Travel, Travel, Travel

Oh Hi! 

How have you all been doing? Clearly I've been absent, as I've had to travel for work the past two weeks. Last week was a planned trip to Atlanta (which meant flying), but the week before was an unexpected trip to my corporate headquarters in Chicago. 

If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you will know that I don't travel well. Flying makes my anxiety go off the charts. In fact, just sitting here thinking about it freaks me out. Typically I'm OK once I get in my seat and see who's next to me, but up until then I will be a wreck. 

The bonus of my surprise trip was that I didn't have to fly (YES) and I didn't have to drive. So on the way into the city, I actually got a few pictures. I can't tell you how many times I've been to Chicago now, and I don't think I've ever taken a picture of the skyline. 

As you can see, it wasn't the greatest weather.

The trip to Atlanta went as well as can be expected. I freaked out before the flight, got on the flight, and then worried about the flight home for the next three days. Good news is that once the plane takes off I'm able to settle myself down fairly quickly. This is a HUGE change from last year. I flew last June and sweat bullets the entire 45 min flight. I remember thinking to myself I was going to die every second I was on that plane. So the fact that I'm only freaking out until the plane takes off is great. Maybe one day I won't be nervous to fly at all (maybe). 

This past weekend I was at my parents the entire time for several family events. First, we did a memorial service to place my Grandma and Aunt's ashes in a vault. It was hard bringing up all of the feelings again, but it was nice to remember them too. I shared my favorite memory of my Grandma:

I was terrified of dogs when I was little (I was involved in a dog attack). My grandparents always had a minimum of three big dogs, and upon arrival, they would bark and bark and jump around like hyenas. The absolute worst part of going to my grandparents for me was getting in the front door. But my grandma would always scoop me up and put me on top of the big chest freezer until the dogs calmed down. And then, once everyone had left the room, she would take me down and let me choose a treat from the freezer. The freezer was HUGE and seriously looked like the ice cream aisle at the grocery store. Anything ice cream related was in there, and I always got to choose whatever I wanted. In my little kid mind, this was the best thing in the entire world. 

Immediately following the memorial service, we headed to my dad's side of the family for a birthday party for my Grandpa. He turned 85 on Saturday and we all got together for a typical Jones celebration - lots of drinking and eating. 

I made a scrapbook of all of the Family Weekend Snowmobile trips that started in the late 80's.

He also got a "walking stick" that is about 7 foot tall. I guess he has been refusing to use a cane, so my uncle figured this was a little more dignified. Unfortunately, it's very clear that he needs something to help him with his balance lately. It's really hard watching my Grandpa get old - he was the man that rode the jet skis just 4 years ago. But luckily for us, he is still great at his favorite activity - drinking. And with that comes the good stories. The memories of me visiting and having a few drinks with a lot of stories and laughter will be with me forever. 

Typical picture of my dad. His eyes are ALWAYS closed.

I didn't get back to my house until Sunday evening, and as always, there are about 200 things waiting to be done. But that should conclude my travels for the summer, and I plan on getting all aspects of my life back on track this week and next. That means better eating, swimming after work, blogging regularly, keeping up on housework, and trying to enjoy some of my summer. As for now, I think I'll get all of the inside chores done tonight. While the grass is extremely long, it's raining once again. It has been like Florida here - raining every day. No wonder the grass always needs cut! 

What have you all been up to?