My Triumphant Return

Since returning from Venezuela, I have literally hit the ground running. I flew back on Thursday, and began the shopping spree on my way home. I ran into Marshall's and found new 610 count Egyptian Cotton sheets that were screaming that they wanted a new home on my bed in Caracas, the cutest pillow for Katherine's new room (it became the idea piece from which I chose everything else for the room), and a bath mat for Madeline's new bathroom. These "gifts" were my souvenirs from my trip - as I am entirely too frugal to buy the overpriced goods in Caracas to bring home.

Friday, the first annual Mother's Day luncheon was launched. We met at the Pelican Club for a beautiful celebration with our Mothers and one Mother-in-law. It was amazing to see such incredible women, who had produced such beautiful, amazing, and intelligent women who I am so proud to call my friends. Pictured here Heidi, Stephanie, Le, Me, Amy, Mary Beth and the women who are so special in our lives.

The very next night, an impromptu barbecue and swim party erupted at my house. The usual suspects were there. Rick Gaido remains the most under celebrated chef on the face of the earth. What a beautiful meal he whipped up to feed 15 of his closest friends (and Kevin's brother Wumps). Seriously, the man can cook. The grilled snapper with lump crab meat was to die for. Also in this picture is Heidi. She forgot her prosthesis for the evening. MB, love the shoulder baring.

FYI, Chris has developed quite a tequila collection over the years. Sadly for us, we can not take it with us due to shipping issues. Chris and I had decided to "donate" our collection to friends - in exchange for promises of stories of why the tequila was shared and by whom. With Chris still in Venezuela, I invited the guys at the barbecue to go ahead, pick out a bottle, and get started. They chose the Milagro Reposado - with the cool hand blown Agave Cactus in the middle. They finished it. The five of them. In style. Nothing like smooth tequila. Darren felt so good the next morning he got up and ran 4 miles with Heidi.

After a busy week, we headed out past LaGrange for the annual Alta Vista camping trip. God bless my husband for packing up our tent and supplies and piling them up in a neat pile in the garage for me to just stick in the truck. I pulled the kids out of school early and headed out. We were the first people there and my wonderful friend Lynn was there to help me set up the tent. More people began arriving and suddenly it was tent city. The kids ran and played in the fresh air until dark, then they ran around like crazy with flashlights. Most of the kids went down by 10pm and their stupid parents stayed up until the wee hours of the morning (3 or 4). On Saturday, I loaded up our gear and the kids and headed home around noon. Chris was flying home from Caracas and we could not wait to get home and see him.

Chris and I cleaned out the dining room and living room and started the sorting process to figure out what we were going to store, ship, or give away.... What a process. Every single thing I own in the world has to go into one of three piles. Of the things I am shipping I have to decide what goes on the plane with us in the luggage, what goes in the Air Shipment (a 5x5x5 box which takes a few weeks to get there), and what goes into the Sea Shipment - unlimited, but one time only and may take months to get there.

In this flurry of organization and inventory, it is hard to remember to breathe!

More to come.