Warm Welcome

I mentioned in my post last week that I was planning to visit a brand new side of my family. This past Saturday morning, we headed out on the road - not without some trademark difficulties along the way, mind you. About 5 minutes into our journey a  light rain began to fall, and when Steve turned on the wipers in the car, the right hand side (driver's side, here) just sort of flipped itself all the way to the right onto the side view mirror and stayed there. So, a ten minute stop in a garage and a quick tightening of a bolt later, we were on our way to Hastings.

Staying with my husband's other grandmother was so wonderful. As soon as you walked into the home, photographs of family old and new made me aware that I was in a love-filled house. The 1920's build house was full of charm and amazing mid-century furniture, and I simply melted at the sea view from the kitchen windows. Sitting at that kitchen table, sifting through albums of black and white photos and hearing stories about the war, displacement, rations, and her late husband, I felt so grateful to have acquired another grandparent.

We took Millie (the dog) for a walk on the beach after her cramped journey in the boot of my mother-in-law's little car; I posted a bunch of photos from that yesterday. The overcast, late afternoon mist made everything look so dreamy, and we were basically the only ones on the entire beach. The tide was out, and we could walk pretty far out into the water without any lapping waves reaching above the knee.

Later that evening, I had my nerves lubricated with a few glasses of wine so that I could meet the rest of my in-laws. We all packed into a van-style cab and headed to an American style steakhouse, whose massive portions really made me feel at home with the pop culture decor. After much eating, drinking, and laughter, we walked through the night to my mother-in-law's sister's house so that everyone could carry on catching up (and meeting me!).

Weekends are meant for laughter, family, and love, and we lived this past weekend to the fullest.