What a day

I had a very nice visit yesterday afternoon with my friends, the Ofenhitzers.  When I arrived at their home Klaus was out walking the dog, and that left Erika and me a chance to get caught up for a good long while.  We chatted and laughed a bit until 'the boys' arrived home.

This is the first time I have met Loki (which is [a] German word for 'mischief').  If you knew Klaus you would know how completely appropriate it is for that monniker on his dog!  Kaidra, their beautiful Dalmation (and their baby), died about two years ago. So being a good German, Klaus went out and found a German Shepherd to mend his broken heart.

The plan was for Klaus to cook - and I was looking forward to his bar-b-que - but appetites got the better of some of us, so we went out to dinner at one of their favorite haunts in Waterford instead.  It was busy and therefore very noisy.  Needless to say conversation was a little rough, but the company and delicious  meal was still worth it.

I noticed Erika's small garden area was overrun with weeds, so as we parted last night I offered to drop by and eradicate the problem for her/them, if they wanted and didn't mind.  See, Erika had had a stroke a year and one half ago, and hasn't been able to do those things she so loves doing.  I could easily identify with her situation in that following the surgery for my intestinal 'blowout', I was unable to bend for quite some time, and I watched my lovely beds become a haven for every manner of weed. 

It's definitely a blow to the psyche to see things happen and have no control of the situation or outcome.

They accepted my offer and I made plans to return the next morning to pull out the offensive mass of weeds.

I arrived at their home this morning about 10:15 or so and got right to work.  The weeds pulled out fairly easily and I managed to bag up four very full lawn refuse bags of green nastiness before I was dismissed for the day. ;)  Thankfully, there was a nice breeze to keep me company, and I was in the shade the entire time.  I arrived with a large cup of water, which Erika made sure Klaus kept filled as I worked, and by one-thirty I was ready to call it quits.  The temp began in the mid-eighties and had climbed to near ninety by one o'clock.

Still, it was a snap. 

A huge dent was made in a sort of medium-large area, and I will finish it up Wednesday morning once I return from a Michigan road trip.  More on that another time. 

For now, I need to clean up and get ready to head north - first, to Saginaw for one more Saginaw Eddy Band 'concert in the park,' and then on to Traverse City.  Fill you in later.  Try to keep cool and dry in the meanwhile.

The alarm

Cleo is the greatest timepiece our family possesses.  Her habits and appetite are precise...down to the nearest hour. ;)

She actually rumbled down to my sleeping area this morning, which hasn't happened in some time.  There was the time where she was the only one to deliver the morning arm slurp and news of the day:

"Me so hungry!"

Lately, Flop has been the one camping out on my bed when I go to sleep and will still be there when I awaken next day.  And every so often, for about the last four months or so, Flop will go so far as to lick my fingers or palm then rub her face there - either asking for attention or taking a cheap cat bath.  Either way, it's an eye opener.

Cleo will (on occasion now, but much less often) come down to the bedside and mew; Flop will grumble; I pick Cleo up and place her beside me; Flop growls, hisses, hops down; Cleo takes Flop's warm spot and purrs, while I pet, and we have a quick morning chat, then; we make the bed and head up for breakfast.

It's always between 6:30AM and 6:45AM.  Always as I have just awakened, or, am at the precipice of waking. If I happen to be awake much earlier, then the routine commences slightly earlier, but always to happy pleading mews for food.

Once the fooding (yes, I meant "fooding" and not 'feeding') has ended for the trio, I will read email, look for work, etc. Around half an hour later (sometimes less) Cleo finds me in the library when she realizes her seconds need doling out. 

We walk to the kitchen - her the excited pup circling my feet, and me trying to avoid tripping over her circuitous routine. 

Refilled, her little plate is carried to the library where now Hobbes sits drooling and requesting extra service, too (knowing full well she won't get it). 

Cleo waits for a little loving and then eats most of her second portion.

From there, it is a slight respite while I do other things and the girls use the cat box, lounge, wash up, catnap and/or play.  By 9:30AM to 10, Cleo then wanders the hall, mewing and asking for the next bit...CAT TREATS!

We settle into our positions (oh, yes - the girls like it served from a certain chair, and they like to chase the snacky bites into their own corners). 

After the pitching of the snacks is done, Cleo wants into Bud's room and her position on the bed (usually under a small quilt), where she resides for the better part of the rest of the day.

Uh huh, I know...it sounds way too complicated, but it is our routine.  Things are going to have to change when I get a job. Someone else is going to have to deal with the alarm clock and her appetite then.

Yawn

I love being challenged throughout the day, and by day's end I love to be mentally taxed.

Today began damp and stuffy and 'close' - just plain uncomfortable.  It had rained once more (sometime in the wee morning hours), which only served to make everything that much more sticky with the added humidity.

On my honor, I could have wrung a few ounces of water from the wood floor downstairs. Ugh!

EVERYthing feels wet.  Waaahhh.

Anyhow, to get back to the day: I went to the second of three classes at the BBAC, and I am loving it!  More later, when I have a finished product to share...then it will make more sense.  Just completed three-quarters of my pile of "homework," and will try to get an early start tomorrow so as to complete the assignment on time (or, at least the lion's share for review). 

Don't you know, I bit off my usual more-than-I-can-chew, and made my piece a little more detailed and involved than it needed to be.  Will be interesting to see how far I can get in the time remaining before - and during - the last session.

For now, I am yawning and can't keep focused long enough to do anything more, so it is definitely time for bed!  The 'taxman' cometh.

Thanks again, for the rain, Mom!

I went outside to put out the trash and ended up 'round back pulling weeds and trying to right my topsy-turvy hibiscus. 

The amount of rain, or the rate at which it fell (ALL NIGHT LONG), seems to have messed with half of the plant's equalibrium.  At first, I thought if I shook off the excess water from the flopping branches it would be (pardon the expression) right as rain, but that didn't do the trick.  I am going to have to locate my twine and bundle it to the more rigid limbs for the next day or two and see if the bowing branches don't rejoin the pack.

It's understandable that the snowball-mounded hydrangea should have that problem, it's weighted down enough to begin with. There's a wonderous proliferation of flowerheads this year (and it is sorely drooping in all directions from the center because of the added weight of the rain).

That is another thing to have to deal with before the day is over (trimming out the dead wood and clipping off the older flowerheads - even though they are not spent or brown). For now I am content knowing I will not have to worry over the grass (which I usually don't, except when it needs mowing) or have to water the flowerbed today.

Thanks, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Somebody appears to have ordered you rain, and I just want to thank you for sharing it with us - we really needed it.

;^)

Have a fabulous day!

By the way, the girls say "Happy birthday to mew," and the boys will be along shortly to grunt in your direction.

I love you!

July 2004

Gotta love nature

I've got a lot of white in my garden, and I never get tired of looking at it.

Hi!-biscus



Veronica - one of the rescued plants



Sadly, my beautiful wisteria will not be the original Chinese White I had (and lost), it will be a blue bloomer instead.  

The white wisteria was to be the focal point in the back bed, but you can't always get what you want, eh? I looked online for quite a while to find an ever-blooming white variety, and when I did finally find a vendor...they wanted eighty-plus dollars for it!

So, I have begun to add touches of deep purples to black variety blooms throughout the perennials to balance out the blue-ish wisteria blossoms to come. 

Next year I will be able to stand back and see how it all comes together, and then fill in those 'funny' spots as need be.

Of course, amongst the multitude of white there is color; predominantly pinks and yellows, but my beloved Green Envy echinacea and Limelight hydrangea are present throughout.  Next year I would love to add Green Envy zinnias and green pincushion flowers as well.

Good morning

Not certain, yet, how I feel this morning.  If I had to say anything at all about my mood, I would have to say I am somewhat ambivilant. Still feeling lost.

Watered the garden (which I should have done yesterday) and was roundly raspberried and booed by the plants. While tending to that chore, a Gold Finch landed on the telephone line where it crosses the patio.  I must have been still enough, because the little fellow then swooped down to a low branch on one of the hydrangea and proceeded to bob and weave - almost as if he was dancing to an internal Michael Jackson song.

The hibiscus and both remaining hydrangea are now flowering, as is the green ick, and I love the colors. Will have to find a better spot for the ick, though.

Flop and I shared a moment yesterday afternoon with a dusty little female cardinal.  She landed in the front flowerbed outside an open window, and spent some time fluttering and chirp-chipping around in the bed, hopping from the porch to the window sill to the ground and back again.  This caused Flop a lot of drooly moments while she tried to get the best view.  Each time the cardinal perched momentarily on the sill, Flop did her best to become invisible - poor thing - and the cardinal teased and flitted.

Once she flew off, Flop looked at me and mewed softly. I had to agree.

Currently, there is a rather industrious robin cleaning out the gutter just outside the library window.  There is all manner of loud shuffling, followed by the heaving of old leaf material propelled over the edge of the eave and past the window.  Guess I should get out there and join him.

Remember, all quilting posts and photos are now at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com.  See you there!

P.P.S. Maybe I should warn you, or apologize in advance...

...or maybe today's entry should just stand as is [below].

I thought about annotating just ahead of the entry to let you know I am in a foul mood, and that reading it may kill a fairie or 'bring the house down,' but then I thought: "Eh. Enter at your own risk (today)."

Apologizing for having a blue day seems anti-counterproductive - if you get my meaning.

Smiling

There are so few things to smile about any more, yet I have so many things to be happy and thankful for - I find myself at odds in my own head.

I am feeling hopeless and defeated, left behind and worthless.

Unable to procure full time corporate employment on a permanent basis (oh, who am I kidding - it's not really available, except temporarily....and for young people), and with finding work in the film industry drying up like puddles in the Arizona sun, I am becoming more bereft of joy and lacking desire to step outside my front door. Every day makes less sense and leaves me feeling more like a failure.

Sadly, I have more time than I know what to do with, and still I can't make myself really do much of anything.

This is Anxiety 101, and I am the poster child.

[P.S. I know this is boo-hooing. Back off and leave me alone, I need to stop grinning like a jackal for a bit and process how I really feel. Go read a different entry if you want a chuckle. This is how I feel today. Grrrrrrr.]

Well, Maria, you've inspired me

My friend, Maria, decided to forgo eating meat for a week, and reports having lost roughly four pounds for her efforts! Way to go!

I am not certain I'll be able to stick it out an entire week, but I am going to give it a shot.

I mean, why not?

The great experiment will begin tonight - since I just made BLTs for the boys and myself (mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...bacon).

I miss you already, meat. [sniff]

One thought: Will it be OK if I continue to take my omega-3 supplement...since it technically comes from meat? ;)

Uh-huh...just what I thought

I walked in from garden patrol with muddy hands and a desire to soap them clean and brush up under my nails. Inside it was cool because the AC unit was on and a strategically placed, oscillating floor fan was wafting the air to and fro.

I kicked off my boots and mounted the two steps from the back door to the kitchen. Then I heard it.

The unmistakable sound of rustling tissue paper.

At the same time, Hobbes peeked out from around a corner and began her usual meowling conversation. Although, I can't quite say if she was asking me for more food, the chance to go outdoors herself, or if she was tattling on her little sister. Knowing Hobbes, it was most likely a combination of the three.

I concentrated on the tissue noise and looked over to find Flop attempting to skulk off the kitchen table while trying to keep eye contact with me (if she was spotted) and look adorable. She had been resting on my sewing on the table!

Hobbes: "I told hers nots to be theres. I told hers it was wrong to bes theres. I told hers she was goings to gets in troubles. I told hers I wanted to bes theres, but she woulds not shows me hows."

Me: "What are you doing up there? Get down! Flop! Get down."

Hobbes: "Can I gets more foods?"

Flop: A silent meow and an attempt to look adorable as she repositioned herself from a terrified flight crouch to a new state of repose on my dress.

All I can figure is that since I have moved, and begun using, the material in the shopping bags (that Flop would lie on) from the library floor, she just saw the easiest remedy was to follow the soft, squishy material from the bag to the kitchen table. Fair was fair. And the fact that the tissue paper makes the same noise as the plastic bag is just a bonus.

But how to account for getting stuck with pins? That had to be a shocker from time to time.

Well, at least now I know how it is that my perfectly pressed patterns and assembled pieces came to be wrinkled every now and again.

Unbelievable

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the slain 85 children in Norway.

Yesterday's news of an attack on that peaceful country was a shocker, and I can only imagine the jaw-dropping incredulity that enveloped those poor people as their day unfolded.

First, a bomb exploding in their downtown district, killing and maiming and wreaking havoc. Then, a very short time later, an open, vicious attack from a countryman dressed as a police officer.

He called the young campers on an island retreat over to him, and then opened fire. Those he shot in cold blood he then shot once again - in the head - at close range.

Eighty-four. 84!! Those were innocent children, aging in range from 12 years to 19 years old.

Here's an even more unbelievable piece of news. Norway has a twenty-one year maximum prison sentence and no death penalty. That's right. That son-of-a-bi*ch with a gun will be allowed to walk out of prison before he turns fifty-five! With good behavior, he could be out before he's fifty!

How about they charge him with more than 84 counts of murder? Back-to-back sentences still wouldn't be enough.

Unbelievable.

Nothing like it

There is nothing like the happy feeling of zipping through email. Going from one website to another, surfing the web for jobs and communication without having to wait for a site to load.

The boys are still in bed sleeping, so I have the entire DSL bandwidth to myself!

That's right...I am looking for work and switching websites like nothing. Like a hot knife through butter. Like I had a job and could afford to pay for fast internet! I love surfing in the morning!!!!

Better get back to it while I can. Once Igor and Twinkmeister get online....connectivity crawls! I may as well string up a tin can to a cord and draw myself pictures - that is the only way I can get connected with my information when the knuckleheads get online.

The saddest part of today is sitting in here, looking for work and looking through email, when the weather is beautifully cool and I could be outdoors getting something done. But there's nothing like being able to surf! Look Ma - no waiting!!

Another phone interview

Had a phone interview with yet another contracting firm today. The call was supposed to happen yesterday after lunch, but never did.

I sent a polite "sorry I missed your call" email to the gentleman who was supposed to have called, telling him I was going grocery shopping this morning before the heat became ferocious, and that I would be available for the remainder of the afternoon. He responded shortly thereafter with "I will call you at 11."

This does not bode well for this particular agency. He does not read for content, and he does not follow through unless prompted.

Somewhere around 11:30 - as I am half of the way through the supermarket - he phoned, and I had my prelim interview. His capabilities are even more in question now as he then asked me to send him my resume when I got home. I pointed out that my resume had been sent as an attachment (with my introductory cover letter days before), and had ridden along on all subsequent emails and responses.

I ask you, should I expect much from this outfit?

Dripping

Actually, 'wringing' would have been a more appropriate description of my current state. I've just finished watering my lovelies in the garden and putting out the trash, and now I think I shall water myself!

Woof! These are not the "dog days of summer," these are the "camel days."

Once I am somewhat cleaned up, I will head to the store and grab three upright fans (towers) - one for each of the boys' rooms (ceiling fans are for crap), and one more for the lower level. At least the moving air will feel better than still, stagnant air.

Last night the temp outdoors only got as low as 78*F, and I could hear the boys tossing and turning in the heat. I was sticky and uncomfortable so I knew they had to be suffering, and for the longest time this morning I listened to the early news (and their weather weenie) and wondered: should I go up and turn on the attic fan and draw the air through, or just leave it alone?

Well, I tried drawing the air only through the boys' rooms and the bathroom, but the thermostat never dipped from the 81* mark. It was futile - although I do think the bulk of moving air did help a little for the boys' sake. After 25 minutes I turned it off!

I did not do the usual weeding because it is just too hot already. Even in the shade (and with the occasional breezes) I am opting out today, but I hope you enjoyed the few shots I added from the garden.

Wahoo, we did it!

We managed to get the house down to a remarkable 75*F overnight! Sadly, by mid-afternoon we will see the temps right back around the 80* mark (inside), perhaps a degree or two warmer, and it will inch up as the day progresses, with the exterior 90's baking the house.

Seventy-five degrees is about as cool as it's been inside for the last week or better with this dreadful heatwave, and as you may well know, it isn't forecasted to be any cooler for some time to come.

There was a quick rainfall a day or two ago, but rather than cool things off it only served to enhance the humidity to a horrible degree. When the weather is like this it helps me to put some perspective on things.

For example: (except for the humudity) this is how it feels - to some extent - for our troops overseas in Afghanistan and/or Iran/Iraq/etc., everyday. We do not have to don bullet-proof vests and heavy gear to walk around. Happily, we do not have to contend with bullets and landmines, terrorist cars filled with explosives, scorpions, sand chiggers and the like. If we want to change our scenery, all we have to do is hop on a bus or into our cars and drive to a preferred location. So, while this heat is not my most favorite thing about summer, I can handle the inconvenience and discomfort of these hot, hot days knowing I have it pretty darned good...all things considered.

On a lighter note - I've just come in from watering my lovely perennial bed, and I am pretty certain I could hear gulping and sighs of relief, but I may have been imagining things when a clump of echinacea said "thank you."

More another time, for now I am going to shower and cool off a bit (more) before the day really begins. Maybe I will even convince Karl to step out to the mall for a cool reprieve, or to a movie in the middle of the afternoon.

Take it easy and be cool, people.

A photo opp of Karl after the haircut and trim

It turns out that, in an earlier post, I did neglect to load the four generation shot of my little group - my lovely mom, gram, the boys and myself - so here it is!

As it turns out

I wrote about Gram's party and listed the MIA's. Michael and Rachel, and their little bug Adeline (named for Gram!), were unable to attend because Rachel was three weeks out from her due date.

I say "was" because she isn't any longer!

Yesterday afternoon, she delivered a healthy baby boy whom they named Simeon Thomas. Welcome to the world, Simeon...and congratulations to the expanding family. God's blessings to you all.

Our next known population boom will happen within one month - cousin Tiffany is expecting her second as well, and that should happen some time in early to mid-August.

In all, there are eight children who produced fifteen grandchildren; and we all created (to date) twenty-three great grand babies!

Oh, and yes, Maria, Gram does look pretty darned good for 100. ;) Thank you for the lovely wishes - I will pass them along.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

100!

My grandmother turned 100 yesterday. Yup - the big one-oh-oh.

I know!

The event took place in the hall/gym of her church, so the lighting was horrid (thinking like a photog), and in spite of that, many of the photos turned out fairly well. There were hundreds upon hundreds taken, and Gram was pooped about one-third of the way through it - but she held up like a trooper.

Lots of relatives, some friends from church, people living in her apartment complex, etc. The usual suspects.
Although, she had a real surprise when my eldest brother turned up, and I had to say I wondered if that would happen, but it was a very happy surprise. There were very few immediate family members who didn't make it - mostly of the grandchild persuasion (of course, and their great-grandchild progeny), and only one of her children was not in attendance.
Justin, Michael and Rachel (and lil' Adeline) were missed. Tiffany and crew, you were missed as well - although you were understandably AWOL. Donald and his brood were once again absent - with the exception of the eldest son, Jonathan.

Once the shock and noisy chaos of the day wears off, I think Gram will enjoy being able to sit down and look through photographs of the day to remember the faces and the moment.

Half the battle

Getting Karl to agree to a haircut is not unlike a military coup. A battle finessed and refined until just the last moment, and then.....blamo!

You spring the trap.

You release the hounds.

You lower the boom.

After getting his hair cut, the next hurdle was to scalp his face...or, at the very least, cut a swath to his cute face through his massive red beard. Thin it out as the case may be. Trim it up. When you see the photos from Gram's party tomorrow, you will then understand what a difference a day and a dollar and a good set of garden shears can make!

And..........

We met Karl's newest MRS coordinator/'client' representative today. "Ms. H" called Tuesday or Wednesday this week and made an appointment with Karl for today at noon.

He was pleasant enough throughout the exchange, and she asked all of the standard questions and made notes. It's safe to say he is weary of the steeplechase runaround, the repetition and the hoops at the MRS office; fed up with their pedantic paperwork and procedure. He has become jaded and almost disinterested in his own welfare because of the lack of momentum and follow-through on the part of the MRS.

My wish is for this new person to be proactive and truly engaged in moving Karl forward through the endless process. I wish for her to see K as he is, and not for what he appears to outwardly be. Only when she sees Karl's strengths and weaknesses - past the sarcastic humor and defensive non-chalance - will she understand where he is and what he needs to be able to become a member of the working society.

I am sure Karl is thinking 'this one won't last long' (like all of the previous reps), and before long he will be put through the process of being reassigned all over again. Each time a rep leaves he loses ground (at both ends), and it has all just become annoyingly predictable. No progress, just LOTS of lip service and rhetoric.

I'm not sure how much squeakier this old wheel can get.

Well, for now we will give Ms. H some time to get her feet under her and begin shuttling Karl through the MRS mill (again).....but only to a point, and we will not be led backwards through the already conquered gauntlet. We will not let it go past the end of August without seeing something new arrive - like a game plan or a program, etc. She is seemingly atuned (and perhaps genuine) in her desire to help, but I guess everything will wash out. She has stepped into a large caseload and is playing catch-up quickly with all her new needful charges. Karl is one of many.

But it's about time. It's Karl's turn, dagnabit!

Hello, again. Hello.

I have been keeping myself busy - looking for work, editing photos, some sporadic gardening, sewing, sewing, sewing (more cutting out stuff than actual sewing - but you've gotta start at the beginning), and house cleaning.

And, yes, I think I have been avoiding coming online to 'goof around' for the most part, staying out of the blog on purpose. Aside from idle chatter about the weather and gardening updates, it seems as though I have not had much to say. The disappointment in still not finding any work - of any sort - has become a serious drain on my mood. No one wants to read consistantly depressing reports, so I opted to say nothing.

You know that old adage: "If you can't say something nice, yakkity schmakkity," or some such.

Had a fairly good week with Karl. He allowed for a trip out of the house for shoe shopping (which he needed very badly), and that trip I stretched into a haircut and then foraging for a pair of jeans (which he also needed very badly) before turning the car for home. This was all way outside his comfort zone, but aside from the usual offhand flip remarks about being bored and ready to call it quits, he did well.

See, with Karl, you have to reason and strategize a lot of the time. I reasoned that since he was already out of the house he/we may as well do the other necessary things rather than to have to leave again another day...and another to get these things done.

When he sees it laid out logically he is a little more apt to go along. "Just because," or "because I said so" stopped working a long time ago.

The furthest outside his comfort zone he had to venture was putting on new socks in order to try out the shoes. He typically wears really thick, white, mid-calf socks, and I made him put on dark (thinner) dress socks to find his new shoes. He was noteably annoyed at the prospect of changing from his happy old friends to another type of stocking ("they feel weird and they make my legs cold!"). An annoyance further amplified by having to do so there, in the store!!!

After an easy half dozen shoes (I truly think it was eight pair), he settled on something we could both live with and afford.

Thank you, Barb, for the help with this project/process/painful event.

Oh, and Maria, thank you for sending Karl a birthday card. He couldn't figure out the handwriting or the address (not familiar to him), and you had the Ellery Queen in him stumped. Once he finally knew who it was he received an extra card from, he was very pleased and flattered. Thank you for you kindness - from both of us. <3

Another good bit of news is regarding Brian. He got a promotion and a raise with the reorganizing of the store! It wasn't the position he preferred, but it was his second choice (and as I keep pointing out to him) and it was a promotion - not a lateral move, and not the boot out the door. Plus, it comes with a nice raise and a guaranteed number of hours every week...and there's always room for growth and further promotion down the road if he chooses to stay.

So -- GOOD JOB, BRIAN! Congratulations, I am proud of you!

OK, that's all of the nice stuff I have to say, so I am backing away from the keyboard. My job search for the day is over and I have other things to do. Until next time, thanks for looking in, my friend. Hello and goodbye.....................for now.

22 reasons to be happy!

Happy birthday, once again, to my littlest boy!

Today, Karl turns twenty-two.

TWENTY-TWO!!

In attempting to edit together a progression of photos to get him from 'bug butt' to the young man he is now, we found some ghosts in the machine (software troubles), but I hope to have the video completed sometime this year. ;)

Happy birthday, Karl. I love you!

Due to....

The lack of promised garden progress photos is due to dinner.

That's right!

Ahm-nom-nom.

I had a 25% off coupon from Lil Daddy's in Bloomfield Hills, SO we decided to go to dinner today to celebrate Karl's birthday. Hey, we couldn't pass it up...I mean, 25% off the bill (excluding beverages), and Karl likes their food! Besides, the coupon would've been no good after today and it took care of two necessities at once. That and, Bud would be working tomorrow making dinner out for Karl's b-day a no-go.

Win-win.

Photos tomorrow...pinky swear.

Home again, home again - higgedy jig!

At least, I think it's "higgedy-jig."

Returned home Sunday after a brief road trip with Jean and her daughter, Barb. We journeyed to Kalamazoo Saturday morning to visit another of her (accomplished and beautiful) girls after a July fourth concert in Saginaw the night before. It was a pleasant drive and the conversations were the usual - continuous, and filled with laughter and some introspection.

The daughter in K-zoo is an osteopathic doctor, performing her residency there. She has a lovely urban-funk-loft apartment in the downtown district, literally 'walking minutes' away from anything and everything, which is everything in today's economy. And even in Kalamazoo it can seem very chic and metropolitan to be able to walk to any one of a number of restaurants, entertainment spots, movie houses, the Farmer's Market, work, etc.

Dr. C is making me rethink what it is I want to do when I grow up, with her oh-so-cool abode and neat lifestyle!

Barb, Jean and I climbed back into "Louise" and headed east the next morning, but found it already hot and semi-sticky hours before noon! Thankfully, the AC worked well, and we made several fun stops on the way, too.

Thanks for including me in the family time, ladies.

While on the road I worried about the garden (no, not the boys), and called to be certain the boys were being smart about the fan and open windows versus the use of the AC and keeping cool. I won't even go into that debacle - it hurts too much to think of the wasted electricity!

On the other hand, Karl did water the plants and eat (and sort of do most of the other things he was assigned) - and the house was still standing - so it wasn't a complete horror returning home. I am only cringing a little.

Awoke this morning to silence and realized the air was very still. Very still. Turned on the TV to hear that there are several areas south of us without power; several thousands of folks without electricity, and I wondered if we were one of those households...until I remembered that I wouldn't have been able to turn on the morning news if we had had no power. [forehead smack]

I quickly ran upstairs and turned on the attic fan to draw the remainder of the cool morning air into/through the house. The heat of the day will arrive and bear down in a scant few hours, and I want the interior as cool to begin with as can be.

Can you blame me?

The thermostat said it was 76*F at 6AM, but currently (now 8:02AM) the temps have lowered about as far as they can with the sun over the horizon and climbing high. If the boys had left the fan on the entire night, the interior temp would be in the sixties right now, but the best we can do for today is 71*F as a starting point. Ah well....I will take it and be happy!

The garden is calling my name, so I am heading out there to finish the last of the grooming and replanting at the north end of the pergola. May have to trek to Lowe's for a few more bags of topsoil to get the job done - we'll see. And there are several die hard grass blades in that end that require pulling. Darn them! Oh, and those pavers to establish yet as the border for the last ten or eleven feet....but it is really so close to being completed that I can now concentrate on weed-pulling maintenance in the back, and head around to the front and begin my real work there. I am bound and determined to get this all done this year!

There will be a few photos tonight to show you the before and after of the perennial bed out back - there really is a BIG difference from the last couple of years to this. Being able to get out there and really work has been a Godsend - the last two summers of inactivity and "taking it easy" following the abdominal surgery were heartbreaking and maddening. I still have to be careful, but this has been liberating - and a load off of my mind - getting back into a normal routine in the yard.

Oh, crap! I left my hat in Jean's car!

And while I'm on it...

I guess I am thinking more lately of the things Karl did as a boy because in a few short days he will turn 22! It doesn't seem possible, but eventually they grow up (to some degree).

Anyhow, my introspection of Karl's milestones and observations is natural for a mother, I suppose, especially as birthdays approach. We always see the children we bore as our babes, while still marveling at the people they become - sometimes due to our example and meddling...and sometimes in spite of it!

I'm thinking how funny it is that children hear what we say and then how it sticks in their memory banks; and how much funnier it is when they try to use it later in conversation.

When dropping Brian off at a childhood friend's house for a party, I was going over the usual things: remember to use "please" and "thank you," use a napkin, I'll pick you up by..., etc. A four-year-old Karl chimed in towards the end of the litany with "...and mind your keys and pews."

I think you know what that was meant to be.