And Somehow, A Miracle Occurs

Last night Levon butt-dialed his grandfather and somehow, that small accident led to every one of the immediate family getting together for lunch less than twelve hours later. Do you have any idea what a miracle this is? Despite the fact that it seems as if we all get together for every birthday and all the holidays, there's always someone who can't make it for one reason or another. 
We plan, we scheme, we schedule and reschedule but somehow, someone is always missing. Visits to North Carolina, illness, having to work, etc., etc. 
But it all came together today and there we are, the whole group of us at Pepper's Mexican restaurant where they always manage to take such good care of us, have a nice patio where we're usually the only ones, and also...they allow dogs to hang out. 

Remember Xena, Princess Warrior, aka Large Marge? She's a year old now and topping the scales at a hundred pounds and she has calmed down a lot in the last few months. She was a very, very good girl today. 

The kids were out of school due to a teacher planning day which I believe is probably how the county dealt with the delicate problem of the celebration of Columbus Day versus the celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day. 
You know where our family falls on this controversy. 
Lily was working but was able to take her break just at the right time and even Jason made it, as did Vergil, along with Michael and May who are almost always working when these things happen. 
I was quite late getting to the restaurant and when I walked in and saw all those people sitting there I thought as I always do, "And this is what unprotected sex can lead to."
A whole lotta joy. That's what it can lead to. 
We were almost giddy today, feeling as if we'd gotten away with something somehow. 
But obviously, it was just meant to be. 

More pictures. 

Dang it! I did not get a picture of me with Owen. Trust me. We hugged several times. 
Those are some good-looking kids. I had to tell Gibson how handsome he is. Isn't he though? He is looking more and more like his dad's Italian side of the family. WITH the Moon gene for height. And Maggie looks a great deal like her other grandmother but also with the height. 

So that was a whole lot of fun and the food was fine although of course, that's hardly relevant. 
After lunch some of the group had to scoot but Hank and Rachel and Jessie and May and Michael and I stood in the parking lot and probably talked for forty-five minutes. August and Levon were in the car waiting with the AC on but after about half an hour, they came out and joined us. They were very sweet about it though. 
I'm so glad we got to do that. So glad we were all able to be together before Mr. Moon left to go up to the frozen North. Well, not frozen yet. He's hoping for some really cold weather. It's so disappointing to him when he travels all the way to Canada and it ends up being warmer there than it is here due to some glitch in the universal weather system. 

Before I leave I must share something which on the surface is absolutely no big deal at all but for here in the rural county in which we live, it's pretty damn awesome. 
We don't get the local Monticello paper but Tom did and Glen goes over to his house to collect his mail regularly and we do enjoy looking over what is considered news in this county. Lots of church news and lots of Christian (heavy on the Baptist variety) columns and lots of news of various crimes which generally involve speeding or drugs although there always seems to be some official who is being fired, tried and found guilty for crimes generally involving misappropriation of funds or, sometimes, something far more horrific.
Recently a huge legal marijuana growing facility was found to be guilty of illegal handling of their run-off water and was ordered to come up with a better plan and fined $80,000. 
There is news of kids' sports teams, beauty queens and there are obituaries as well as pictures and reports from various clubs. 
Monticello is big on clubs. 
But just a little while ago, Glen came out to the porch and said, "I'm so glad we live in such a liberal county!"
Excuse me. What?
He was holding the most recent paper he'd retrieved from Tom's and showed me a picture. Here it is. 

I gave it a quick glance and said, "Yeah?" 
He then pointed out the description printed under the picture. In case you can't read it, here's what it says.

"The Brock family was honored as the 2026 Jefferson County Farm Bureau Farm Family of the Year during the organization's annual banquet, recognizing the family's generations of farming, commitment to conservation and continued involvement in Jefferson County agriculture. Pictured from left are Kirk Brock; his daughter, Emily Brock; son, Jamen Brock; and Jamen's husband, Alex."  

As I said, this should be no big thing but here, it is. There is an entire special section of the paper devoted to this award and the celebration banquet. There are ads from agriculturally oriented companies honoring the Brock family. 
I am somewhat amazed. And so very, very pleased. 
Rock on, Jefferson County! I am proud of you. 

It's been a good day and tomorrow, my sweetheart will be flying out of Tallahassee at 8:30 in the morning. Will I be getting up at five to get him to the airport by 6:30?
No. I will not. 
But I will kiss him goodbye, tell him I love him, to have a wonderful time, and to please come home safely to me. 

Love...Ms. Moon