13 Days and Counting

In exactly thirteen days, I will go (along with my love) to pick up my parents from their long flight into town. I haven't seen them since we said good-bye in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel. I ate at Cracker Barrel for the first time in roughly six months yesterday. Maybe that's my small way of readying myself. Either way, I am very ready to see them again.

Today is my first Memorial Day away from family. I hardly know what to do with myself, for there is no one to let me know that I need to help with some project or help get ready for a picnic. All I know is that today is another day I do not have to work, and therefore I am thankful. Is absolutely everything closed on Memorial Day? Some things MUST stay open. Funeral homes. Ice cream shops. Parks. Those things have to be open. And hopefully Rafael's down in Soddy. They have THE best Italian food this side of the Atlantic.

I should probably go ahead and get my day stared. Oh, funny story: that bird house I mentioned? It was supposed to be enough wood for two, but we need to reuse different pieces so many times that we could only make one. While Taylor and I were driving past Lowe's, looking at numerous weekend warriors of home improvement, he asked, "Why don't we have a Memorial Day project?"
"We made birdhouses! That was project enough for us! We can just say we built a house!"

Have a good Memorial Day; thank you, veterans.