Table for Eight

I'd had this post sitting in the Draft folder for at least a week.  It's taken me a while to post. I don't know why that is . . .  maybe it's that I write bits on social media a lot, so I am moving away from longer journal-type writing  OR  maybe I'm just at this place in our family life (5 teens and 1 young adult at home) that I just find it hard to blog.  Either way, I know that regular writing is valuable. And I need to do it.  I mean, really, I NEED TO DO IT. (And you do to!) Writing helps me reflect on life's daily happenings; it helps me find closure and understanding when I am somewhat confused about things; and most importantly, it helps our family record and remember the details of our lives.  Just last week one of the kids had a question about how old our dog was/is, and I didn't know for certain. (Which seems hilarious that I didn't know that.) But then I had a thought-- "I for sure blogged the day we found her." And so we went to th...

It's hard to believe, but it had been three years since our last family vacation. THREE YEARS! Can you believe that? (I think it had something to do with all of the travel we experienced for Survivor the previous 3-4 years. We were just kind of "spent." Translation = Dawn/mom came home SPENT and just couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to get on another plane, train, or automobile.) At any rate, my point! We did it! We broke our "No Summer Vacation" streak and went to California last week. And I'm so glad we did: it was a BLAST! We were able to visit family, spend time at the beach, swim, shop, eat way too much, and see a lot of LA attractions (including World-Famous Traffic!). This vacation reminded me why I love traveling: you get to experience new places AND gain a greater appreciation for your own life/home. PS: Thanks to our family for hosting us and helping us have a great summer vacation. Dave-ma...