at me when I call her name. She played with two young dogs for two long days - chasing all over the property. She had to tell the youngest (Jim's new vizsla - Jackson) that he did not get to sniff her butt every time she walked. He's quite cute, but rather dumb and didn't get it the first time she yelled at him. It really is fun for me to let her run free and not worry about her getting hit by a car.

The park across the road was packed with holiday travelers. That meant that we kept the gate at the end of the road closed all weekend - which is weird for us. But, people have no sense of other people's property anymore and consider that they can simply wander wherever they want to wander. Our neighbors up there are polite and considerate, but the travelers are strange.

I had thought that I would get lots of quiet time to read and write. I was wrong. Every moment I was at Bell's Dell I was with someone. Nope, I am NOT complaining. I can't imagine anything better than hanging out with my kids. I watched Star Wars (Episode IV & V) movies with Matthew, worked on a puzzle with Jake, made plans for the future of Bell's Dell with Janet and Jim, cooked, and cleaned. We watched episodes of Lost (that family is still on Season 2! They're killing me.) and laid around relaxing and sleeping (because that's what you do at Bell's Dell). I think I'm going to have to go up there alone if I'm going to do any writing or reading.

Even though we left early ... we left knowing that we will soon return. See, that's the thing about Bell's Dell. No matter how often we go, we always know that we will return. It's our home. I am in love with that place. It's filled with memories and is filling with new ones every time we are there.