We are driving from Gatlinburg to Charlotte today. I am typing this as we drive down I-40 listening to Christmas music. The children are in the backseat playing games on IPods and IPads, Mark is singing to top of his lungs #can’tcarryatuneinabucket , and I am in my “melancholy mood”. We are just outside Shelby, North Carolina. Granny and James lived there when I was little…we even lived with them for a few weeks when our house was being built in Dunn, North Carolina. I have really missed her today! We stopped to eat at a hole in the wall restaurant and as soon as I got to the drink counter the lump came up in my throat! It doesn’t matter how good sweet tea is at a true southern restaurant, if they have Cheerwine… you have to get it! One of my favorite memories of going to Granny and James’s house was stopping at a gas station and getting a Cheerwine. They didn’t make them in Georgia, or wherever else we lived, and that was always our treat. Just another sign to me that while this can be a sad or happy time of year… that was Granny letting me know that all was A O K! I love seeing these signs sent by God to let me know that all is well up there with Him and my peeps!
We left Saturday morning to head to Gatlinburg with Marion, Velda, Amberly, and Phil. It made my heart feel good when Ben said, “Mama, those are real mountains!”. I guess the poor thing doesn’t remember our trip a few years ago to the mountains. We are really lucky to live where we live. In a half-day of traveling, we can be on the sunny beaches of the east coast, or we can be in the mountains with ears popping left and right. After spending all day Saturday shopping, we went to the Apple Farm for dinner. It was delicious! The girls hadn’t shopped enough, so we headed back to the outlets until closing time. I am not sure if I did any Christmas shopping for the people on my list, but I sure did buy a lot!
Sunday morning we got up and ate at Pancake Pantry for breakfast. Anyone who eats with me regularly (and the waitresses at the Huddle House) know that I am going to order an omelet if it is on the menu. Well…there may have been an earthquake because I ordered “pigs in a blanket”. They were very good, but my children’s chocolate chip pancakes looked/smelled heavenly! Sidenote: I am thinking of boycotting restaurants that charge $2.50 for a drink…are you kidding me??? I would rather them charge me more for my meal and include the drink… A drink should be like a fork, napkin, or a plate… you have to have it to eat! Include it in the price!
Yep, after we ate, we headed back to the outlets~ then we went to Dollywood for the Christmas shows. It was very cold, but we had a great time! I love that a commercialized place like this wasn’t afraid of singing gospel music. The first show was bluegrass music and another was the Kingdom Heirs singing Gospel/Christmas music. I know Bobby Carol was there…I felt him. Another sign~
We are almost to Charlotte. “We” have to work tomorrow, so we are going to “help” Mark…you know stay in a hotel and hang out, make a mess, leave our towels on the floor, leave the bed unmade, and leave coke bottles around the room…AND WE DON’T HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP!
Making memories at Christmas~ my final memory of the day… another sign~ I taught middle school from 1994-2007. I had parent conference after parent conference after parent conference with parents who were concerned about their children’s change of attitude, not communicating, and everything being stupid. I always assured them that they would grow out of this stage and become wonderful citizens in the community. God~ thank you for putting those conferences in my memory…because I have a middle schooler right now that thinks everything I do is “stupid”. I have to chuckle and laugh out loud. I am eating my words… hopefully she will remember this trip with fondness and not her constantly saying, “why do we have to do that, why do we have to do this, how much longer until we go home”…. I have been able to remind her frequently when she is laughing that she is having a good time! Let’s hope this last night will be just as fun! Pictures to come later~
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