Back from a family visit

I traded my walking time last weekend for a spontaneous trip to CT to visit my daughter and her family - well, mostly my grandson. He will turn 3 in September and I know that before long he will be turning 13! To make this trip I first rode by car with some friends who were going to Long Island to visit their daughter. They dropped me at the train station after 9 hours of travel by car and I only had 5 minutes to spare to make the train to the ferry terminal. When I got off the train, I needed to take a taxi to the ferry and there wasn't one available so I phoned for one to pick me up. I arrived at the ferry with only minutes to spare before the trip across the sound. My daughter picked me up within a few minutes and we then drove about 45 minutes to get to her house. When I finally arrived after 13 hours of travel, my grandson spotted me and ran into my arms and lavished me with hugs and kisses. I could have turned right around at that moment and still have thought that the short trip was worthwhile.

Meanwhile at home, Kay Jewelers is operating out of their new storefront and it looks great. The design and lighting are stunning and the entire store seems to have a golden glow. Even the saleswomen have golden hair. I tried on some clothes in JC Penney and was thankful for the fan that was running in the dressing room. It really helped.

Since I had lots of appointments this week I didn't get to walk as much as I would have liked, but I hope to catch up this weekend.

I wish all of you a great Labor Day to do the things that you enjoy (hopefully without labor!)

Summer Celebrations

It seems that celebrations of events make time fly by. I'll bet that those competing in the Olympic Games would agree. Earlier this month we celebrated my mother-in-law's 90th birthday, which is actually tomorrow. About 50 family members and friends gathered in her honor. I was most proud of our daughter who flew with our 2-year-old grandson from CT to here and then drove with us 5 hours across West Virginia to visit for her Granny's special day. Of course, the airfare from CT directly to Roanoke was unreasonable and so we opted for an affordable fare to Raleigh which meant an extra 6 hours of driving. We had a great, albeit short visit. We are now in the midst of plans for my Dad's 90th birthday in November and it almost seems like time is running short.

On the mall scene, last week I walked at Tanglewood. I got back to my car and thought about something I wanted to buy at A.C. Moore. As I started walking toward the store, the skies grew dark and the drops started to fall. I ran back to the car and decided to wait for the rain to stop as I didn't want to try and manage the large item I intended to buy along with holding an umbrella. Then I heard a tapping on my car window and turned to see a woman standing there with her umbrella and asking me if I would like to walk with her into the mall so I wouldn't get soaked. This is why I love Roanoke. Take note rude bicyclers!

More changes are in the works at Tanglewood. Accent flags have been hung from many of the columns. Nice touch. The new exterior and signs are now visible for Kay Jewelers and I hear that they will be operating out of their new digs on Monday. Now if they can just improve the occupancy level in the rest of the mall...