675 miles. 2 children. 1 mama. 10 hours. We made it. Phew. I'm not going to lie, I was a wee bit concerned about doing the drive alone, but the children were spectacular. We made it 5 hours before our first stop (aside from 1 roadside 10 minute nursing stop) And we are home. And it's great to be home. Although Henry said he wanted to just stay for "100 more days" and that he was "really going to miss Grandma & Grandpa & his Aunts and Uncles". He was willing to compromise to 90 days, and then 80 and then 70 and then 60. It was nice to be around family and people again. Chris rolled out of bed at 6 a.m. (after we got home at midinght) and then I remembered: the life of a single mama. That is until his season ends. Only 5 more weeks! 
Saturday was a day of canning and costumes. My Mom has been canning chicken and I was a bit curious about all this chicken business. I've never had canned chicken, but it was good. Real good. So I bought a 40lb box, which I think made just under 20 jars. Mom canned for me while I sewed Henry's costume. 1 down, 1 to go. The chicken has a pinch of salt and dried onions. It's going to be great food storage. We didn't get to can beans, but she sent me home with some black, pinto & white. So maybe next time. We are crossing our fingers we'll be back up for Christmas.
****BOTTLED CHICKEN INFO FROM MY MOM
The chicken in the pictures is pre-processed. Each quart jar holds approximately 2 lbs. of raw chicken.
After putting in the bottles, it goes into the pressure canner for 90 minutes of processing.
When it's done, it's fully cooked and ready for soups, stir-fry,
salads, casseroles, sandwiches and nibbling. Makes whipping up a meal
easy-breezy.
Dried beans from your storage can also be bottled. After soaking
overnight, stick 'em in the jars, add dried onions and salt, fill with
hot water and process for 45 minutes. Beans. Ready to pour into soups
etc. And SO inexpensive.
You can do it. Really. Take no genius. And you'll feel so good about yourself!
We had a good day of thrifting (including a stop at Star Mill in AF) As soon as I unpack my stuff, I'll take some pictures. A day out with Azucar (yes, THE Azucar- as she will now be refered to in all my posts) 
We took the kids to the "Barnyard Boo" at Thanksgiving Point (Henry kept asking where exactly the mysterious 'point' was located) where we enjoyed pony rides, cookie decorating, animal watching and a horse-drawn ride. 
We had a mini-Boston reunion lunch with Jason, Jennie, Jill, Joanne and Jim. I can't believe we were invited since our name didn't start with "J" but they let us in. We ate on the 10th floor and Henry was more interested in his aerial view of the trains than the temple.
We are getting unpacked and not looking forward to the heaps of laundry that need to be done. It's so good to be home.
xo
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