I am having a leisurely day off from work today.  I woke up early but did not get out of bed until after 11am.  I do not do this very often but sometimes it is NEEDED.  To just relax and think or not think.

Yesterday was the first day of the week long Fall Festival here where I live.  I look forward to this event every year…mainly now for the FOOD.  In younger years it was about socializing and hanging out with friends.  I went last night with my roommate and her friend and spent way too much on what I had to eat but it is for a good cause and definitely yummy.  I was thinking about all of the people I had been there with over the years.  Childhood friends when I was a kid, my parents, work friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands(s) Haha.  Just a lot of different memories from being there and they are all great.  I am going back again today with my girlfriend Anna and her daughter and her daughters friend (her daughter wanted to take a friend because they are embarrassed to be seen with us…WOW I remember those days!!!)  Anyway, looking forward to pigging out again…my healthy eating diet will have to be postponed until next week and that is OKAY! 😀

The chill in the air that last week or so has also brought back other memories of fall.  I was thinking about being away at school…3.5 hours from my parents.  MY FAVORITE TIME OF MY LIFE!   It was such a freeing experience that I am so thankful my parents allowed me to have.  I was homesick a lot at first and I remember being excited for them to come visit me for a weekend…it was in the fall about this time of year.  I was so worried about getting my apartment cleaned up for their inspection that I bailed out on a couple of classes on Friday to clean.  They surprised me and came early and I got in trouble for missing class!  I guess I should have planned ahead but such is the life of a college student.  It is definitely a good memory though.  Just having my parents with me while I was in my new place was very special.

My next thoughts were about my grandparents (Dad’s side).  They lived in Pennsylvania and then in Arizona in later years. I received a message from someone I love dearly who is having a visit from family soon and something she said reminded me of my grandpa calling us the “Kentucky kids”.  He would say he was coming to visit the Ky kids  when they came to visit…which was quite often.  They enjoyed their retirement and traveled across the US in their motorhome.  I LOVED their visits.  And I also enjoyed going to PA and AZ to visit them. My grandpa would mail my parents and me letters addressed to The Kentucky Kids…what a sweet memory.  They both passed away when I was in college and I miss them very much.

A final memory I had while being lazy this morning was about my old home…the house I grew up in on Downey Drive.  To me, that will ALWAYS be home.  Another family lives there now but there are SO MANY memories connected to that house…and that is what I mean by home.  I guess my heart really is still there.  I am excited to have a house of my own again someday where I can create new memories with loved ones.  To me, that is what life is about.

I guess I will always be a “Kentucky kid” from Downey Drive and there is nothing wrong with that in my book 🙂