On Vacation!

Vacations go too fast.  One week is already gone, one more to go.  Which is short, but better than no more time off.

So I immediately gassed up the RV & drove 4 hrs. to my brother's in Pa.  I think it's been 10 years since I last visited because the cigarette smoking drove me nuts.  Well, glad I got over that- I was just glad to see him!

I was also glad to see that his wife's MS hasn't progressed too badly, altho' she might disagree, she uses a walker for balance to get around the house. 

They live very sparsely because they don't earn much money.  They both make exquisite glass beads that are amazingly beautiful & they sell them on EBay.  And Alan does carpentry & handyman jobs for people. 

Annie's oldest son & his wife are moving in with them taking the upstairs floor & that should help with their mortgage.  They seem to be okay with that, my Lord you all KNOW I'd be dying.  I would HATE not being able to walk around nude or having to close the bathroom door just to pee.  Anyway, they are cheerful, loving & open about it - which shows they are much kinder people than me!

I really enjoyed talking with Annie, we never had gotten on that well before as she was very young when they got married, & I still loved the 3rd (ex)wife.  They have now lasted 12 years & she is in her mid forties  & much more interesting (my brother is almost 59).  She gave me the most exquisite bead she made that I had admired, it is about 2 inches long & has 2 purple iris against a pink & green swirley background.  Beautiful! and generous.  I've been wearing it around my neck ever since.  If anybody is interested in some slammin' glass beads, you could probably look on EBay under ABartglass.  I don't know how to put a link up here.

Incedentally, I froze my ass off sleeping in that RV under a full moon that crisp April night in Pa.  Drove home later the next day!  Alan had come home from his job to cook a hearty lunch before I left.  He cooks all the meals for Annie & washes the dishes immediately afterward!  The night I arrived he'd made some delicious spaghetti & meat sauce for me (a favorite from our childhood) which I gobbled up!  Afterward he told me it was made with Deer meat.  OhGOD!  I ate a Bambi & felt guilty...  (This from someone who was a vegetarian for Decades.)  shish.

Alan & Annie don't have a TV & don't want one.  (I would surely DIE.)  They read to each other & have meaningful conversations, rent movie videos & are into their Baha'I' faith.  It's a simple life out there in the Pa. farm & Amish country & they seem truly happy!

As for me, I was happy to get back to the comfort of my own home.  Ain't no place like your own!