We all have a personal sense of humor. Within my family there are a variety of types of humor. Some of us love slapstick humor. Others love puns. Some love Adam Sandler, others can’t bear him, and some say it depends on the movie.
At any rate, the silliest thing made me laugh today. My old cat, Edward Scissorhands went out this morning. As he’s aged, his visits outside have become shorter and shorter, but he’s not willing to give them up totally until it gets COLD outside.
Ed went out the front door and made half a circuit around the house, ending up on the windowsill at the west end of the “Green” room, where we eat casual meals. Frankly,it astonishes me to find him there, because it’s quite a jump for any cat. I opened the back door, and called to him, and he paused to think about whether he wanted to make the jump down or not. I waited for a bit, before stepping out onto the stoop. Mind you, I was in an over-sized T-shirt nightie. (The grove has been allowed to grow dense and close to the back of the house, along with a stand of tall grass and weeds. No one was going to see me.) I reached for the cat and he backed away. I conned him, and was able to pull him up into my arms and step back into the house.
An hour later, I got up from the computer and felt the chair grabbing my nightie. I looked and realized there were dozens of little tiny burrs stuck to the chair. And then, I realized there were branches of this plant stuck to the hem of my nightie.
The burrs made me laugh. (What else are ya gonna do?) That I had been sitting on them, unaware, made me laugh. That I had collected half a plant with one brush of my shirt while I reached for the cat made me laugh.
It’s the simple things that get me to laugh these days. It seems that the goofiness of human foibles is what I find the funniest. I can’t recall when I last belly-laughed, or laughed until I cried, but there have been plenty of times when something my family has done has made me laugh.
I wonder if our sense of humor changes over time?
I’ll be going now. I have to pull burrs off my nightie. *G*

My sister and her husband and their dog arrived last night. My brother-in-law is spending the weekend on the boat with Dear Husband. The three of them rose early, so that the guys could get down to the lake early, and Frankie could be on her way to Elegante Mother. We made appointments for Frankie and EM to have their nails done this morning, and then the two of them came to visit.
My mother can not remember living in this house. She asked me how I got a job here. I told her I married the boss. She wanted to know if I thought there might be anything she could do, so that she could work here too. As you can see, she was having a really difficult day. The change of scenery confused her. Despite the fact that she really liked visiting, she couldn’t quite understand just what “this place” was.
I invited Frankie to bring EM here so that Frankie would have a chance to get some work done to prepare for the classes she will be teaching on Tuesday. I fixed little crustless tuna salad sandwiches, and offered fruit and potato chips. My mother’s appetite was fine, and I was glad to see her eating well.
We watched the movie “Titanic.” Apparently my sis is teaching a series of classes around the story of the Titanic, and the kids will have the chance to see part of the movie. EM was absorbed in the story, which surprised me. I don’t know how much of it she understood.
I was casting around for a simple meal for dinner while I was at the grocery store, and came across a sale on shrimp. Normally a two-pound bag costs about $31, but they were on sale for $9.90. I decided that I would make garlic shrimp (shrimp scampi), with rice, and a salad. I made what we call Summer Salad: cucumber, tomato, green onion, vinaigrette and lots of dill. I had three chocolate cupcakes, with fudge frosting left from quilting bee dessert last night, to which I added scoops of ice cream. We were stuffed. I’m sure I won’t have any trouble sleeping tonight….I’ll be in a food induced coma! lol
Again, EM ate well, and seemed to really enjoyed the home cooked meal. I think we need to check on what she is being offered when we are not around. I’m sure that we are operating under the assumption that no one would feed EM as well as we do, but at the moment, I think we are right. We all know what EM likes to eat (LOBSTER! and chocolate), and we also know what she doesn’t care for. She is used to freshly prepared meals, and rarely has much appetite for left overs, unless you are making lobster salad from leftover lobster tail. We may need to be keeping a closer eye on what she is getting to eat, both from the dining hall, and her caregiver.
It was really tough seeing Elegante Mother as confused as she was today. Perhaps when I see her during the week, she will be more connected because she recognizes her surroundings. I plan to join EM and Frankie at church tomorrow, and then come back to work on things for dinner when all four of us will be together again. Tortilla soup, anyone??
I’m dog-sitting tonight. In a few moments we will make the last call for the night, and then I hope that Sydney (the dog) and Ed (my cat) will choose to settle in for the night. Ed is more than a little ticked off about having a DOG visiting the house, and his schedule has been majorly disrupted. But, it’s only for another day or so. I think he can adjust.
I hope you all enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

I can’t believe that I have not made the time to post in the past 17 days! Where does the time go? I can recall when I was a child that August seemed to last for years. Now, it flies by.
Let’s see…in the past three weeks…
Dear Husband had to have the car towed three times in one long weekend, and have it repaired three times. Apparently there was an electrical short that was missed during the first two repairs
Dear Husband had to have the boat towed. He was outside the harbor, trying to raise the sails, when a line went overboard and wrapped in the propeller. Needless to say, we will be buying towing insurance in the future. DH was in four-foot seas. The driver of the tow boat said that he comes prepared to dive to free tangles like that, but with the back of the boat rising and falling four feet, he wouldn’t get into the water, and I can’t say that I blame him.
I had “Mom Duty” two weekends ago. Saturday during the day went well, but Elegante Mother was ill during the night. Luckily, I was able to manage her care on my own, and two of my sisters came to our rescue in the morning. My-Sister-The-Nurse arrived at 9:00 a.m. to check on EM, and she gave me the chance to go home early and catch up on my sleep. My second sister came at noon to spell her, so EM got to see three of her four daughters all in one day. EM is fine. She saw the doctor on Monday, felt well, and had no lasting effects from her difficulties early Sunday morning. She has actually been talking a lot more, recently. She’s still having trouble with short-term memory, but she’s able to get her sentences out before she forgets what she wants to say.
Speaking of second sisters, mine just retired as Director of Christian Education at a big church in the suburbs. They gave her an amazing send-off, complete with luncheon and presentation. All of her siblings attended along with quite a few of the next generation. It was quite lovely, and the ladies of the church did a wonderful job sharing their love with her. She’ll have wonderful memories to wrap up in.
I gardened this morning, and I’m going back for a little more punishment this afternoon. It has become popular not to cut back iris leaves in the fall, but I prefer to trim them to prevent wintering over leaves that might be infested with something that could damage the iris. I’ve been cleaning out dead leaves, and opening the plants up to the sun. I also plan to cut back a volunteer mulberry that I can’t seem to kill off, and dead lily stalks and oriental poppy foliage. I prefer to have the gardens go into the winter looking clean.
Dear Husband has not seen much of Elegante Mother during the sailing season. He was home one Saturday when the car was in the shop, and went to lunch with us, but otherwise, she has not had the chance to visit with him. We plan to take EM and Sophie to dinner this evening, so that she can see him. I know that it will make her day. She has quite the soft spot for him.
We had a week of cool, gray, off-and-on-again rainy weather. And this week we seem to be having a week of brilliant sunshine and below normal temperatures. We opened the house Tuesday to air it out while we were cleaning, and by 6:00 I was shivering and closed it back up. It’s always wonderful to let fresh air through. I’m looking forward to more days like that during September and October.
I’m sending two quilts, one large, and one small, to be machine quilted. I wanted to use up scraps and put together a quilt using four patches on point, alternating with rows of solid strips of fabric. It will be a “Use it up, Wear it out” quilt, that I will encourage the kids to wrap up in. The smaller quilt has one of my very rare uses of applique. It was a kit. It came with pre-selected fabrics and a pattern. The colors are absolutely wonderful fall colors, and I’m quite pleased with the applique. It should be back in time to set out for part of October and November. Once it’s bound, I’ll take a picture of it to share.
And, last of all….our exercise guru is taking a week off for some personal obligations and a class. I’ve been invited to lead our class three times. Yesterday went reasonably well, and I’ll lead class again on Friday, and then Wednesday of next week. It keeps me working, and I’m happy to keep the class in session. I’m a sloth. Give me the least excuse and I’ll curl up on the couch, so I’m glad that our guru asks me to help out.
I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day. Get outside and enjoy the incredible weather, and the long weekend.

In so many ways, the title of my blog has hit home over the past ten days. As many of you know, my Dear Husband is an avid sailor. He has a 32-foot sail boat moored in one of Chicago’s harbors and between May 15 and October 15 he spends as much time on the boat as possible. I do not do well on small boats. I tend to put my foot on the deck, and turn green. A moment later, I’m checking out the path to the head, or hanging on to the side of the boat as I heave. I just wasn’t meant to be on small boats. I’ve named my blog in honor of the boat, the “Arr!!”
The past ten days or so it seems that a black cloud has been following the captain of the Arr!! He took off for what was to be a three day weekend on the boat. He needed to stop at Crowley’s to pick up a part for the diesel engine, which had developed a leak. Crowley’s is clear down at the south end of Lake Michigan, near Calumet City. Shortly after picking up the part, DH stopped for a hot dog, and when he tried to start the car….nothing happened. He managed to find a towing company, and a recommendation to someone who might be able to look at the car. (Note….tow number one)
The mechanic finally got the car running, but told DH he would need to have more work done on it. DH started home. Halfway through the trip he realized the battery wasn’t charging, so he left the tollroad. The idea was, that he would be more accessible if the car quit on him. Sure enough….it did. He called and had it towed to our preferred mechanics. (Note….tow number two)
I needed to use our car on Saturday morning, to meet my sister and Mother at the Farmer’s Market and then go on to lunch. Dear Husband joined us. I thought he might take my car to go to the lake on Saturday afternoon, but he chose to be a couch potato, and let a storm front move through. The mechanics called Saturday afternoon to say the car was ready to go.
Sunday morning, early, I drove DH to pick up the car. Before we parted, I kissed him and kiddingly said…”If you have any trouble with the car or the boat, find a hotel and register…..don’t call me!”
You guessed it. About two hours later he called and asked me which hotel in Westmont I wanted him to check into. He was probably twenty minutes from home. He’d stopped to pick up things for breakfast and lunch on the boat, and when he returned to the car it wouldn’t start. (Note….tow number three.)
The repair guys had a go at the car and it seems to be working. I think we scared it with discussion of whether it was time to turn it in for cash, and buy a newer car that got better mileage. DH voted to wait a bit. This car has been pretty darned good, and I think if you averaged the expense of maintaining it out over the years we’ve had it, it’s been a reasonable expense. Of course, I’ll worry every time DH heads for the lake. I don’t have the cost of the three attempts to repair the car, or the cost of the three tows yet. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be a happy camper.
What I hope is the final straw in this saga came yesterday. Dear Husband came home and told me that he’d had to have the BOAT TOWED!. He was outside the harbor when his propeller became fouled with a line. He had to call a marine towing company because the swells were four feet high…..too high for another pleasure craft to risk giving him a tow. The man running the tow boat said that he keeps diving gear on the boat just to be able to clear fouls like this, but with the boat heaving up and down so much he wouldn’t risk getting into the water. We could have made a house payment with the cost of this particular tow.
I’ll admit that I didn’t take this particular news with good grace. I probably reined in my temper when I saw the bruise on Dear Husband’s arm. His left bicep is black and blue. He was hurt somehow when trying to free the anchor before the boat was towed. I’d like to take an ax to the boat’s hull, and end all this business of boating, but common sense (and love for my husband) has prevailed. If he were to ask me to give up quilting, I’d be devastated. Just because I’m here in the house when I quilt, doesn’t mean that I am particularly good company. I’m distracted, and want periods of uninterrupted time to work out designs and piece them together. Dear Husband helped me to care for my mother for the past 20 years, and he’s earned the right to do what pleases him. I just wish that I’d never heard the definition of a boat: “A Hole in the Water into which you throw large amounts of money!”.
After I’ve had a little time to let off steam on this, we’ll be okay. Of course, I’m worried about making ends meet in this economy. I worry about retirement, which is coming MUCH faster than I like….especially in this economy. I worry about grandkid’s college funds, and I worry about my husband’s safety. I suppose mostly I worry about his safety. Please God….keep him safe on his travels, and …No more tows!

To my friends who are frequent commenters:
I have tried to give you the ability to post without needing my approval, but you all know that I am technologically challenged. Either MT or my computer requires that I approve comments for some of you.
If you don’t see your comment posted in a timely manner, I apologize. I’ve read it, in my e-mail, and enjoyed it, and then blithely gone my way, forgetting that others couldn’t read what you had to say.
Thank you for posting, and for keeping in touch with me. I really value your friendship.