The fastest week of the year

My five days off are almost over. I wish there was some way to slow down time when you're on vacation. This week has gone by like Amtrack.

It's been a nice break, although it seems like I did a whole lot of work. I was behind on getting gifts ready for GB's birthday, so I spent the first couple of days doing that. I made him a photo collage of our pets to hang at his work. I also got him a new warm hoodie (his old one was worn out!). For his main gift I dropped off a painting for custom framing that we have been meaning to frame and hang for years. Unfortunately, I didn't realise it would take 3 weeks to get it back! So the gift I'm most excited about won't be here until the day after Thanksgiving. I was so disappointed! But my dear husband will just get a very belated birthday present--he didn't want to know what it was. He said another surprise will be welcome at the end of the month!

We went up to Raleigh, NC on Tuesday to see his mom, stepfather, sister, niece, and nephew. His sister and her kids just moved back to Raleigh from Virginia. We had not seen them in a couple of years, and I couldn't believe how much the kids have changed in that amount of time. The girl is nearly 16, and the boy will be 18 in March. All of a sudden (or so it seems to me) they went from looking like kids to looking like young adults. It made me feel odd, and I sometimes didn't know what to say to them. (I'm pretty sure they felt the same way!) It was good to see them again,though, and my dear sister in law too. It ended up feeling like a long day, with an almost 3 hour drive on each end of it, but we're glad we went.

Yesterday, for GB's birthday dinner I made something we never have--homemade fried chicken! It was so good! I also made mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it...mmm! For dessert, we had homemade pineapple upside down cake, made from a 1940s recipe I found in an old cookbook. It is a moist, yummy cake! Here is a picture:

It was/is truly yummy! I will be glad to share the recipe if anyone is interested!

Well, I'm off to heat up some leftovers for tonight's dinner. We're going to watch a movie and then it will be time to go to bed and get ready for my return to work tomorrow. Ugh! Why do vacations go by so darn fast?