The Literate Housewife Review

Home, Sweet Home

Long time, no posts.  I hope that you all had a wonderful week last week.  I’ve now returned from a much enjoyed trip to the Land of Dolly.  As much as I enjoyed my vacation, it feels good to be in my own home and sitting in my own bed as I type.  We did not have Internet access after Tuesday.  Wow!  That was a long time to be without.  I’ve got a lot of email and blogs to catch up on!

The first part of our vacation was spent with my parents, my four siblings, and their families.  It was so nice to all be together in one place, even though we experienced a good deal of trauma during  those first few days…

1. The first full day Danny threw his back out at our hotel by walking from the bathroom to the refrigerator.  He was down that entire day and most of next two.
2. While taking the girls to the pool that same day, I tripped on my really cute but dangerous heals and fell down a few stairs.  I twisted my ankle pretty bad and it still hurts tonight.
3. The next day, while at the pool once again, Ally, my youngest, slipped through her Dora swimming ring and went under water.  I had left my bathing suit at the hotel, so I dove into the pool fully clothed.  My brother called to me that he had her, but I wasn’t aware of anything else other than my baby underwater waving her arms helplessly.  This all took only a matter of seconds, but it felt like an eternity to me.  She’s fine, but the color from the beach towel I wrapped myself up in afterwards bled onto my new turquoise capris.

After that, things looked up considerably.  We enjoyed the rest of the time with my family and then my best friend Trista and her family from Michigan came down.  We rented a chalet up in the mountains a few minutes from Dollywood.  Trista’s two children fall between mine in age.  Despite the bickering that comes with preschoolers living together, they had a great time.  It’s so nice to be able to watch them play.  Together, we went to the Gatlinburg aquarium, an arcade on the strip, Cooters, Dollywood, miniature golfing, to a petting zoo, and to Dixie Stampede.  Have I mentioned we had a great time?

I even got some reading done along the way.  I’ll post official reviews later this week, but I finished The Lady Elizabeth (well written, but no new territory explored there), Last Night at the Lobster (an excellent novella!), and Trauma (I finished that up a half hour ago while soaking in a hot tub – superb.  One of McGrath’s better novels).

Tomorrow I’ll be drawing for my May Book Give Away after work.  There’s still time if you’d like a chance to get a free book in the mail!