Nuts! Too soon over - the ride home

I knew this moment would come.

Nuts!

I delayed the trip until 3:00 in the afternoon. The roads were quiet going home. No need to take pictures. Nothing had changed from the ride out. But I had plenty of time to reflect on the weekend.

I had a great time. It was quiet, except for all the laughter, and the sharing, and to cooking, and the eating, and the crafting. Hmm .... now that I think about it, it wasn't a quiet weekend at all. :-)

I had taken a ton of pictures, but suddenly I realized I never got a group photo. In fact, I seldom took pictures of people. Panic! Maybe I should turn around, go back to Ocean City, and get that shot. No. The pictures I had were perfect as they were. We were not "groomed" for pictures at any point that weekend. My hair never got combed the whole time, often we just stayed in pajamas the whole day. But those images that never made it into my camera - the happy faces - are tucked away in my memory where they will be safely kept.

I also took a few other things home with me.

The weekend began with the distribution of Goodie Bags!

How cool was that?

My bag's message reflected the feeling of these three days for me.

I will think with joy of that weekend every time I see this charming bag.

I bought candy for mom from The Candy Kitchen.

She has such a sweet tooth.

My cousin, Linda, gave me an ocean side oil painting she created.

She sent it home as a gift for mom.

My cousins (both of them) are hugely talented artists.

This image says so much about the beauty of nature near the water's edge.

As I approached

The Bridge

I realized that I was going to be provided one last beautiful image.

Sun Set

Soooo out came the camera once again.

And the snapping began.

As I took pictures traveling over this previously feared bridge,

I realized just how much I changed this year.

It is going to take more than this bridge to make me fearful.

This year I faced down some hard personal situations.

I came out the other side of a hard year.

I am different.

After the sun set, darkness quickly fill the sky.

By the time I got to my street, it was night.

Soon I pulled into my parking space.

I looked up to my living room window.

Do you see what I see?

There in the window.

A pair of ears silhouetted in the light of my home.

Those perky little ears belonged to just one dear dog.

Milo

Milo was expecting his grandma.

And she was thrilled to see him.

Thank you

Linda

Leslie

Susan

Elizabeth

We made a wonderful weekend.

Until next time ...