Whirlwind

It's really been a bit of a whirlwind week, driving, vacationing, birthdaying, etc.

I picked up my cousin M.F. on Friday night and brought her to the apt. long enough to show her around, then leave her Saturday. She came to town to work on a project, sort of. I think she really came to town to get out of our small hometown.

Then zip I headed off to MyFella's to begin the week. Sunday morning we popped up early and hit the road to Pigeon Forge. We discovered that we vacation well together. We both like and dislike similar things. We'll gladly pay to go into a theme park and spend the day happily walking through exhibits, museums, shows, etc. And we'll gladly go to a dinner show and watch the trick riders.

But tourist shopping? We'll pass. Gatlinburg was a bit of a bust for us. Just row after row of touristy shopps with a few places in between to pay and go in and see. . . whatever.

Late one night we did a wee bit of touristy shopping to pick up a souvenir t-shirt for Jamie, and we're both a sucker for a book store anywhere, anytime. But we wanted to go see, go do, not go shop. So all that tourist shop-crap just wasn't our thing.

Did I mention the people up there were super friendly?

Back in town yesterday to go to a friend's house. A friend of mine died, a beautiful lady we'll call D. She was 70, and her suffered through illness the last few months that included a fast spiral into Alzheimer's and a horrible weakening of her body. I haven't asked the particulars, but I think she died with her daughter and grandson near her. So I made it to the house yesterday afternoon to spend a little time with them. The visitation is tonight, and I've offered to pick up a few inbound relatives at the airport. Funeral is tomorrow. She's going into one of those wall-mausoleums. I said it sounded very classy and very "like D." She said she had thought so too when the idea came up.

Last night to the fair, and not one decent photo op out of it. J&K picked us up, and even treated us to tix! K blew her recent uber-healthy organic diet by feasting on every fair food item she could see. Spiral potato chips, pineapple whip, pronto pup, roasted corn, chicken tenders, chicken on a stick (which is different from the honey roasted chicken tenders). About the only thing we somehow skipped was a funnel cake.

If M.F. would wake on up, I'd treat us to some Wiles-Smith for breakfast. But if not, I can probably do it tomorrow. I've got lunch with two of my all-time faves at 11:30 downtown to celebrate my birthday!

Sunday I'm going home for the family supper we missed last weekend. I've got to think of something to buy my brother for his birthday. Wow. By the time Monday comes, I'm going to need some time off just to relax from my vacation!