Not home and odds and ends

Thank you all for your kind words on the last two posts.

So glad dear Madeline is home from the hospital. Thank you for your prayers.

To answer Roxanne's question about finances - yes and no. At least right now there aren't two house payments plus helping daughter with living expenses. However, repairs on our car just cost us more than a brand new car cost us in 1977. Read on...

Guess what? I'm not home (although most everything from Mom's has been moved there). I have been plant and cat sitting at my daughter's apartment for the past two weeks.

M has a smug, almost "gangster" look to him, but he is very affectionate.

V, that is a rather expensive toy you have there. Also, you really don't look very comfortable...

As a member of the Vandaleers (U of I's elite choir), Daughter has been in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany with most of the other members and a few "groupies" (some parents, spouses, other instructors. Oh, I would have so loved to have gone, too!)

This trip has been one mix up after another. It seems that every week all year something would happen that jeopardized the trip. The choir was originally supposed to perform in seven different locales then the number was reduced to three. It has been cold and rainy the whole time they have been there. And, one huge disappointment for Daughter was that they were supposed to have a day to spend with her music history professor who has for several summers lived in Vienna. Because of a change in plans, they only got to visit with "Ms.Professor" for about 10 minutes right before a performance.

Because of the unions striking in France, would you believe that the group is now stranded in Berlin? I wonder how much this is costing us?! It will have to be us paying for it, because Daughter has already paid for summer school. (She is taking a traditions and history of clothing class for this part of the summer session. Yes, I think I'm jealous about this, too. lol)

(Packrat, quit complaining!) Daughter is fulfilling her lifetime dream (almost literally) of visiting Europe. Even as a toddler she would sit for hours looking at pictures of castles, palaces, cathedrals and even the landscape. Even when she was tiny she would tell me she was going to go visit those places. This desire to travel and see new places has never died.

I sure never imagined that she would get to sing in any of these places even with a choir. I'm not sure why. She started singing before she ever started to talk. She would sing to herself for hours. (naps? not her!) And, horrible mother that I was, I used to tell her to be quiet...

***

What have I done besides take care of plants and the cats? Not much. I spent my 56th birthday in the recliner trying not to move any more than I absolutely had to alternating between trying to read and wishing someone would shoot me . Whine, whine. (The day after my birthday, my husband drove up and took me out to dinner. I had what was called shrimp cocktail, but it was more like warm spicy tomato, shrimp and avocado soup. It was wonderfully delicious.)

Of all crazy things, it all started with some pressure in my right ear. Suddenly, the whole right side of head starting hurting so bad that it gave a whole new meaning to the term "splitting headache". (Think headache after having a spinal.) After several sleepless days and nights, I thought maybe I should go to the doctor.

Interesting how our bodies work. My left ear was actually more infected that my right, but the left ear didn't hurt at all! But, I did (do) have a sinus infection that I didn't even know about - the cause of the headaches. As of today, the headaches are now mild instead of almost blinding. And, I have been so cranky. Must be getting well. ;)

Also, can I tell you something really kind of odd (maybe even a little disgusting depending on how you feel about it). I complained to the doctor that for a while I haven't been able to hear well with my right ear. The doctor said that it wasn't because of wax, because there was actually no wax at all in my right ear. Now, how in the world is that possible? Shouldn't I have some wax buildup? Even babies get wax in their ears. (I didn't think about this until later.)

***

Do any of you remember reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle? It was one of my all time favorite books when I was in grade school. For some reason, I had never read any of her many other books. I just finished An Acceptable Time, the fourth book in the "Time" series. I loved this one, too. I am still a tad confused about the grandparents' attitude in the story, but maybe I missed something by not reading books two and three? Her books are definitely on my "to read" list. Don't want to say more in case you haven't read the books.

***

Hope everyone is doing okay. Here at the apartment, the lilacs, locust trees, peonies, and spirea are just now starting to bloom. It has been cold, damp and/or rainy everyday. Am getting a little jealous of all the beautiful garden pictures and even fresh produce pictures floating around the blogs. You know who you are. LOL (Truly, I love seeing them. Keep the pictures coming.)

Home for a couple of days Updated

Thank you, all, for your lovely comments, thoughts, and prayers. Mom has been doing fairly well, but she starts Thursday with another "procedure". So, it is off to another round of doctor appointments and back to Mom's to stay for at least a few days.

Pictures taken with crappy cell phone camera. Sorry. As always, click on the picture for a larger view. :)



On Highway 101 (Highway 1) before getting to Santa Barbara. It was getting dark, but it was so beautiful.


The Channel Islands were so clear and close. Sorry they don't show up well here. You can just barely see the fog starting to roll in.




Stole this from Carmen. Thanks, Dear. What a difference in camera quality. Channel Islands from Highway 1 Santa Barbara County, California.

Actually, we (my husband, daughter, and I) "snuck off" to beautiful Santa Barbara, California, for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday party and a mini family reunion.

Of my in-law's ten children, only one son couldn't make it. (He is self-employed, this is his busiest season, and his substitute workers came to the party.) My husband is the oldest child, and our son is the oldest grandson and the third grandchild. (I'm pretty sure Carmen is the 6th grandchild.) In-laws have eighteen grandchildren ranging in ages 34 to 3.

Carmen & Molly. Molly is the 2nd to the youngest great-grandchild. Molly belongs to one of our nieces.

Six grandchildren and two of the seven great-grands weren't able to come.

Grandma and Grandpa with a little over half of their grandchildren. Pictured here: grands aged 32 to 3. By the time this was taken, a couple of the grown grandsons had left the party. (The oldest grandchild had just had a baby, so her family wasn't at the party - too far to travel with a itty-bitty one.) The two next to Grandma are twins. The 3-year-old was so tired. Too bad he has his face covered. He is just a doll. Okay, they are all cute :D

So disappointing that everyone wasn't there; all of us would have loved to have seen them. All of Mom S's siblings were there along with all (her family side) of her nieces and nephews and some of their children! It was a rushed trip (two long days of driving one way) and a little stressful, but it was great visiting with those who were there.

Our son D & his better half K. lol Really, both are super "kids".

Our son and his family met us there, and then we traveled north to their house for a day a couple of days.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog. It was a chilly 57 degrees.



The size of the supports on Golden Gate Bridge is amazing.





This is a view from D & K's driveway. Yes, that is a small, very old, private cemetery.


So good to spend a little time with our "kids"! Our (step) granddaughter will be a senior in high school! Where does the time go? I didn't get a decent picture of her with this camera. "Kirs" was being her normal silly self, and yes, her hair is purple.


"Kirs"

"Kirs" and her Aunt Carmen


Our grandson will be in the 8th grade. He is still on the little side. Although you can't tell it here, he's only about an inch shorter than his Aunt Carmen. (He's always hungry, so I expect he'll shoot up tall this school year.)


J with his Aunt Carmen
Rough housing in the house. Both old enough to know better. LOL

And We Kept Our Mouths Shut

Last week I spent a few days helping to paint the inside of our friends "new" house. That was actually kind of fun. We got in a bit a visiting, a bit of fun arguing about paint color choices, and I got a dose of babysitting my friends' two adorable well behaved 4 year old grands.

(Oddly, I like to paint; I love seeing a dull, dirty wall turn out bright, clean, and cheerful. What I don't like is the prep or the clean up, but I like clean up a whole lot better than all that taping/masking! I can't paint with out taping; my hand just isn't steady enough not to make a mess.)

All last week, my friend's husband, C, told my friend, M, that they would be moving over Mother's Day weekend. Needless to say, my friend was not happy with her DH. Her 60th birthday was on Thursday, and this was also the eleventh anniversary of her last chemo treatment! She wanted to celebrate being alive and well, her birthday, and Mother's Day without any hassles or pressures. I kept telling her not to worry about it because there was no way "we" were going to help move over Mother's Day weekend. "But, C said."!!!

I had to be gone on Thursday, but remembered to call M to wish her a happy birthday. A few of us "girls" wound up going out to celebrate on Thursday evening, but I guess no family member "remembered" to call her. No one brought over a cake or a card. Oooh, was M upset with them!

Forward to Saturday - M was painting at the "new" house. One of her daughters showed up and told her mom that she needed to change into at least clean jeans because they needed to go NOW to look at a room for daughter's wedding reception (just in case rain ruined the already made plans). When they got to the hotel, M wouldn't go into the room because there were people in it. Daughter had to literally push M into the room. It took M a few seconds, but when she realized who the people were M burst into tears.

Not once did M tumble that her family had put together a surprise birthday party. One of M's brothers brought their mom from Montana; another daughter and grand came up from southern Idaho. Church members and friends showed up. M was ecstatic. She said she was so busy getting ready to move that it never occurred to her that anything was going on. She thought that because every one was so busy, too, that they had forgotten her birthday.