Oh my!  Yesterday was a mail day!  We received 3 packages of ordered stuff, two big fat envelopes, two catalogs (one the size of a phone book), two bills, and a study request from Harvard.  As I sorted through everything, I thought, "Wow, imagine if I had a letter from Becca, too."  And then I found it--buried between the two bills.  It wouldn't bother me if we didn't anything else for the rest of the week.

Impromptu trip to Florida on the horizon.  My grandmother is failing.  Not fast, but failing.  My grandfather has been in and out of the hospital for "procedures," though most are out-patient.  He is rapidly wearing down trying to take care of my grandmother and meet her (many) demands.  My Aunt Audree (grandmother's older sister) keeps saying how much she'd like to see Charlie.  So all of this has been weighing heavily on my mind.  When Johnathan was here I wondered if he could help me drive down to visit everyone, but that wouldn't have been fair to him.  So I sat and wondered if everyone was still going to be around when we arrived in Feb of next year.

Then Nathan's sister called.  To our surprise and delight, she told us that she and her husband were going to be Sealed in the Temple at the end of July!  Nathan said he would try and make it.  The next morning I'd formed a plan.  It's been through some revision over the last two weeks and now it's official.  My sister will fly up and visit with me and then we will drive down together.  (Stacy, her daughter, my 4 kids, and myself... oy!)  I'll visit with my family for a week (how nice is it that my mom just happens to have that week off from work?) and then Nathan will fly in for the Sealing.  We'll spend the weekend with his family (his parents, his brother, his other sister and her new baby.  Only one brother may not be able to make it) and then we'll drive home.

It's going to be rough driving, especially with a nursling, but we'll manage.  Stacy and I will have more leeway time wise, but Nathan will have to hustle b/c he only has 2 days off.  I'm glad I'll get to visit with my grandfather and aunt (and mom and sisters, too, of course, and Nathan's family), but I'm a little worried about seeing my grandmother again.  Is that bad?  She's changed so much, especially in the 2 years since I last saw her.  But I really feel like I need to go, for whatever reason.  And I learned long ago (though I don't always remember in time!) that when you feel that prompting, it's best to just do it!

So, yes, we are going to FL.

But first, we have circus "camp."  Lil'Nathan and Mary will be taking a few classes in late June and early July.

I finished all my sewing machine sewing--much to Nathan's delight.  When I do a sewing machine marathon, I spend a few weeks cutting things out and a few more weeks sewing.  (This could, in theory, all be done in a day or two, but there are an astounding number of people in this house who think they need to eat several times a day, thus requiring my attention, and more importantly, my kitchen table.)  While these weeks slip by, the sewing machine sits in a corner of the kitchen next to a laundry basket (or big Rubbermaid tub) which tends to collect things.  My last set of projects ran from September until early February.  This one started about three weeks ago.  But, now it is done.  All the kids have new summer jammies, I have a new skirt, all the kitchen chairs have new covers, some repairs were completed, and some new projects were cut, planned, and put away for later.  Though I did want to start some machine quilting, I'm a little tired of my sewing machine right now.  (And Nathan was thrilled to have all of that extra clutter out of the kitchen.)

I'm ready for hand sewing.  Think counted cross stitch.  It felt wonderful to go through my sewing bag and put away all the knitting needles and different yarns.  I sorted through my "stash" and found some ccs projects for Christmas presents and bought a birth announcement for Charlie.  Now, if those darn kids didn't need to eat so much, I might get a chance to get started!