off the grid

It seems that for the past four days or so I have been unofficially “off the grid”.

Mostly unintentionally.

I think I first jumped off the internet waves Thursday morning

because I was just plain old too busy to get online.

I was too busy . . .

sweeping the filthy crumb-encrusted floors of our house,

running to the grocery store to be sure we had adequate supplies of milk, cereal and ice cream,

piling laundry in and out of the washing machine in hopes that our children looked slightly less like ragamuffins than usual,

and making lists of what I needed to get accomplished before 3 p.m.

(I never did bake those blueberry muffins or give a final inspection to Riley’s bathroom.)

Because at 3 p.m. a handful of my favorite framily members arrived for a few days of good times and controlled chaos.

(Which is pretty much what all of our gatherings look like.)

The kids jumped and played and created and laughed.

Fox followed Rowan around the house, Beckett and Piper got along famously and Berg and Cole pushed cars all over the floor and pretended to be dogs.

The grown ups got rowdy after the kids were put to bed.

Most of my favorite times are spent sitting around the kitchen table, flitting from topic to topic, oftentimes interrupting one another, and all the time laughing and enjoying the simple pleasure of being in the same kitchen at the same time.

The next day we hit Hendersonville.

Took in the children’s museum,

a fine wood-fired pizza dining establishment,

and McFarlane’s – the world’s best bakery.

And then we took home all those little exhausted kids

and hired two beautiful former Look Up Lodge summer staffers to watch our sweet children

and we drove off in the other direction.

This time it was Greenville.

Where Sarah discovered a great store that wants to carry her amazing hats and headbands to sell.

And we found a few bronze mice on Main Street before we got distracted and stopped looking.

Emma and I introduced Sally and Sarah to Thai food and then we decided to eat some more food at Coffee Underground.

We eventually made our way home, back to our sleeping clan.

All of that was good.

Very good.

The best of reasons to leave the internet to itself.

Because real life was calling.

And then the next two days the reasons for being disconnected shifted.

The party left for their own homes.

And the Keigley family fell under a wicked spell of sickness.

Kevin came home.

He was sick.

Mosely was sick.

London was sick.

Piper was sick.

Bergen was sick.

I was sick.

At this point, only Otto and Riley have survived the disaster that dumped itself on our abode.

I’m sitting up now.

I’m typing.

But I’m wrapped in a blanket and I have been lying down for the past day and a half.

So.

I am here.

But just barely.