As you know from my last post, I attended a family reunion this past weekend.  Fourteen hours on the road to North Carolina was challenging with frequent potty stops for four grandchildren, a few bouts of car sickness, and maneuvering the mountains in the pouring rain as the sun was setting. 

Part of the weekend festivities included a pig pick in’.  I think the cute little pink things are wonderful. However, I choose not to eat them in any form - especially brown, crinkled and smoked for 24 hours.   Don’t forget the baked beans that accompany the picked pig with the added bacon.  I stuck with the coleslaw and pasta salad. 

We had a blast with the family and the occasional kidding about northern and southern differences.  We teased my brother and sister about operating on ‘Southern Time’, which is slow and reverse.  They teased the northern side of the family about our ‘proper English’.  All was done in fun with lots of laughter, especially when it came to learning about the southern fishing custom of ‘noodling’ or ‘noodlin’, which is a rather crazy way of catching a catfish.

There were a few tense moments when people were tired, or felt left-out of activities, but we did everything to smooth it out and have a good time.  Extra doses of communication were necessary with a few apologies.  All in all, everyone seemed to work it out.

One of the best parts of the weekend was staying with my niece and her husband in their new home.  My husband and I had the upper floor all to ourselves and felt like we were in a B & B.  There was an antique bed with a green striped coverlet, and fluffy new towels in the bathroom.  My niece didn’t have a chance to put shades on the windows, so the sun came sneaking into the room at 6:00am along with the roosters crowing.  So much for sleeping in while on vacation.