We traveled to KC this past weekend to attend Paige's inducton into William Jewel's chapter of the freshman honors society, Alpha Lambda Delta. She's been back at school for six weeks now, and it was great to make the trip up to visit her. The only downside was that Jace and Neil didn't get to go with us, since Jace had a baseball game and time with his dad over the weekend, and Neil had a football game (and dogsitting duties, now that he's driving- very helpful for us!).

Dave and I gave Paige a guitar as a "congratulations" present, and she couldn't have been more surprised. She started learning how to play last year after having several friends who played, and she borrowed my guitar over the summer while she was home. But Dave wanted her to have her own guitar at school, instead of borrowing friends', and it was a perfect gift for her! I was impressed at all that she already knows, from her friends helping her AND her looking up chords/songs on YouTube - pretty impressive!

We stayed the weekend at Garry and Heather's house, but didn't get to enjoy their company, as they were celebrating Heather's 40th in Las Vegas! But we did hang with their 16 year old, Christian, who joined the three of us for dinner at an Irish pub on Friday night, and Cold Stone Creamery afterwards. There was no shortage of calories over the weekend, unfortuately - but it was loads of fun!

After spending a couple of great days with Paige and some KC friends, things got a little crazy on the way home. As we headed home on Sunday we got a call from Dave's stepmom; his dad had a balloon procedure last week to clear out some heart blockages, and was having complications that the doctors couldn't quite figure out. So Dave made the decision on Monday to head to Boston on Tues AM to be there with his dad for a few days. The report as of today is great, his dad is home from the hospital and feeling much better. I was on the road as well on Tuesday and Wednesday, heading to Poplar Bluff for my great aunt's funeral. She had been ill for sometime, and I was glad that some of our family was able to make the trip and be there for our grandmother.

My allergies, in particular sinuses (and ears) have continued to be the worst I've ever experienced - I have heard the same from many others this year, it must be a particularly bad year for pollens. Poplar Bluff is about three hours east of us, and just slightly south, but it must have been just enough of a change to trigger additional symptoms for me. My eyes watered non-stop while I was there, but it has gradually subsided now that I've been back home for 24 hours. I'll be glad when we get the first frost of the season, hopefully that will mean a big improvement in sinus symptoms.

Off to bed, ready for a good night's sleep.