The 4th of July

As planned we stayed home for most of the holiday. I trimmed bushes and watered and pruned. Bob was puttering around the house. We went out for lunch and then took an afternoon nap. We planned to go to Donna's and have some coffee and cake and watch the fireworks around the city from her balcony. As we were enjoying our visit, Adam called. He said he stepped on a log in the river and was kinda bleeding and should he go get a docter to look at it.

I talked to him for a while, Bob talked to him and to one of the parents who was there. When I talked to the parent, she said Adam seemed much better now, and that he probably passed out because of the blood. First I had heard of the passing out. I told her that he had done that before while having blood taken in the office, then I told Adam to come home, and we would go to emergency. So Bob watched the fireworks with Candy and Donna, and I went to the hospital with Adam.

They cleaned his foot and didn't find anything in it, so he got it bandaged and a prescription. His tetnus shot is up to date, so all should be ok. He stayed home today, and says it hurts when he walks. I hope it heals up for him. He is going on the mission trip to New Orleans this month.

Note to Sue -- Earl May gives you the coupon because they know I am right -- we should not be planting in July and they still have stock. But you go girl. Get some more -- I'll cheer for ya.

Midweek update

A very nice weekend by most standards. And a day off in the middle of the week, too. I think our Independence Day will be celebrated by a simple dinner at home with whatever children decide to join us.

The big fireworks show tonight just seems like too much of an effort to get there and manipulate the crowd to get a view, so we skipped it. The lightening bugs in the back yard will do.

We found the couch for our sunroom this weekend, and I bought 2 more plants to add to the landscape. Bob says he stops using minnows for bait on July 1 because of the heat, and that I should use the same date to stop adding plants for the same reason. I agree with him on this one. The dog days of summer are coming and it is time to stop digging and concentrate on the watering and weeding. That's the rule now. Don't let me forget it as I drive by the garden centers wishing for one more stop.

On Monday when Alex and Bob were drawing and coloring, Alex asked Bob to add something to the drawing and Bob said, "yes, hand me the black magic marker."

Alex said " I don't have one."

Bob says, "yes you do, we've been using it."

Alex says, "well, I have a black marker, but it's not magic."

Do you recall when we stopped calling markers magic?

Hope the 4th is happy and safe for all of you and yours.

Back from Vacationing

Well -- I had a great week off and enjoyed all the family time we shared with the reunions and games and such. And had no problemn slipping right back into work. It was a nice quiet there with all the computers humming and machines buzzing. I put on my headphones and forwarded the mail. By the end of the week, the job was boring, and I was missing the fun of cruising around the next couple of counties looking for relatives.

This last weekend we did our usual Sunday routine of Church, estate sales, lunch, and some laundry. Alex was with us on Monday, and we lunched with the pastor and some friends at HyVee. We made a stop at Crossroads for a haircut for Bob, and then to the Westroads for a haircut for me. Alex and I waited for Bob in the Barnes and Noble book store. He found the books with the "sound keys" on the side and probably tried every one. If he couldn't get it to sound, he asked me to try. I'm sure glad they encourage book browsing there. While I got my haircut, Bob and Alex played miniature golf at the Westroads. When we left there, we decided to try the Whole Foods Market nearby and pick up our makings for dinner. That was fun, too as we tried all the samples in the store. We ended up with a roasted chicken with sweet corn for dinner. How creative we are, huh? I'm sure next time we will find something new to try.

There are not too many Mondays left before Alex will start school. I'm feeling a bit sad about that. He is such a joy. (funny I made a typo there and it read "such a job") Even though we had to say he will never see the inside of a Toys R Us with Grandpa or Lowes with Grandma again.

June Birthdays

Cassia's birthday was nice. We had dinner and a Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake. That's her favorite. She wanted a gas grill, so that's what we gave her. Since Bob is the homemaker here, he handles all the gift buying and birthday preparations now. He says I should not be multi tasking anymore, that we need to leave that to the younger people -- but you should see him in the kitchen sometimes. It isn't pretty. But we put together a dinner for the family and sang the happy birthday song. We did have to sing the song twice, though because we decided the first time through was pretty lame and we all needed to pep it up some.

Next week we will celebrate Adam's b-day. Exactly one week later. I chose that. Since it was going to be a scheduled birth, the docter gave me three days to pick from, and like I could really have cared in the shape I was in at the time, I said, let's get the b-days a week apart. It has been a wise choice. They never had to share their day --

The First of June

We are having a fine weekend. Tomorrow is our day to gather for Cassie's birthday. Alex was with his dad this weekend, so tomorrow works better.

Bob & I did pick Cass up for lunch and took her with us to a couple of Estate Sales. We have been into these estate sales or "tag sales" for months, now. I don't really even know what makes us keep going, we don't buy too much anymore. Wandering through the vastly different houses and looking through other people's stuff sometimes strikes me as being a really weird or morbid pasttime. I even told Bob, I don't want to do this anymore, just as he was parking in front of one. But then I found a copper tea kettle, that was a perfect addition to my collection of copper stuff, I started to perk up. I ended the "saleing day" with winning a bid on a cute recliner for my sewing room. So we probably won't give up this hobby anytime soon.

I did not go buy any plants this weekend -- not yet. I am so encouraged -- a guy in church stopped me this morning and said, when I am ready to leave my day job, I could become a landscaper. He said our yard is looking really good. My latest addition is an old kid's wagon planted with annuals. Just as cute as can be. And we have had good rain around here lately, so lucky.

A Good Weekend

I took advantage of the extra day off on my weekend -- which for me was Saturday -- and did a bit of work around the house. I did NOT buy any new plants this weekend. I am still working on the last bunch. We had a thundershower today that was perfect for a bit of water on all the new stuff.

Bob made some steaks for our dinner tonight and Cass, Alex, and Adam joined us. Then Bob & I went to a movie -- The Wild Hogs movie.

When I told Alex good-bye, I said it was nice they had joined us for a Memorial Day picnic meal. He told me Memorial Day is the day you remember the people who have died. I looked at Cass, and she gave me a look as if to say "didn't you know that?" But then she explained that Alex had asked her about all the flowers and people that he had seen at the cemetery as they drove by.

Yes, Memorial Day is a day for remembering. We don't do the remembering in our family the traditional way I guess. But we do remember.

I Thought We Lost Milo Today

Milo is the cat. Of course, what else would be named Milo. We are his people. He is nearly 17 years old. He spends most of his time sleeping or just watching Adam do whatever Adam is doing. I have told Adam he can't move out as long as Milo is alive, because sometimes Milo walks around the house crying while searching for Adam. His crying is annoying.

Milo does allow time for bonding with us, though. He sits on Bob's lap every evening while he is watching TV. I am surprised the dog allows this. Maggie, the dog, spends her time watching Bob, but that's another story. My time with Milo is any morning that Adam gets up before me. When I hear Adam turn on the shower, the next sound will be Milo pushing open the bedroom door and slipping in if the dog is out. He jumps up to walk on me and lets me pet him and scratch his head. I can't hide my face under the sheet to muffle the purring or avoid the face rub. He will paw at it or try to get under it. When I do get out of bed, we go the kitchen and get Milo's breakfast. I have to serve this in the sewing room, so I can exit and close the baby gate that keeps Maggie away while he eats. When he's done, he walks through the baby gate and Maggie dances around trying to convince someone to let her in the room to finish the breakfast. Again -- I guess that's Maggies story. But Milo goes along with it and always leaves some for Maggie.

I think the rest of Milo's day is spent napping in various favorite spots around the house. If one would like to find the most recent favorite spot, all one would need to do is put on a pair of dark slacks and start sitting around the house. At some point, someone would ( or should anyway) stop one and say "what's all over your pants?" It would be red tabby cat hair, of course. One would have found the spot.

Years ago Milo would chae a rabbit's foot when we tossed it for him. For a while he would fetch it and bring it back to be tossed again. Then it seemed to occur to him that wasn't a proper cat game, so he stopped bringing it back.
He still seems to enjoy watching Adam toss and retrieve the rabbit's foot himself.

Milo knew right away that whatever was in the bundle Cassie brought home almost 5 years ago, was gonna be trouble. He sat across the living room and hissed at the baby blanket that held baby Alex. He had that figured right, and for most of the past few years has managed to keep out of sight and reach of Alex. But he has gotten to be a heavy sleeper and a bit slower, so now and then
Alex does sneak up on him and carries him around. Milo will hang over Alex's arms with a look of helplessness, and Alex's eyes will be wide and bright and very proud that he has outsmarted the cat. It reminds me of a Kodak moment I wish I had on film -- we were in the pet store in the Westroads and Adam was
Alex's age, when he had the little orange tabby kitten hanging from his little hands, saying, "Mommy, I want us to get this one." Our little kitten hung there with that same look of "I'm gonna need help, here."

Well this morning, Milo did not come into my room. I wasn't bothered at first, but when I got downstairs and Bob asked if had seen the cat, I sensed something was wrong. We called and made our own cat sounds and searched every favorite spot we knew of and did it all again. I stood outside and called for him and looked in street hoping I wouldn't find him there. But I was becoming pretty convinced that he had got out somehow the night before and become frightened by the thunderstorm and ran wildly until he was lost. I was about to phone Adam and question him about where and when he had last seen him.
Then I heard Bob talking to someone upstairs. Since he and I were the only humans in the house, I knew he must have found Milo. Yes, there he was -- he had created a new sleeping spot in the corner of Adam's closet. I had walked by him at least twice in my search for him, and my calling hadn't awakened him.
He must be losing some hearing and sleeping even sounder. He woke up real slow, so we kept on eye on him for the day, just in case he was getting sick. But all seems fine.

He is a good cat. I am glad we still have him.