Waaaay overdue....

It's been a while since I posted. Realized I have left out a huge gap in our family record...maybe because I haven't been ready to write about it yet.

We spent a weekend in Shreveport a few weeks ago to load the last big moving truck for Mom & Dad. This has been a long process of relocation for Mom and Dad, beginning the week before Christmas when they closed on their house in Norman until now, nearly three months later.

I thought I said a tearful goodbye to my hometown in January, but Matt had to have his last hurrah as well. We decided to make one last pilgrimage and have our last weekend of eating out at our favorite stops in Shreveport...dinner at Herby-K's, breakfast of Southern Maid donuts, Sweep the Swamp pizza for lunch from Johnny's, dinner at our favorite Monjuni's, and breakfast and strawberry pie at Strawn's. It's amazing when you think of how food is always tied to culture and memories in the South. That's what life is...FOOD!

I remember being a little kid, spinning around on the bar stools and drinking a Coke from a glass bottle while Jimmy the bartender made me laugh at Herby-K's after visiting Uncle Bill at his store in the West End.

I remember loving to see the "hot, Hot, HOT" sign lit up at Southern Maid which meant the donuts were fresh out of the oven and always looking for it when we were on I-20, begging to stop.

I remember going to eat Johnny's pizza with my neighbor Susan and her parents and being so excited to play Pac-Man in their arcade and wondering why the pizza slices were rectangles.

I remember loving the sweet sauce of Monjuni's and having its importance made permanent in my life when Matt took Mom & Dad there to ask for my hand in marriage...Oh, the hundreds of Monjuni's cups we used to have in our college cabinets and how tingly I still feel when I see the jar of sauce in my kitchen cabinet!

And the many mornings before school we would go to Strawn's for breakfast and love their big-as-a-plate pancakes and mile high strawberry pie...nobody else comes close. And the fabulous convenience of living across the street in the Centenary Dorms and being able to walk there!

These items of food carry so much significance, so many memories of growing up, so many rights-of-passage, so many transitions into childhood to being a teenager to college years to adulthood and now life with kids. Obviously, it is so much more than the food. It's my life, my history... the start to my story. And then sharing those pearls of perfection with my children. There was nothing more gratifying than taking George & Abigail to eat at Monjuni's and then to watch their joy while they played at the Duck Pond. Sharing with them the power of food and historical experience, priceless!

How do you say good-bye to the 34 years of constancy of Shreveport....going "home" to the house that you grew up in...driving streets that you could drive blindfolded, knowing every pothole and curve...passing my old schools and the old "cut-throughs" and backways...pointing to each house and knowing the families that lived there...remembering the stories only the walls could tell at 3014 Pines Road. This process of change has been more painful than I ever dreamed possible. Never thought I would get so emotionally tied to a city and a house, wasn't until it was time to leave that it's impact on me screamed.

And the parting is for a great reason, to have Mom and Dad closer and to be able to share experiences daily. I am thrilled that they will be building their new life here and though the transition will be a shift for all of us (first time in 14 years that we have lived in the same town), we have longed to have family in town. George and Abigail have already gotten used to this new idea of grandparents across town: they have their own toys and room there and have already discovered the "fun" of hiding in the pantry and playing dress-up or "working" with Pop in the workshop. It will be wonderful to share spontaneous lunches or have a family night all together and to have Nana and Pop at performances and sporting games.

But it's still tough to say good-bye. My heart will heal, of course, and life will go on. Some days I'll think of how ridiculous I'm feeling. And we'll have the occasional trip to Shreveport where we indulge again. But next time will be different because it's not "home" anymore. And that's okay because this is my home, Norman, Oklahoma. This is the "home" that will so deeply affect my children and where our story as a family began. That is the blessing in it all.

So off the emotional goop and on to fun stuff....

Here's a pic of my cuties "rockin' out" on a winter afternoon.

We were able to make a quick day trip to Alexandria to visit my dear Martha and her family. As my post of Facebook read that day, "Some people come into your lives and you are never, ever the same." Potluck college roommates never faired so well.

George LOVED the tractor (might be his next big gift idea).

Martha, Will, Abigail, Sarah Frances, George, Thomas, and Matthew.
How precious.

McFarlin hosted Mommy/Daughter PJ party..."Beautifully Made" was the theme, reminding girls that they are beautifully made by God inside and out!

We decorated pillowcases (can you see A's happy face that she drew all by herself?)...
had manis and pedis....

...,decorated cards and cookies and watched a VeggieTales movie! It was a treasure to spend time one-on-one with my big girl.