Home is where the addition is

The day after the wedding, we drove to Pennsylvania where we spent a week with my Aunt Kathleen. My mom and Aunt K had a high time gossping, reminiscing, arguing, laughing, telling stories. There were 10 Casey siblings at one time, now only 3, with one in California. So it was a real treat for mom to reconnect with Aunt K. I'm amazed by how much they remember from their childhoods. Mom says the reason I remember so little from my young life is because we moved around a lot. I also don't have a sister with whom to keep memories alive. I have a sister, but we don't speak, so it's as if I don't.  

My week went like this:

Monday: breakfast with church friend Judy, lunch with a group of former co-workers at  Vanguard, followed by a visit to my old chiropractor.

Tuesday: breakfast with church friend Dee, then visited my old church and met the new minister. In the evening I went into Philly for dinner with cousin Phil and his wife Laura.

Wednesday: Went for a run in a forest and tripped on a rock, getting a black eye and bruised shoulder. Visited my former therapist's widow, Ron, and caught up on his life without the amazing Mariah. Had lunch with Julianna, my ESL student. Wednesday night my steering committee met (I've been working on and off during the past few days).

Thursday: Wrote up the mintues from last night's meeting. Did a few errands for Aunt K. then went to see my chiropractor for treatment rather than a social call. I banged my head on the ground pretty hard. In the evening Aunt K. had a dinner party at which cousins Bill, Maura, and Casey joined us. I took photos of Aunt K's lovely house (she's a very successful decorator) but I am sharing them only with my mom as I didn't ask Aunt K. for permission to use them.

Friday: We visited my old house in Chester Springs before driving back to the Dulles Marriott, where we would spend the night. The couple that bought it have spent a fortune doing it up.

The main difference here is the shutters. There were shutters in the garage but I never hung them. In the photo below you can see the addition on the back.  

This required moving a lot of earth as there had been a steep bank almost immediately behind the house. I can see where the addition and the porch make the house more livable for someone with a 5-year-old. But as I told mom, I didn't need any more space when I lived there.

One of the things I had been dreading about this trip was driving I-95 from Dulles to Philly and back again. As it turned out, I took Rt. 15 from Leesburg to Philly and liked it so much I took it back to Dulles. It's a beautiful drive and stress-free.

Oct. 6-11