That’s the name of the game these days!

I mentioned that Jesse was out for spring break last week. What I didn’t mention (because, you know, of all those cyber-stalkers lurking about to find an empty home to burgle. 🙄 🙂 ) was that we went out of town for a few days.

We were in the Knoxville, TN area. It is beautiful country up there. Rolling hills, little streams and rivers, acres of pasture, etc. We passed so many valleys nestling little cottages or farms that Jeremy speculated that the Tennessee Department of Tourism put them there to look idyllic. 🙂 I imagine it is even more lovely in the fall when all those hills are covered with autumn color.

At one point I was admiring the bluish mountain range in the distance and wondered what they were called, and Jeremy said, “Probably the Blue Ridge Mountains.” Yep, I guess that would be them!

(Photo courtesy of Ken Thomas)

We met up with an aunt and uncle of mine that we haven’t seen in years, but we were able to plunge right in as if it had been only a few days. They took us to the Flatwater Grill for dinner one night, a lovely restaurant right on a lake. The whole outer wall is windows, so you have a view of the water, trees, etc. The food was wonderful, too!

We were trying to decide what fun thing to do on Saturday — Dollywood, Gatlinburg, and other attractions were within an hour’s drive — but the guys all decided what they’d really love to do is go to the Apple store. 🙂 We don’t have one in our area, and the iPad was due out that day. So that’s where we went. There was a definite air of excitement, even though I’m not so much into the latest techno-gadgets! They enjoyed experimenting with one. I would have looked around the mall more, but it was uncomfortably noisy all over. Later in the afternoon Jim and I explored a street full of antique shops. I spied one little book by Henry Drummond called The Greatest Thing in the World. I had heard of both author and book, and the inscription in the front was signed by a Barbara! So I got that.

We did enjoy a beautiful Easter service at a church we visited in the area. The pastor there knows our pastor and has spoken at our church, so it was a little like visiting an acquaintance rather than walking into a totally new situation.

We were sad that Jason and Mittu weren’t able to go with us, but they checked in with Grandma, took care of the dog, got the mail, etc. for us, and I noticed that they did some vacuuming and folded a load of laundry left in the dryer, so that was wonderful. We had lamented that we wouldn’t get back until Easter evening and so would miss our usual Easter festivities, but when we got home, Mittu had set the table with fresh spring flowers and little Easter treats, and then she and Jason brought over a ham dinner with all the accouterments. It’s so nice to have such a sweet and thoughtful daughter-in-law! (And son, too. 😀 )

I may make the resurrection rolls next week since some missed them — after all, we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday, right?

Yesterday was spent not getting everything done that I had planned to, but making a dent in all those after-vacation tasks, like laundry, a trip to the grocery store, going through mail, etc. After this morning I think I’ll be pretty well back to “normal” — whatever that is. 🙂 I think I do foresee a nap in the near future, though!