What we did on our Spring Break vacation...

3/10/2018: We are getting anxious and want to start packing, but it's way too early for that. We're sending a message to our cat sitter/house cleaner to make sure she remembers and to give her second-to-the-last-minute instructions as we speak. She says she'll be here with bells on. It's too bad we won't be here to see THAT.

The reason I didn't mention our trip earlier is so I won't alert any creeps that we're on vacation. We'll be gone for a week, and we don't want anyone moving in while we're gone.

3/16/2018: My brother, who was with my mother at the time, called to ask what time we would be in Columbus. Mom thought we were on our way. She got the time confused. (She has dementia.) So sad. So, now my brother knows the time schedule. My other brother had contacted me through Facebook to verify our itinerary so he could make sure the accommodations would be in place for our stay. The retirement community where my mom lives has a place where visiting family members can stay. That's a great amenity!

3/22/2018: Counting down the hours...

Tangy-cat was favoring his right eye, so I felt before we went on vacation we should have it looked at. Dr. Anna said that there was nothing in the eye now and there wasn't an ulcer, he had conjunctivitis. Poor kittie. Since we are going away, and there is no one to give him eye drops, we are boarding him...such an expensive endeavor, but we know he will be cared for, and someone will be able to give him his eye drops. He is a little on the feral side, so a vet tech will be able to deal with it.

Katie just pulled in the driveway, and I should have had dinner started. So, I'll start that, and we will start gathering. Oh...I stopped at Big Lots and got some things for our trip...Wheat Thins and some protein bars. And, just maybe I purchased some "travel food" in the form of $100,000 bars. And, I just might have ordered doughnuts for the road.

Well...time to fold some clothing I want to pack and get dinner in the oven. 

3/23/2018: on the road and on our way at 10 am. We spend the night at our halfway point in Wytheville, VA. We were there early enough to go to the fabric store, Batiks Etcetera & Sew What Fabrics where Katie picked up her mystery quilt package. We also did some shopping...lots of shopping. I got a pile of black and whites and white and blacks for my collection. Katie got some other pretty fabrics.

The fabric for Katie's mystery quilt.

Cats and mice at the library.

Misc. cuts.

Two precut "nickels" (5" squares) and some scraps.

Misc. cuts.

 I collect the black and whites and white and blacks. Some day, I'll use them!!! lol

Fat quarter bundle.

Fat quarter rolls.

Large yardage cuts.

Straight quarter cuts.

Then, we checked into our hotel.

3/24/2018: packed back into the car and had breakfast at Bob Evans, which is next door to the hotel. On the road at 10 am, starting with snow flurries. After we got over/through the next mountain, there was no snow, so we were quite happy that we didn't have to drive in it. We drove for a long time, making the necessary stops. Once we got into Columbus, we stopped to see my daughter at her old house she is fixing up to sell. Her husband, Jerry, was there, too. We talked for a little while, then went toward our destination. We got to my mom's place (Wesley Glen, which is a retirement community that ranges from independent to dependent living care) around 4 pm. She was so happy to see us. We got the key to a rental we could use while we were visiting, and everyone had to come and see what it looked like.

We stayed in the right half, and that door is where we entered.

The front door.

Fireplace and mirror just inside the front door.

The door chime nook.

From sun room looking into the living room.

Arched nook above the TV.

Panorama of the kitchen. Notice the pull-out table in the center. The sun room is in the back there.

The vanity mirror in the tiny bathroom.

The vanity "table" right below the mirror. Couldn't get back far enough to take a photo of it all.

The one half of the sun room with twin bed. The other bedroom wasn't worthy of a photo.

Many of the heat registers were back to back and heated two rooms at once.

 

Two old ceiling light fixtures that were probably original to the house.

My mother lives in the tall building to the left of the tree on the top floor. This tree blocks her view of the front door of the house where we stayed. All of what you see here are various buildings that belong to Wesley Glen, a retirement community that has various levels of care.

This house is a cute little one-bedroom duplex. I assume the room with the twin bed is the sun room. I would have loved to have seen the other side! This house is only available to people visiting someone at Wesley Glen. There is a fee, but I don't know what it was.

Most of the time, we ate at the cafeteria in Wesley Glen. They have a great buffet, but I could have also ordered from a menu. The waitstaff came around for drink, omelet, ice cream, etc. orders and served those items. It seemed like they were always short staffed, so we were patient and enjoyed some conversation.

Saturday evening: Met with mom and her friend Jerry, my brother, Aaron and his wife, Amanda, at Wesley Glen (WG) for dinner. It was so good to see them.

Sunday brunch: Met with mom, her friend, Jerry, and brother, Mitchell, at WG. Went to mom's room to visit and show her and Jerry the blog photos of our library. They enjoyed seeing part of our house. Mitchell was shopping for items mom needed. He is also the one to take her to church every Sunday.

Sunday dinner: Katie and I picked up mom and Jerry to meet Aaron and Amanda at Villa Nova. We waited a long time to be seated, but it's really good, and there's not much in the way of those kinds of restaurants in the neighborhood. Anyway, we finally got seated. Good food. Good family. Good conversation.

People: mom, Aaron, Amanda. Somehow, Villa Nova started collecting copper tea pots. You can see some in the background as well as Mona Lisa's eyes! Amanda was the happy receiver of our leftovers.

After dinner, we dropped off mom and Jerry. Katie and I drove down High Street to see how things have changed, and they sure had. I was overwhelmed by it all. Then, Katie drove over to Grandview. It's where her parents and she had lived. When we were done, we called mom and Jerry down for ice cream at the famous and wonderful Graeter's. My mom enjoys this ice cream so much she had two cones. She could use the weight, too! On our second round, Katie and I shared! Here's mom enjoying her Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip in a waffle cone:

Pay no attention to the ice cream on her lips. She finally used her napkin!

Monday lunch at WG with mom and Jerry.

After lunch, Katie and I ran errands. We found out Simon Says Stamps is a warehouse and not open to the public. Rats! The people at JoAnn's have a huge store and no one cares to help. Rats! Picked up much-needed envelopes to go with our handmade cards. Very helpful! And, picked up some spices at Penzy's. Sweet!

Monday dinner: Dantes pizza. Picked up mom and Jerry to meet brother Mitchell and his family: Niece Erin, her husband, Dorset, and their three children, Erion, Janielle and Catherine (named for my mother). Brother Aaron and Amanda came by motorcycle. We ate pizza until we were stuffed and had some great conversation. No leftovers here!

Tuesday: Brugger's Bagels for their morning sandwiches, coffee for Katie, breakfast cookie dessert, hot chocolate for me with a side of Wi-Fi!!! I needed to whittle away some email that I didn't need to address when I got home. After that, we went to the southwest side of town to see our granddaughter, Baela, to get Katie's hair done. Katie gave Baela carte blanche to do whatever she wanted to do. So, Katie's hair is now reddish/purplish and cut short, which is how she normally wears it. 

By the time we were done, it was time to grab some White Castles and meet my daughter, Jawnna, at her house so we could go to the thrift store. 

Here are the goodies we found:

Rubbermaid containers and toothpicks, the latter going to school with Katie.

Pet watering fountain. The cats will love it. They are expensive at the regular store.

Books.

Afterwards, we had a brownie that my granddaughter, Nicole, made with some milk. Grandson, Mason, and Katie colored while we all talked. Mason's little tongue moved around and around while he colored. So funny!

After awhile, Jawnna gave us a taste of blackberry and apple blossom honeys. Tasty!

We talked ourselves out, then went to the rental, watched mindless TV and went to bed.

Wednesday: Today was the day to meet Aaron and Amanda at a restaurant in Mechanicsburg called Mixin's and Fixin's. This is on the way to A and A's property and their tire house out in Cable, OH. The house is really coming along. Aaron is doing most of the work himself. Sometimes when he needs help, he calls Mitchell. At other times, it is work that requires professionals with big machines, but I think that's all over. Aaron is working on the inside now. He's working on a hearth, which is a passive heating system. It's amazing all that he and his wife have accomplished. 

When we got back to the rental, we started gathering stuffs and putting things we didn't need into the car so we wouldn't have to pack it the next morning.

We met mom and Jerry in the cafeteria. After dinner, we made the trek back to Graeter's. There were kids screaming and running amok. Their parents let them do it. They were touching everything and running around the store. So, we had to endure that if we wanted ice cream. They left shortly before we were finished. That wasn't any fun at all!

Thursday: Met mom and Jerry at Bob Evans for breakfast after we packed the car and turned in the key. 

To be continued next week, because I'm too bushed to go on. Vacation does that to me! lol

Showing off with:
Share Your Cup #287 

From meeting and eating to walking and talking ...and everything in between...