Home Again

I've been back home since late Friday night and am settling back into a routine of sorts. I miss my daughter and her family (and that room of my own). I have to say it was a very educational visit though. I learned:
1. to tell the Jonas brothers apart
2. that if I never see Miley Cyrus again it will be too soon
3. how to make toasted banana sandwiches
4. that a cat will throw up if it eats enough icing
5. there is still a place in the world where restaurants close at 8:00 on a Saturday night
6. a suitcase will expand in direct proportion to the number of books you buy while traveling - this last one was a revelation to me and has changed my life forever.

When I got home I picked up a book the Library was holding for me. It's called Glass Voices and is the story of a family who survived the devastating explosion of a munitions ship in the Halifax harbor in the early 1900's. I'm also still reading Anna Karenina and I'd say I'm about a third of the way through. I'm pleasantly surprised that it's more interesting than I expected it to be. I am hopeful that I will get all the way through it, but we'll see.

Thanks so much to Book Loving Mommy for awarding me the One Lovely Blog award. It's always encouraging to hear that others enjoy and appreciate what you do. If you haven't been to her blog yet, drop over and read a few of her reviews and check out the photo of her adorable kids. As a recipient it is my privilege to pass it on to other bloggers so I'm giving it to Reader's Respite, Literate Housewife and Kelly's (Former) France Blog. I'll email each one and let them know, then they can grab the button and post about it on their own blogs.

I realize that awards can be a bit of a sticky issue, and I do understand they can be time consuming. It's a shame something meant as a simple encouragement is becoming a chore more dreaded than appreciated. Originally this one was supposed to be passed on to 15 bloggers, but I'm only sending it to three. Maybe if we all cut way back on how many we send them out to, awards could become a good thing for all again. I think it would be great if we passed all awards on to just one other blogger. What do you think?