Arrrgh!!!

My youngest sister and her family have blown in for the weekend. We get to visit with them two or three times a year, and they have managed to carve out three and a half days in their busy schedules to share with us.

It's really embarrassing to admit that we have four full bathrooms in this house. We worked with the architect on the design. We had NO idea what the taxes would be like for four bathrooms, or we might have reconsidered that splurge!

At any rate, normally there are just four adults in this house. I share one of the bathrooms with Dear Husband, Elegante Mother uses the main bath on the first floor, and Step-Son2 uses the bath in the loft. The last one is in the basement. It was SUPPOSED to be the place where Dear Husband started his return home from work, but it hasn't worked out that way. But, when you're working in the basement, it's really nice not to have to run up a flight of stairs to get to a john!

Manse.....the Buffy manse is full to overflowing with family this weekend. We are fortunate to have Dear Husband's oldest son with us for a few days. His siblings have come to visit through out the past day or two, and they will all gather tomorrow to sail with Dear Husband and then have dinner here.

MEME SAVES THE DAY

This is from Cop Car’s blog, who got it from BogieBlog, who got it from Jim at Parkway Rest Stop.

What I was doing fifty years ago: Enjoying the summer between kindergarten and first grade. Moving from the suburbs of Chicago to the farmland of Illinois.

What I was doing twenty-five years ago: Finishing my master’s degree in music education, and preparing to start my last year as a teacher.

What I was doing twenty years ago: Celebrating the Bear’s win at the Super Bowl, retraining in bookkeeping, forming a quilt guild and a bee.

What I was doing fifteen years ago: Settling into our new home, taking responsibility for my mother’s care, teaching quilting classes and creating my current position as the office for Dear Husband’s company.

What I was doing ten years ago: The same.

5 years ago: More of the same.

1 year ago: More of the same. What can I say? I’m stuck in a rut. My life has been static for the last 16 years. Other than making new quilts, my life is a round of cleaning, exercise, office work and gardening.

Yesterday: I started out with two hours of gardening, watered the herb garden and the container garden, filled the bird feeders, started several loads of wash, and then I sat with Dear Husband and his oldest son during the heat of the day. My step-daughter brought her baby and we visited with her through the afternoon. Dinner was pizza, followed by two more hours of gardening.

5 snacks I enjoy: Chips, popcorn, nuts, fruit, chocolate

5 songs I know all the words to: The Star Spangled Banner, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ave Maria, Yesterday, The First Noel

5 Things I would do with $100 million: I like a lot of Cop Car’s answer "Set up trusts that would allow all of our family to live in relative comfort (This would only take about $15M.) then set up trusts to benefit my favorite charities and schools (Planned Parenthood, YWCA Women's Shelter, American Red Cross," ... University of Illinois, and the American Cancer Fund, and diabetes research.

5 locations I would like to run away to: Scotland, the Pacific Northwest, the Eastern seacoast of the USA….particularly the far Northeast, and the Chesapeake Bay area, New Orleans in the winter and spring.

5 bad habits I have:
"Swearing, ignoring built-up dust, procrastinating, snacking, loafing"
Stolen from Cop Car, because they also apply to me.

5 things I like doing: Creating quilts, reading, cooking, sharing my home with friends, gardening.

5 things I would never wear: Imitation leopard skin pants, a bee hive hairdo, body piercings other than for earings, A GIRDLE, low rise jeans paired with a baby T.

5 TV shows I like: Monk, Law and Order (any of them), Farscape (now defunct)

5 Biggest joys of the moment:
Dear Husband, our extended families, especially our granddaughter, two quilts which are nearing completion, On-line friends who encourage me to grow, and the wildlife we get to watch from our windows.

5 Favorite toys:
My computers, the kitchen equipment we’ve amassed, my quilting tools and software, my pruning shears.

Rather than send this to five people I offer it to anyone who wishes to copy and run with it. My thanks to Cop Car, Bogie and Jim from Parkway Rest Stop for sharing it.

I was astonished to find today that my blog has had over 17,600 visitors in the two years that I have had a site meter. Of course, some of those visits are from me, but if even half the number comes from other readers, then I am blessed with kind friends, especially since I have been in a rut, and not posting lately!

Thank you, thank you, for stopping by. *G*

We've had a really lazy day, today. The boys came early this morning, probably expecting that I would work them into the ground again. I wasn't quite ready for the CPA's assistant, who was supposed to visit today, so I sent the boys off to snooze for a bit while I finished up.

I was just about ready to leave the office when the assistant called to let me know that she was ill and would have to reschedule. I stepped into the living room to find that both boys were sound asleep, even though it was about 8:30. I went back to work for a bit. At 10:00 I checked on them again....and they were STILL sound asleep. I bet you can tell I haven't raised a male teenager.

Rather than wake them, I made a quick trip to the grocery store. They heard me bring the groceries in, and their stomachs must have suggested it was time to get up.

We had an unusual day at the Buffy Bed and Breakfast, today. As you know, I am the caregiver for my mother. That's a bit misleading, actually. At 88, Elegant Mother is still pretty much able to take care of herself. We provide her home, and meals and transportation, and she does most of the rest.

Today, things shifted a little bit in that strange swap of positions that aging parents and their children endure. I had to take on a little bit more of the "in charge" position, while EM relinquished it.

Not a Large Mac from you know who....but the Chicago to Mackinac race up Lake Michigan. This year is the 99th sailing of the Mac, which is sponsored by the Chicago Yacht Club. Every boat competing in the Mac must have at least one member of the Chicago Yacht Club as part of its crew.

Two hundred thirty five boats were signed up in the various classes to participate in the race this year. The fastest passage was 23 hours, 30-some minutes, but most of the boats will make the trip in 48 to 60 hours.

Some people will make just one Mac trip in their lives, but the sailors who are addicted to this race can join the "old goats" when they have competed 25 times. Some families have generations of sailors who have competed.

Dear Husband is a solo sailor, so he's not in the middle of the pack tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if he chooses to do the solo sailed race sponsored by the Solo Sailing Society one day. You can bet I'll blog about it should he go!

MY WEEDS ARE WILTING!

Does that give you an idea how bad things are here?

We're running sprinklers on the gardens at the front door and hand watering the herb garden and containers, but everything else is being left to the whim of the weather. I have some tall weeds at the edge of the grove to the north of the house, and yesterday I realized that the weeds are wilting. I have never seen weeds wilt before.

On the news tonight, they announced that we are in the worst drought since 1988. In the period from March 16 to July 16, the Chicago area has received 9.09 inches of precipitation less than the norm. I suspect that our little area is further in the hole than that. We are just north of a freeway, and there is something about those ribbons of cement that detours the rain clouds.

I'm going to look up the instructions for rain dances, and encourage all my friends to pray for RAIN! Please! I need a week of gloomy, gray, drippy days. I promise I won't complain.

I believe that one of my stepsons gets the award for the Most Generous Stepson of the Year!

Last night he came in and plopped "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" into my lap. He said, "I have all the books, but I haven't read any of them. I thought you might like to read this copy first."

Wowwwwwwwwww!!! Is that cool, or what??

I just wish this wasn't the week from He!!....and that I didn't have two other books I need to read for my book club. I'll read as much as I can until things calm down on Thursday. I may be AWOL from my blog for a bit! *G*

Wednesday, the boys came to us later than usual. I had an audit, and went to pick them up about noon. After lunch, I helped them get started on the project for the day. I had to run three errands before I could join them.

As I gave them the last of the instructions, I realized that a thunderstorm was flying toward us from the north. We covered the lawn mower and they headed inside. I thought I could out run the storm and get my errands done. HA!

We had three or four isolated thunderstorms that afternoon. In each, we had 10-20 minutes of hard rain before it cleared off. You could hear the ground go Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

I don't know how many days it had been since we had measurable rain, but those brief showers weren't enough. We're still in drought, and will be for a while. Sunday, the weathermen are predicting that we will hit 100 degrees or more. We can only hope that the cooler weather next week will bring us some relief.

This morning I was out at 5:15 in the morning, setting up the hose to water the gardens at the front door. Before I went back into the house, I decided to fill the bird feeder and birdbath.

We have certainly had our share of doctor's appointments this past week. You'd think that I'd be doing my best to avoid any more visits. I had a 6 month physical scheduled for Monday when all of this stuff came up with Elegant Mother. Added to that, Ed, the cat has a vet visit on Saturday.

The darned cat has a cold! Normally, I'd let him wait it out, but we spent most of April and some of May treating him with antibiotics for toxoplasmosis, and I think he may need a check up.

Pretty soon we will reach the "Enough is ENOUGH!" stage. I know I'm getting close.

There's a bank of six tall windows behind the antique trestle table in the living room where my computer sits. I was working on e-mail this afternoon when I heard a rap-rap-rapping on the window behind me.

A young blackbird was standing on the sill outside, tapping at the bird he saw reflected off the window. Silly bird.

As I returned to the computer there was a rustle in front of me, and then SPROING!!!! Ed flew over the couch to land in a hunting pose at the edge of the table. The window sills on the inside of the window are too narrow to hold him. He crouched and watched the silly bird.....following it as it moved from window to window. I thought I might hear the "ick-ick" that my Siamese cat used to make when he was hunting, but Ed was silent. He grimaced a bit when he realized that he wasn't going to be able to get closer, but he never gave himself away.

Concentration at it's best.

It's been quite a week. It started out calm and picked up speed, rather like an avalanche!

Elegante Mother is doing a little better. She still has pain from the shingles, and probably will for some time, but she seems to be dealing with it better. Tomorrow we will try our fourth medication in an effort to tame the pain. Night time seems to be the worst for her, when it's difficult to find a position to sit or lie that doesn't hurt.

I posted that we finally got rain last week. This week, on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening we had wonderful, gentle rain that soaked in. It wasn't all that we needed, but it was a step in the right direction.

Wednesday dawned cool and clear. It was beautiful in the morning, and I managed to get in an hour's work before a nurse came to visit Elegante Mother. I was trying to tidy things up before she arrived. She was early! I got caught in my gardening gear, looking ratty, and had to make the best of it.

It seems this is the week for physical therapy for our household. Today, Elegant Mother was visited by a physical therapist, who assessed her strength and gave her a number of exercises to work on. The therapist will return the middle of next week to check on EM, to see if she has any questions.

We've been concerned about the amount of time she's spending in her chair, and the fact that she's missed three weeks of exercise class. It's important that she not loose the ability to get up and move around and go places, so I'm glad the therapist has been here. Now I get to nag EM about exercise, and cranberry juice, and walking, and eating more!

My opening gambit in the "Who Will Be Cooking Dinner?" war, was "Dear, do you have a taste for liver, or would you rather order Italian beef tonight?"

As gambits go, I thought that was a pretty solid one.

I've been trying to decide what to do about dinner tonight. I had a bad night, sleeping fitfully, and got up at 5:00 so that I could go to a 6:30 physical therapy appointment. What I'd REALLY like to do, is just go to bed and forget about dinner.

Popcorn, anybody???