Sabbatical Day 10

Today was a very lazy day. After arriving home on tuesday from a week of traveling and visiting I cleaned out my email, went through the mail that arrived while I was gone, and worked a little on a technology project. I felt it was time to trim my beard because I am starting to resemble Si from Duck Dynasty. I have not been to get my hair cut since late August when I was asked to do a funeral for a family member. I am wondering how much money this is saving me! I looked over the pictures we took while on our trip and will post some on the days that correspond with our activities. While on our trip we traveled to Indiana to see my dad who we were not able to see at christmas. He is doing fine, and enjoys being retired and hunts most every day. The hamlet that he lives in is 17 miles away from the nearest WalMart. We spent the night in Salem, IN and then Alec and I went to Paoli, IN where he snowboarded. After that adventure, we traveled to Farmersburg, IN to visit with my cousins. This is the town where my grandma and mother grew up in, and it takes me back in my mind to hot summer days where we played with our cousins and life seemed to be sooo much simpler. We had a good visit, and got to catch up with everyone. My cousin's granddaughter was sick and her mother said the doctor said she did not have strep throat so no antibiotics. My cousin said she claims she is a carrier because everyone that comes in contact with this 18 month old gets sick. Well true to form, that's where I got my sore throat from. (I jokingly nicknamed the child Mary after Typhoid Mary.) Our visit was fun, and relaxing. While we were there I did some research on family history. (I figure it helps to know where we have come from.) We traveled home on tuesday and part of me did not really want to come back, but things at home needed to be done. (I like visiting the favorite places of my childhood as it reminds me how good my childhood was, where there were very little concerns.) We passed by the cemetery that is the final earthly resting place of my mother, her parents, an aunt i never met, and several great uncles and aunts who gave me many great memories. Passing by this place was bittersweet as I counted the number of funerals I conducted at this place and how many of the people in my life are now no longer physically present with us. Our trip home was uneventful and we made it home in record time just under 11 hours.