254:365

Today I was feeling a bit giddy. See.... I had woken up early to take my mom to her church services, and knew that I had a couple hours to myself. WoOt!!!

And so.... I made some coffee.. and settled in for a good hour or so of reading some of my favorite blog writers. I then decided... that I could take advantage of the quiet, and take a nap. And so... I let Sabrina out to run around the yard, and prepared myself to settle in to some super fine quilts. I let her in and she raced to the bed... happy and ready to nap. I crawled in... and started sneezing. Then I started wheezing. Then my eyes started to burn...

and I realized that there was something fowl in the air.

You see... there has been lots of construction in this neighborhood, as they are repairing one bridge, and removing another -- at opposite ends of this street. Apparently, Sabrina had found a nice smelly puddle of creosote or some such fowl smelling liquid... and brought it home with her.

So... after several puppy scrubbings... and several loads of laundry

... I gave up on the whole notion of a nap.

Instead... my mother, Sabrina and I went for a drive in the country. We saw gorgeous fields of corn, cows... and then we saw an entire field of sunflowers!!!

For a photographer... this is pretty much as close to nirvana as you can get.

We had a great time... and here are some photos from the day...

*photos by Elaine A. Russell

70:365

-----------------------------------------------photo by Elaine A. Russell

Today we woke up and left the hotel around 9:30. We drove until lunchtime... and stopped at a Waffle House in Indiana. Those of you who know me... know I love diners. I know the food isn't the best for you... I know the music is generally awful.... I know they are usually all sorts of tacky.... but I just love 'em. There was a park nearby, and Sabrina was so happy to see actual grass... she ran around and ran around and rolled in it; smiling and panting the whole time.

We made several short stops today... but basically concentrated on driving and getting as far as we could. Surprisingly, there is very little snow about. I remember it usually having tons of snow still in March... so it really surprised me.

We saw tons of police en force on the highways.... really. Not sure why. ... but things were pretty uneventful. Kristin did have a relatively close encounter with a groundhog... she even got a photo of him... which was pretty cool.

Had my last Starbucks around dinnertime... figured it was the last one I was going to be near for awhile. It was good ♥

Made it to the backwoods of PA... about 2hrs from our destination when I got a call from a friend of my parents to call my mom "immediately." So I pulled off and called. Turns out my dad has had a turn for the worse. This am; they had told my mom that he was going to be transferred tomorrow to our local nursing home for rehab... and that he would be leaving by ambulance tomorrow.. and that I would need to come and get her in Geisinger. Well. Apparently he is not doing well...and that is all on hold for now. I am anticipating driving the 3hrs to the hospital tomorrow sometime to be there.... but my mom told me to just stay put for now.

So... At this moment I am at my parent's house in PA... doing laundry... and unpacking.

I have a "1 bar" connection here.... so ... internet is sometimes fleeting...but I will post when I can.