rainy days and mondays

woke up to the rumblings of thunder…
always makes me want to pull the covers up under my chin and snuggle in for a bit longer.
but boy wonder is out the door by 7:15 and i hate for him to go without a little mothering. plus it gets my day going.
love the rain. we need it so bad.
the dogs are not nearly as enamored by the rain… and it's such a foreign concept for them since it hasn't rained here in forever. tinkletime took some extra cheerleading this morning.
so much going on. and here i am blogging.
laugh.
it's been a week since i returned from my trip to WI to visit my family.

i love my brother's house. it's the cutest.

perfect front porch.

the graduate and me.

my sister and her husband. they were my main hosts.

siblings. horrifying to see that i'm in serious need of a diet. {and a breast reduction. sigh}

oldest brother and his wife.

my brother, his wife and their son {a.k.a. "the graduate"}

the fam. there was a contest for the back row. i lost. repeatedly.

for the most part, it was relaxing and enjoyable catching up with everyone and celebrating my nephew's graduation. in september, he's off to college. he's the caboose of the grandchildren and it' so awesome to see he and the last four grandkids in college. for a family that doesn't have a legacy of college degrees behind it… how cool is it that these guys are changing all of that? we have two juniors, one sophomore and two freshman…and a great-grandchild is a senior. 

in the land of assisted living, she's got some awesome diggs.

went by to visit my eighty year old aunt who has alzheimers. it was so great seeing her, but sad to see her decline. it was like a bad episode of groundhog day… we answered the same series of questions every 3 minutes. but she did know, after we told her how we fit into the family tree, who we were. she's still in there… just keeps asking the same questions. she's in good spirits, is complementary of the facility that she has to be reminded that she lives in, and still has the same sense of humor. 

but alzheimers? pretty much stinks. i'm sure there are a host of illnesses that would make the most sucks to get list… i'm thinking alzheimers would make that list hands down.

my last night there, i took a small road trip to meet a blog friend. it sounds so sketch to say you're off to drive for two hours to meet someone you've never met in person. someone you met through the internet. so sketch.

but it was fun. and actually, i got a two-for-one as i met another friend that my friend introduced me to… on the internet. 

i'm so glad i made the effort to go. ellen was celebrating her son's college graduation and bon voyage off to grad school {LSU—hence the purple and yellow balloons}. it was great to hug in person, meet and actually hear the voice i had been reading for the past… year? we couldn't even remember when we first started reading each other's blogs. and i loved being able to hug sarah. i've promised that for months. she's a freshman in college, emancipated from her family by about three-four (ish) years, and is battling leukemia. on. her. own. {with much support and encouragement from friends… but still}.

ellen, sarah & me, taken by the wonderful graduate. 

and now i'm home. swamped in work. so if i don't see you for awhile… i'm here. working. and south beach dieting.

pictures don't add ten pounds… a home office does. :-P and then some. 

sigh.

oh well, back to work!
{for the record… i don't care for the way blogger works with photos. hate the awkward spacing.}