Everything in Moderation Fail

 One of the sayings I try to practice is "Everything in moderation." That helps me keep things in check and not worry too much. I am much better at this than I used to be, but I am still a work in progress. That may have been the case last weekend.

Last weekend was my annual family reunion. We rotate among the families for hosts; this year, it was my family's turn. My sisters and I spent months planning with meetings, phone calls, lists, and spreadsheets. The event was held in the area where most of my cousins live, but unfortunately, that's about five hours from here. So, there were extra considerations for transporting and refrigeration. But we had a plan.

A view from one of our rest stops

We left Friday morning. I had to work the night before, but we were pretty well-packed, so that was not a problem. We were joined by another sister and friend and took off for our trip across the mountains. The trip went well despite the fact that we drove through heavy rains from Storm Debby. 

We arrived at our destination late afternoon where we had arranged to get into the church where we were holding the reunion tomorrow to drop things off. We met two more of my sisters there. After unloading the cars and doing some initial setup, we visited my cousin Jo because she is housebound and wouldn't be able to come to the reunion. It was a good visit, but it had to be cut short because we were meeting another cousin, Jewel, for dinner. That was also a good visit, but the food took over an hour to arrive. I was very tired and hungry at that point. After dinner, Jewel invited us to her house for a brief visit. 

By the time we reached the hotel, I was exhausted and ready to veg a little and go to bed. However, Miss Landers discovered a leak in her car, and I went down to help her clean it up. Now, I was ready to drop. However, sleep eluded me as my brain was busy processing all the social things I did during the day. Have I mentioned before that I'm an introvert? So, even if I enjoy social interactions, they zap my energy and can overstimulate my brain.

Anyway, we woke (so I did sleep a little) the next morning to a bright day and a good hotel breakfast bar. Before meeting at the church, we had to make a grocery store trip to get some last-minute things. And at the same time, we were trying to fix flowers for a couple of cemetery visits. Many of our relatives, including our parents, are buried at a country cemetery in the area, and we try to visit when we are in town. Two of my sisters took off on that task while Ward and I hurried to the church, meeting friends before the reunion. We finished setting up and started preparing the taco bar we were having. 

A photo of my grandfather my cousin found

The reunion went great. Good people, good food, and good fun. Our extensive planning paid off. Then, it was clean-up time. We cleaned up, packed the cars, and were on the road again. After a long drive, we got home around 9 p.m. Let me be the first to say I was worn out! However, a night in my own bed was a good start in recovering from our whirlwind 36 hours.

Our careful planning made the reunion a big success, and I loved visiting with my relatives and friends. However, I will be the first to admit this was not an "everything in moderation visit." But the problem is we feel compelled to tend to many things while we are in the area since we only make it there once a year or so. And work schedules prevent longer visits to spread the activities out. Maybe next time, I will remember how tired I was at the end of this and do things differently. We shall see how good my memory is.

Until next time...