This is how we spent two hours Friday: lined up to cross the French Broad River bridge. TWICE. (I’ve been calling it the French Bread River Basin since then; it is neither broad nor bread, but certainly it’s worth poking fun at).

And here’s the catch: we didn’t have to cross it even once, much less twice: we had the audio turned off on the navigation, & I hadn’t read the map. Remember maps??

But here’s my payoff: today’s birthday party for my grandson, who turned two. Baking his bday cupcakes — flour everywhere (we’ve already cleaned up a bit in this pic!), and messy hugs. Breaking eggs together and blowing bubbles. Who wouldn’t trade 2 hours on a bridge in bumper2bumper for those??

Did I think of those while moving at 7 mph? Of course not. And yet…. It’s hard to get upset when you’re on a road trip w/ your son, heading to your DIL & grandson. I know what wonders await me!

I just have to figure out how to translate this kind of peaceful coexistence w/ frustration to more mundane challenges. Laundry, I’m looking at you ~