Just got back from a great little trip back to Missouri, home of my entire family and the best ice cream ever (Central Dairy). Lucky for me, I fit in a lot of both in the few days I was there. I couldn't believe how green everything was so early in the year! The pic above is from a spot just down the street from my house. I went for a jog and had to sneak in this view of the Missouri River. I think my dad said, "wow this is early May not late March!" about 100 times. This trip seemed to fly by especially fast, but I did get to squeeze in a few visits with some really special people. My dear friend Cody and I had AWESOME Greek food at Momos, in STL. Cheese on fire, spanakopita, gyros with blackened grouper...yes, please! The belly dancer was also an entertaining addition to the conversations that could have gone for hours. The long talks with friends and family have such a restorative quality and couldn't have come at a better time. Even now I get a sense of calm when I think back to the time on our back deck with BBQ chicken, Woodchuck cider and stimulating conversations a plenty. As usual, my parents managed to put me to work while I was there, cleaning out a shed. We made the trip to mid-Missouri to my grandparents' farm way out in the country. My grandfather died in October and it's been a long and emotional process to settle the estate. I so admire my aunt Bridget (not the dog), for caring for him the last decade and handling the last six months with grace. She also gave me a box of Thin Mints to take home so I will be forever indebted. :-D My older brother, Adam, and I managed to squeeze in a quick fishing trip. I continued my unsuccessful streak (definitely did not inherit that from my mom) but of course Ad caught a cute little bluegill. We drove to Columbia to meet up with sister Meg for dinner at Addisons-- a great way to cap off the trip! Actually the craziness wasn't completely over yet...the aiport shuttle picked me up at 4:30 Friday morning (someday I will actually get to visit on a weekend), and about 15 minutes into the trip to St. Louis, a two hour ride, I realized that my wallet was still in my sister's purse. UGH. Huge thanks to magnificent Meg for driving all the way to the airport when you no doubt had at least a dozen things on your to-do list ahead of 'waste four hours'. Two of my favorite ladies! My wonderful mom (and BBQ master!) on the left and cute Bridget the black dog on the right.
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