Where do I Start?

Well. I am exhausted.

Our dear friends, Tom and Karen Wright of Wright's Hearth, Heat, and Home in Asheville, NC, came to visit us this weekend. We have been friends since before Ben and I married - Tom and Ben were in the Navy together oh, so long ago. They did one tour, got out and moved back to their home in Asheville because Tom's elderly Dad was "in his last days" and they wanted to be with him. That was in 1980.


Papaw is now 91, still drives, walks 4 miles a day, spends his days at their store sweeping, vacuuming, and generally helping out however he can. My last days should be so long.

So they came to visit which is rare because we're all so busy, but they are especially so at this time of year. It's the nature of a chimney sweep/woodstove/hearth-type business. And boy howdy, did we have a fun time. You know how you have some friends who are enjoyable, but then you have friends you can totally let your hair down with? Be completely free with? That's Tom and Karen. We never laugh so much as when we're with them, and then it's almost non-stop. Karen shared this story from their business:

Sheila works in the office answering phones and scheduling appointments. She is very conscientious and wants to be totally professional. So one day they hear the following announcement over the PA in the store:

Karen, line one. Line one for Karen.

pause

Or was it line two?

pause

(panic rising) Oh God, what line was it??

The PA has been disconnected.

So we spent the weekend eating and laughing. What could be better? Friday Ben and Tom went golfing while Karen and I went shopping, and then on Saturday Karen and Abbie and I went up to DC to see the monuments. We walked until we had blisters and arthritic hips. When we finally decided it was time to get home we stopped in the Smithsonian castle to use the restroom before getting on the metro. While we were hand-washing, we noticed a padded bench right there in the ladies' room! Now let me tell you, there never was a more welcome sight! So we sat right down, laughing about how out of shape we all are. And since Karen was trying to document her fun day on film, I took a picture of Abbie and her sitting in the restroom. With paper towel dispensers as backdrop. Then a woman came in and offered to take one of all three of us. On a padded bench in the ladies' room in a DC museum. I think we'll put that one on the cover of the scrapbook.

Be thankful ~

Karen