Day #23: Finally home!

We drove into Grand Rapids about two hours ago, stopped by the post office to pick up three weeks of mail, went to Meijer's to purchase a few necessities, and then pulled into our beautiful snow-free driveway! We've unloaded the van, dumped our laundry in the basement, carried our suitcases upstairs, put the groceries away ... and now we intend to do absolutely nothing until we have to show up to church tomorrow morning at 8:30.

Presently, I'm sitting at MY desk, instead of a tiny hotel desk ~ it's completely cluttered and rather ugly ~ but at least it is mine ~ back in our totally chaotic office (although most of the chaos is Grandpa Jones's doing). We are feeling a little under the weather. It's okay, though. We are home. We had been with a whole bunch of really sick little kids at church the few weeks prior to our trip, and then Sabrina was very sick while we visited (and Jackson too) in Austin (head colds and flu) ... so it seems inevitable that both Grandpa Jones and I might come down with a little sickness of some sort. I had prayed that our health would stay strong the entire time we traveled, and it did ... so if we must get sick, at least we were able to enjoy all three families in Texas while we had the chance.

Our travel today was completely uneventful. The weather was gorgeous. I took about a dozen pictures as we sped (yes! Grandpa Jones actually drove the speed limit!) along the highway, but none of them are worth showing you.

After taking most of four days to return home to Michigan, I am feeling the huge distance there is between Michigan and Texas. Sometimes it feels SO far away that it might as well be another country altogether ... and we did catch Nicholas one time during a conversation we were having with he and Rachel in Bandera saying, "When you guys return to the states (meaning when Grandpa Jones and I returned to Michigan) ..." and we had to laugh because we often joke that Texans think they live in a country all their own.

I don't have huge goals for the rest of the week. Since Grandpa Jones rebuilt my computer, my camera will not upload in the usual manner using the cable that came with it, so I've had to depend on his card reader to do the job ... and then it dumps all the pictures in one huge file, not by date. So we need to work on that problem this week so that I can independently upload my camera again and not have to bother Grandpa Jones all the time. We have our usual volunteer activities on the calendar, but nothing too strenuous. I have a few cards to design and get in the mail ... but other than that, nothing too pressing. I hope to edit more of our Texas trip pictures and post some of the best ones in the next little while. Until then...