ON THE ROAD, AGAIN

Are tu-tu can-cans tu-tu much?

Of course getting away is difficult. It's always hard to leave. I get organized, do a bit of laundry, feed the baby one more time, interact with the fun kids, mend a tear in the new baby sheet... Hard to leave. JL power packs and repacks her belongings in the cargo area. We've separated our stuff--mine's in the backseat. It just gets too confusing inter-mingled.

We check and re-check for left behind stuff, but I still manage to leave my rain jacket and scarf. JL leaves her camera flash drive and some foodstuffs...

I drive the whole trip to central Illinois. We stop along the way for lunch just west of Des Moines at The Cheesecake Factory. We're all about great food. I order Sheperd's Pie and JL orders the lunch portion of meatloaf. The bread is fantastic and we eat every crumb. We're hungry! So, so good! I've got leftovers for tonight, and JL orders a white chocolate-raspberry truffle cheesecake to take to the Nofsingers.

While our waiter sorts out some mis-communication regarding our cheesecake order, I succumb to the temptation for a slice of cheesecake to-go. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake Cheesecake. To-die-for. Worth ever calorie. Enough for 4. A layer of chocolate cake, a layer of caramel with peanuts, a layer of plain cheesecake--then repeat. Covered with chocolate butter creme; topped with rosettes of peanut butter butter creme;coated with chopped up milk chocolate pieces. Oh, and garnished with two huge s oops of whipped cream. Kill me now! I may never eat again.

We drive onward with little to distract us now, arriving just after 5:30pm in Washington, IL at GJ's. She invites me to dinner, and of course I accept. She's made meatloaf and planned cheesecake for dessert! We laugh. She hasn't made meatloaf in two years, and today we each had a version for lunch. Good news--we love meatloaf aand hers is delicious. I leave befor dessert. I mean, who can even consider dessert after what we ate this afternoon!

GiGi is patiently waiting for me when I arrive in Eureka. I'm frantically making phone calls to track down RvH. I haven't heard from her since Saturday morning and I've tried several times to reach her at various times of the day when she's usually home. I'm sure she's o.k., but just in case she's laying in a heap on her floor, I really need to find her.

Eventually she answers her phone before I've alarmed anyone with my search. Just a combination of appts. and activities have coincided to make her unavailable. I tell her we have to set up a system for her own safety. She lives alone and is easily susceptible to a fall or injury. Pondering a plan...

I fall into bed and a sound sleep just about 8:30pm.