Holiday busy-ness

A lot of our holiday time was spent away from Greensboro. We started with a stop in Indy to see Wayne's sister and her family. We don't get to see them very often, so it's always good to have a chance to visit and catch up. It was a bit of a shock to our bodies though, when we woke up in the morning and it was only 6 degrees. Brrr....

Then it was on to Illinois to see my family. My parents' house was struck by lightning in June, causing an attic fire and resulting in major necessary renovations. They were finally able to move back into their house in early October. Since that time, they have been busy trying to get their "house" back to "home" status. It has been a long and laborious process. With us in North Carolina, we weren't able to be of much help....until now. We started the week by getting busy on the to-do list: Fix pantry light, hang kitchen towel rack, hang curtain rod and curtains, hang pictures,

untangle sink spray hose, organize videos and CDs, organize books, organize pantry storage, connect speakers on stereos, hang calendars and bulletin boards, rearrange computer components, label new fixture switches, convince CD players to work, things to glue back together, and hang stained glass and windchimes--all done.

It was really nice to be able to finally help them out and give them a break, and it did seem to put some of the homey feel back into the house. We ended the week with our traditional family holiday dinner. Even with all that has gone on in that house the last few months, the celebration came off just as planned--true to tradition. It's always fun when we all get together. Conversation topics ran the gamut: An upcoming wedding, spring graduation and college to follow, tree falling on a roof, exotic cockroach pets, tonsil stones, successful cancer-removing surgery, flooding in Watseka, NBC news stories, the Santa Rampage, Toys for Troops, and of course, the house and its renovations.

During all this, we experienced all the weather the Midwest has to offer. The temperatures ranged from 1 to 58, and we saw rain, sleet, snow, fog, wind, and freezing rain. Luckily this all happened during our stay and not during our road travels.

It was a great week...in many ways.

(more pictures on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/packmulemama/ )