Ruminatin’ – My Trip Home and a Blogaversary Giveaway

I’ve been wanting to write about my trip home to New Jersey since I came back at the end of June. I had mentioned that I would have a Blogaversary Giveaway with some souvenirs from the trip and that is why there has been a delay. I packed the gifts up in a box and asked my brother to mail them to me. I even put postage on the box.

You know where this is going, right?

After some reminders he finally got it in the mail to me and it arrived yesterday so here I am with the rather late report on my vacation home.

The main purpose for my trip was to see my niece graduate from high school. She did so, with honors; she was 7th in her class and a member of the National Honor Society. She is fluent in Latin (yes, Latin) and she is headed to Washington and Lee to study biology on her way to becoming a doctor.

My nephew graduated as well, from 6th grade. He’s very excited about heading into middle school. He also received a special award from the School Board for his work on a video.

I hadn’t seen my family in three years – the last time I went home was for another round of graduations. And so it will be for the next time I go home. My niece will be next in three more years. So is the cycle of visits home for anyone who lives far from family.

It was a delightful visit. My nephews and niece schooled me on the art of the selfie. It was also good to be around all of these young people with my brand new smartphone. They taught me something new everyday so I came home far more educated on how to use the thing than I left here with it. Which was good because, trust me – I was clueless as to how to work that little bit of technology.

My family made sure to cook my favorite Jersey shore foods. I had steamers and blue claw crabs which I hadn’t had in well, three years. The hubby is allergic to clams so I never cook with them and as much as I’ve used crabmeat for cooking there is nothing like a freshly cooked blue claw crab.

We took the requisite “family” pictures for me to add to my collection. Every time I get together I insist upon a photo with my brothers and with my “kids.” They are very tolerant of me and my desire for these photos. I have group photos from when the “group” was me and one baby.

I did make it over to Long Beach Island which is where I lived for most of my teenage years up until I married the hubby. It was a hot day so the beach was hopping. It was a day that my oldest friend had been able to visit me and we went out to lunch and had a great time reminiscing about old times.

I had such a wonderful, relaxing time visiting my family. I even pretty much stayed away from the computer which was pretty nice. I read a lot of books and did a lot of nothing. I ate a lot of bad for me food. It was heaven. I am already looking forward to my next trip.

I wanted to share a little bit of my former life with you so I picked up a few things while I was on the Island and hope you like the little giveaway I have for you. It’s a Long Beach Island tee shirt (size L) a nice, big Long Beach Island mug and a teeny, tiny glass crab.

I couldn’t resist the teeny, tiny glass crab. It even has it’s own teeny, tiny gift box. The giveaway is open to US readers. Just enter as many ways as you would like on the Gleam Widget below – full rules are on the widget. Good luck everyone.

A Visit Home