We left our home at 10:30 this morning and brought our suitcases up the North Carolina house stairs at 8:15 tonight. Mother of bizness- that is too long in a car.

Thank goodness for the Stuart Gibbs book on tape we had (Space Case; very enjoyable, even for adults) , iPads, and that random Target we found somewhere in Virginia. Horrible traffic on 95S and I had the worst case of motion sickness I've had in ages. Target provided me Dramamine which knocked me out but did cure the vomitous nausea.

In any case, we are here now, the boys are tucked in, the rest of T's family arrives tomorrow, and our fourth -fifth?- annual beach week has commenced.

I read this BuzzFeed list of Scottish tweets back to Donald Trump post Brexit and laughed so hard, for so long that I nearly passed out. As such, I feel it would be terribly remiss of me not to share in case you haven't seen it and to urge you to read and snort uproariously one or eleven times.

I mean, "@realDonaldTrump SCOTLAND VOTED TO STAY, YOU WITLESS FUCKING COCKSPLAT."? Hilarious!

Secondly, during today's interminable drive, we also listened to a great NPR podcast from Invisibilia. Called The New Norm, the show was about invisible emotional structures that dictate and/or influence individual behaviors in public.

Two stories were embedded in the overall feature: one about opening the first McDonald's in Moscow and how difficult it was to convince the employees to adopt the very American greet-with-a-smile customer service; and the other, the one to which I want to draw your attention, about one rig foreman's attempt to change the rigidly Southern-masculine personas Louisiana and Mississippi oilmen often constrict themselves by. FASCINATING! Do yourself a favor, and listen to this.

Taught another class today - Canning 101 - which was great fun.

Went to dinner with girlfriends- also great fun.

Mulched and tended the now-two blackberry bushes from Papa that comprise my "blackberry patch." I love them. Number 1 is thriving. So are my tomatoes.

Spent another 90 minutes sorting and building Legos with Jack. We spent a marathon 6 hours yesterday sorting and free-building an X-wing. It was the weirdest sort of sedentary fun.

Took a run this afternoon, and boy did it feel good to sweat. I haven't exercised in weeks; this is not a good trend, not good for my psyche at all. Pounding the pavement today, making that soft-clop contact with the earth felt so good.

On Saturday, we are heading to NC for our annual family vacation at the beach. It is always wonderful to see the boys with their cousins, and to have no concerns greater than the amount of sand we are or are not tracking inside. We will also get to spend three days with one of my dearest-ever friends and her family. #giftsallaround

Brexit looks like it will happen. This is not, in my opinion, a good thing at all. The Pound is already plummeting. The EU has been beset with problems from the get-go, but I still find this probably departure sad, and if the UK splits afterwards, well, I find that even sadder. Nothing is permanent. That, in many ways, is sad too.

One of my dear friend's parents were just in Louisiana. Her mother, a very talented photographer, took this photo of Lake Martin, a gorgeous swampy area. This picture captures it perfectly, and I am grateful she shared it with me. #myhome

As always, I am hopeful that things feel slower soon. At least my core feels calmer. Baby steps, I guess.

Em-i-lis

Sunset to the nines

Two things I want to show you; long car trip finally over

Stream of consciousness catch-up/catchall

Em-i-lis

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