480: More family ties.

The family tree grow-eth massively larger! (See this post for more details: family ties.)

I forgot to mention that my mother, daughter and I had lunch with a cousin from my mother's generation while we were home. He filled in a lot of missing info for us regarding my grandmother's birth father and the great uncle who raised her. Some of it fit in perfectly with info we already had. Some of it only confused us more due to several family members having same or similar first names and some only being known to our cousin by nicknames.

Either way, it was still good info and the stories he told about some family members were hysterically funny. A few times we laughed so loud, i thought we might be asked to leave the restaurant.

Since we've been home, I've been using Family Search to gather corroborating data where possible. It's both fun and frustrating.

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479: Working it out once again.

One of my daddy's sisters is my favorite auntie. Lately she's been checking in at the gym on Facebook. So have lots of other folks.

One day my brain told me that I too could benefit from a lot more exercise than I've been getting. Especially now that we've moved to a smaller place.

Yesterday morning as I sat on the couch checking e-mail, I heard splashing and talking at the pool. I glanced out the window and saw one of the maintenance staff talking to a swimming resident. The pool looked very inviting and I had a thought to do my workout in the crystal clear water. However, by the time I finished my Facebook duties (I update our church's page), did a few necessary things in here, dug my bikini top out of the closet, and found a pair of shorts suitable for wearing into the pool, it was already hot out.

And though I love the ease of working out in the pool, taking a shower/to get dressed/to get in the pool/to workout/to come back in for another shower -- well, it felt like too much work to do, to get a work out.


So instead I decided to work out here in my living room, where it was cool.

I won't lie. It was hard. But I'm proud of myself. I was able to get in 27 minutes of movement using a combination of dance and exercise moves before I was too tired to get off the floor.

And imagine this: even with the air on, I still worked up a mess of sweaty sweat. My shower was heaven on earth.

After, I sat down to work and forgot to eat until a couple of hours later.   :(

Surprisingly, I don't feel at all sore right now. Let's see how I feel after a night's sleep because I plan to work out again later today.

I also plan to go out dancing with the girls Friday evening.

My fingers are crossed for swift alignment of mind and body because I can't let my exercise plan get in the way of a good time this weekend!

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478: My my, how time does fly!

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Has it truly been over a month  -- almost two -- since I've posted here? Not for lack of fodder, I assure you.

There has been lots going on, mostly mundane but a little excitement as well.

Thank you God for an interesting life!

Let's see...

Earlier this month, we traveled several hundred miles home to visit family and attend my third annual elementary/junior high school reunion.

We always visit my daddy and stepmother on the way up the road or on the way back down. They live a few hours before our destination. It's good to go to daddy's because we're heading home and not because he's in the hospital.

During our visit home, there was time for lunch with a long-time friend who I talk to often but hadn't seen in years. Lunch wasn't long enough but I was thankful for the time we had.

My daughter and I were blessed to spend a few hours visiting a cousin I hadn't seen since my (paternal) grandma's funeral 11 years ago. We also got to meet two of his children but sadly, his wife was at work so we couldn't meet her. :(    My favorite auntie was there too.   :)

I had a blast at my reunion. It was priceless to reunite with so many folks from back in the day and to meet the new folks too. People brought their families, our principle popped in, my 6th grade teacher came, lots of folks from the old neighborhood who didn't attend school with us were there, and I suspect some folks saw a party in the park and just dropped on in.  *chuckle*

It was especially wonderful to see friends from my class and the youngins from later classes who I'd met at the previous reunion.

Several people I expected to see were M.I.A. One of them I was really looking forward to seeing. He made it to last year's reunion, where I had up close and personal time with everyone except him. Which caused me a bit of anxiety later because he's one of those people who has a special place in my heart. My plan was to have a few kind words with him at this year's reunion but we know what they say about the best laid plans. Hopefully I can see him next time I'm home.

There are a few other people I wanted to see but time was on its own schedule. With the exception of the year my daughter and I spent the whole summer at home, summer visits are too short. I find this thought amusing because the thought of moving back up there is a teeny bit vomitrocious. I guess it's a sense of nostalgia mingled with the feeling that because we no longer live there, my hometown has become a vacation destination where everyone knows my name

There's talk of returning home next month for an upcoming neighborhood reunion but gas prices have gone up again. We'll see.

Any who, if we don't make it back up the road this year, I have good memories (and pictures too!) of our most recent visit.

And just in case, I'm planning all the fun I'll have if August finds us back on familiar streets.  ;-)

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