Life really IS a gift.

 

It is a cool cloudy day here in Michigan.  Dear Hubby has gone to meet a new hunting friend near Holly and I stayed home to do the grocery shopping and some reading.  I am finishing up on my second week of vacation.  The first week I did a bit of traveling and enjoyed that a lot...saw some beautiful country.  Why do so many midwesterners complain about how 'boring' this part of the country is?  They can't imagine how we left Oregon behind and settled here.  I don't know what kind of mental image they have when they think of "Oregon".  So few I've spoken to have ever been there so the images they have are most likely from what they've seen on TV.  Yes, Oregon is beautiful but the longer I live back here the less I feel that it has any more to offer than Michigan or some of the other parts of the midwest I've seen so far. 

What do I miss about Oregon?  Our neighbors.  The walks Dear Hubby and I took to the top of Mt. Tabor Park.  The Pacific being only 100 miles away.  I know Cooper misses Nalley's chili...that brand is not available back here so some generous folks 'back home' have shipped some here for him.  Do I miss the mountains?  No, not much.   I thought I would, desperately.  But now that I've grown accustomed to the vast amount of sky back here, I spend a lot of time with my neck craned back, staring up at cloud formations that seem to billow up to outer space at times.  Before we moved  I'd taken the boys to Sweetness Bakery for some of the mini cinnamon rolls they loved.  One of the employees was a young man from Michigan and he told me one of the things I was going to love back here was the beautiful sky.  I didn't know how right he was.  But I do now.

My second week of vacation I've refurbished three pieces of furniture.  It has amazed me how some elbow grease used in sanding them down and then several coats of Old English Furniture Oil has totally revitalized all of them.  I have one more week to go before the grandboys' other grandma heads back for Texas.  I'm going to do some caulking in our shower stall...it could use a bit of freshening up.  I still need to get to the touch-up painting I'd planned on as well.  Right now I'm heading over to the library to see if I can find a copy of "The King's Speech" or whatever it's called.  The one that won all the Academy Awards.  I am terrible on the names of movies.  I'm even more terrible on the names of today's celebrities.  If I met one face-to-face and they preened and bragged about who they were I'm afraid I'd pop their ego bubble big time, haha!  I wouldn't have a clue who they are.

Just a simple day.  Nothing much planned.  Just the way I like it.