Home Leave

    

      I may be out of practice blogging, but I have some thougths and some stories rolling around in my head I think you might enjoy.  Since I last blogged, I have been to the US on home leave and had a wonderful time visiting friends and family all across the US, from California to Chicago and Phoenix, Tulsa, Grove, and KC in between!  As the days grew closer to my departure to the US, I felt like Dorothy must have felt as she clicked her sparkling jeweled heels together, repeating, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.”  There truly is no place like home!*

     It was great being back home!  We had wonderful beds to sleep in and 
     great food, and a refreshing time of fellowship.  We relaxed, we visited, 
     we shopped and went to Dr. appointments.

     I learned a few things on our first home leave:

     1.  Going to three doctors appointments in one day is so efficient!

     2.  The shopping is not finished until one boards the plane (in Germany)

     3.  Shopping for something in particular is still as frustrating as always.

     4.  The food I chose to eat was sooooo gooood...and fattening! I gained 
          10 # while I was on home leave! 

     5.  The time I planned at each stop along our route was not long
           enough.

     6.  Most people don’t want to look at photos, or hear stories they can’t  
          relate to, and they really,  really, don’t want a plastic snow globe 
          pyramid  with golden glitter and the statue of Ramses in it! 

My first week home was spent with Mom and Dad in Kansas City. Most of the time I had jet lag- I think I was a little like Dorothy, waking up and wondering where she was and what had happened to her! Getting up at 3 in the morning, I entertained myself by making cards in Mom’s well-equipped craft room until she came downstairs in search of coffee!  We went out to the family farm in Council Grove and had a great lunch at the Hays House Restaurant.  We caught the tail end of summer sales and did a redecorating of Mom and Dad's living room!  Fun!

In Oklahoma, I went by Fiddler’s Bend where the Flint Creek and the Illinois River come together and picked up my dear friend, Connie. We road-tripped it over to Eureka Springs for a peaceful, relaxing  and  encouraging time with each other. We stayed at a cute boarding house/B & B, reminiscent of the Wagoner house in that it was all Victorian/antique decor.  From our balcony overlooking the Ozark Mountains, we could see the Christ of the Ozark statue! We meandered through the streets stopping at shops along the way. Eureka Springs was built around several springs so there were places to stop and enjoy the parks around them as well!

One of Eureka's Springs

Me and Connie

Humpty Dumpty Before the fall!

Christ of the Ozarks from our balcony

One of our favorite places: Connie and I wrapped up a great visit toodle-ing around Fiddlers' Bend in her golf cart!

Fiddler's Bend

*As I was  writing this post I was reminded of a song by Albert Brumley. While I love being with family and friends, and I call Kansas/Oklahoma home,  I know my  true home is heavenly!


This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.