Scottish for a month...: We're Packin'

Ok, lots of ground to cover here... Basically we've spent the last day or so with Justin's family as we prepare to leave. We're actually flying out of Washington, DC, so we'll drive there tomorrow morning (well, today, in a few hours, really) to head out. So, today we've spent the day visiting with Justin's grandparents and helping his mom, dad, and brother finish their packing. We had great visits while we've been here with both his grandpa Simmons, and his great-grandpa Joe. I've always thought it's really cool that there are 4 generations of Simmons boys living here within 3 minutes of one another. Anyway, the point of this story... we spent about an hour with great-grandpa Joe. This guy is 92 years old and still oh-so-completely lively. I LOVE when he laughs... his cloudy blue eyes just light up and you can see the 25 year old spirit that's inside of him. While we chatted (loudly) , he gave us some advice for our trip. He said, "When you set out on a trip like this, you ought to do it as if it doesn't matter if you ever get there or not." I had to think about this one for a while, but I think he's referring to our natural tendency to rush around unnecessarily. Perhaps this pearl of wisdom is akin to "Getting there is half the fun," but richer, somehow... Maybe more on that later...

Speaking of pearls of wisdom... before we left Kentucky, I was talking to a good friend of mine about this trip, and he said something that really stuck with me. As we were parting, he said to me (quite casually), "Be sure you have fun on your trip." Of course, I said "ok" and that was the end of it. But as I was thinking back over the conversation, I kept returning to the phrase, "be sure". The naturally cynical side of me would typically think, "Well, how can I be sure? It's not up to me; either something is fun or it isn't." But the more I mulled over this, the more I realized that (once again), he was right - it is our choice. Not just in terms of this trip, but in general, why cant we take the attitude of "I'm going to get everything I can out of this, circumstances be darned..."? I for one, am typically not good at this. However, I hereby resolve to be more intentional about having this attitude more often. So, to the good doctor, thanks for the advice!

And finally, to those of you who have been bored with my psychological musings... here's something to make you smile...

It was thought that we might be able to save some $$ if we could fit one of us into Suzi's duffel bag and save a plane ticket, so below are a few of our attempts. I think my idea may have backfired, though, as I ended up fitting the best... Enjoy...