In the home stretch toward home (week 16.5)

The word for today is “contemplative.” As in: “Trying to figure out why I’m so reluctant to return home has me feeling contemplative.”

If a complete stranger were to read this blog, he or she might think that I don’t like my life back home. But of course that’s not true; I do. I love my home. I love my family. I love our neighbors and our neighborhood. I love our church and the girls’ school district. I have work and hobbies that I thoroughly enjoy, and Tony and I are both extremely blessed to have many, many wonderful friendships. So why the hell don’t I want to go back?

Part of it is the schedule; we have an active, busy lifestyle with active, busy kids. These last several months have been blissfully free of scheduled events and appointments and “For the love of God, would you HURRY UP?!? We are going to be SO LATE!!!!” Perhaps my No. 1 goal for this summer and beyond is to not overschedule myself and my family, give myself permission to have free space on the calendar and just be in the moment. Easier said than done, right? But I’m going to try.

Beyond that, I know it is going to be hard work getting myself and our house back into shape. (No more fried seafood or chicken for this girl!) I’m not going to miss living out of my suitcase, constantly transitioning in and out of houses and hotel rooms, but I am going to miss the adventure. Doing this much traveling has only heightened my thirst for more. Thankfully, some of our amazing, aforementioned friends and family members have already signed on to join Tony and me on some super fun trips in the year to come.

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In the meantime, I’m soaking up every last minute of this #2021LemonadeTour with my beloved husband by my side. We had a blast in Pigeon Forge—thought it was a bit touristy for our tastes, and we were grateful to have our peaceful riverside cabin and hot tub to retreat to at the end of the day to get away from the crowds. But the bartender at our moonshine tasting was hilarious; highly recommend Rob at Old Forge Distillery! We’d also highly recommend doing the Segway tour and wine tasting at the Belle Meade Plantation, which was our first stop Friday in Nashville. So cool! (We also hit Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, a quirky little ramen restaurant and a fun rooftop bar in downtown Nashville.) What I love about this trip as we make our way around the country is how the history of the Belle Meade mansion and farmstead is connected to the Vanderbilts, whom we learned about in Asheville, as well as Kentucky horse racing, which was our focus yesterday.

It was #DerbyDay in Louisville, and Tony had his heart set on betting on the ponies. So we made the short drive from Nashville to hit some bars, have some mint juleps and bourbon old-fashioneds and cheer on the horses. (Tickets to Churchill Downs weren’t in our budget this year, but we’d definitely make a plan to go back again!) We won in earlier races (thank you, Flagstaff and Domestic Spending) but not the Derby itself. My pick, Midnight Bourbon, was back at sixth place. Still, so fun!

Now we are camped out for a few days at a peaceful lakeside cabin just outside of Indianapolis. It’s so quiet and tranquil here that I’m tempted to extend our reservation for an additional night. At the same time, we do miss the girls and really should figure out a plan to get home. In the meantime, Tony is pulling bluegill out of the lake, and I’m very content here with my laptop, my wine and my lovely view of the water.

I just realized that Indiana is back on Eastern time, and that it’s an hour later than I thought it was! Time to quit contemplating and get some dinner on the table. God’s blessings to you all; we will be home very soon!