SISTER TIME

Beep and I may be on the same continent these days, and only four hours apart, but we haven't seen each other since she came up in October because life gets busy. We just remedied that with 48 hours together. I took a quick picture with the other Ws on Sunday morning, then they headed north to church and I went south to my sister's.

My trip was primarily for some sister time, but I'd mentioned on Facebook earlier in the week that I'd be available for lunch if any friends could get together. We ended up with five members of my extended family and three friends around the table at Common Block Brewing Company for lots of catching up on life and eating a tasty meal. I'd unexpectedly run into Katy back in August for the first time in 13 years, but hadn't seen Gina since crossing paths at a Toby Mac concert three years ago or Amy since our last marshmallow gun war seven summers ago. As for family, I hadn't seen Ashley since our pre-retirement trip a year ago or Daisy, Ally, and Neo since July.

Later that evening we had some family time at Beep's. Dad, Debra, and Ashley all came over for dinner, so we had another round of conversation, laughter, and good food. I hadn't seen Dad since July or Debra since the pre-retirement trip last spring, so we were due for a visit!

Monday found us in Ashland to check out the Schneider Museum of Art. First, though, we grabbed a delicious bite to eat at Cafe 116. Since we were right across the alley from Paddington Station, one of our favorite stores and a place I've shopped at for almost 25 years, we popped in to check things out. Love that place!

I didn't end up buying anything, but left with this sweet gift, which is now on display in my room.

Play time was over and we shifted gears to a project Beep had asked me to help before I came down.
We spent the afternoon organizing her studio and coming up with a new way to keep track of supplies, which I, of course, thoroughly enjoyed. Then I did some dinner prep while she worked on cutting a mat for a painting she'd given me as a birthday gift last June. I loved watching her work in her little creative space.

And I really love that this painting is now in a frame in my living room!

We spent a chunk of time on Tuesday morning talking about life, then went out for brunch at Punky's Diner & Pies before I headed back to my family. The snow storm that had shut down the freeway on Monday was cleaned up enough by Tuesday afternoon that my drive home was uneventful and I walked in my front door to this greeting from Naomi and Tyler.

I'm really thankful for this season of being able to spend time with my sister and that the logistics worked out for this little break from real life.

Photo credit: The extended family picture is from Beep.