old country house blog

THE LONG DRIVE DOWN

I am in Atlanta at the Design Bloggers Conference. I started the journey down at 3:30 AM this morning, hoping to beat the “STORM” and made here successfully in 8.5 hours. I loved the drive, part of it done in the pitch black night, feeling like I am the only one awake, listening to an AM Boston  radio station, and drinking my diet cokes…

I stopped only twice. The first stop was a tiny gas station in the last part of North Carolina. The cashier told me a story about a pregnant woman from Canada who left a wallet full of stacks of cash..and Travelers checks .and got all the way to Florida before they could track her down. The cashier told me that when the woman walked back in…her face was as white as “this” and pointed to the gray cash register.  I thought the cashier must have told that story many times, because she had it down to perfection…and it was worth the extra 10 minutes. Every good story takes practice and is always worth the time.

My hotel room has two beds and some sofas…room for a family of just me…and I am wondering when was the last time I voluntarily was this quiet…it feels so peaceful..and strange .and ironic that only now, when they are so far away, I can hear my children’s voices, take in Their stories and their days…back at home..sometimes the voice in my head that recites the list of all the things I need to do drowns them out.

My plan was to take a nap, but decided to check into the conference first. Once I was there…and not one to miss the fun, I went with a group to Phipps plaza to watch Alexa Hampton tell stories over Skype…the STORM delayed her arrival…and then missed the shuttle back because…well, have you ever been to Phipps plaza?…as much a I don’t like Malls..well, this mall has a Maserati just sitting there in the middle! I got lost in the Prettiness and a nice man from the conference drove me home. I can’t remember his name but I know where his children and his nephews go to college.

I paid a snippet of a visit to the “welcome” party tonight…met a lovely woman from Ashville that I hope to meet again…talked about kids and college. There was an “after party” that I skipped and came back to my Giant quiet room and rented the movie “WILD” , with Reese Witherspoon based on the book I just finished by Cheryl Strayed. It was the prefect end to a very long day…

and then I got an email that sent me to MY FIRST PUBLISHED DOMINO ARTICLE…and I must be very tired because it made me so happy I cried.

goodnight

3 thoughts on “THE LONG DRIVE DOWN

  1. Congratulations Leslie! I have followed your blog for awhile now and am now finally commenting (yes, I am a blog stalker!) I love, love your use of color and you have definitely inspired me to turn it up a bit in my house (west of Boston). I can only aspire to be as creative as you – keep it coming!
    BTW – aren’t you selling your beautiful home? It seems like you have a lot of projects going on!

  2. I LOVE stalkers and I Love Bostonians! For NOW we have decided to stay in our house, as we moved along with fixing things we thought more about where we see ourselves when our youngest flies the coop and the bottom line was…we don’t know!!!..and so I think we may wait until we are a smaller “at home” family…course…there will always be the many pets!!!! xo One of the places I might like to be in back in Boston!

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