SINGLE SATURDAY

[Sunny]

Thank you Lilac and Lucy for the "welcome home"! Yes, ddil#2 is a very special person!

I woke up a few times during the night, but I feel much better after sleeping 11 hours.

Lucy said: I am having another very UNproductive day here... dh is no help w/motivating me to do more, LOL -- HE said, "Go ahead, be lazy, you've earned it... you've worked hard."
I told dh I felt very do-less today and he told me the same thing! Not as much done here as I wanted, but I did go through the large stack of mail and unpacked/put away a good portion of what was in our suitcases. I will have a couple lol to do tomorrow, then finish unpacking and store the suitcases away again.

Indiana, great news about being able to move you arm more. WTG!!

Sadie, I'm glad your dh & car are safe after the deer incident.

I remember my dmom using her pressure cooker once in a while as we were growing up. I think the valve broke so we don't have the top any more. I still have the pot though and use it to make soup. We have a rice cooker and also a steamer with three layers so meat, rice and vegetables cook at the same time.

Ddil#2 called this afternoon to see how we were doing. They will come to visit tomorrow, and she said they would bring dinner so we won't have to prepare anything!

I think I'll go put a few more things away.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dinner is done but the kitchen is not cleaned up. Looking at the obits (in the paper which I was reading while eating) I remembered I haven't called my senior friend and she wanted to hear me preach. So I called her and left a message. That would be the one upside to taking the rental car back really early in the morning - I'd have to drop dh in her village so could pick her up and bring her to church with me.

Ok, kitchen tidy and then prayers. Looking at the outline I wrote for the last time I preached these lesson, I'm going to have to start fresh. Nothing seems heartfelt enough given this past week.

[Indiana]

Another way to give away extra garden produce.

Give a big bag to you local nursing home or women's shelter. One of our residents brought in a big bag from her sons garden and we have been having it as one of our vegetables.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

My senior friend's apartment building does something similar. If someone has an abundance they want to share, it is left in the front hall with a note. This works very well both for produce from their own small gardens or the gardens of family, but store-bought packaged items. The grocery store in the village often will only sell a prepackaged tray of peppers or mushrooms and a senior can't use them all up on their own so these folks share amongst each other.

Service is finished. And the dishwasher is running. I sang some Adele while doing up the kitchen, probably not wise but it was fun to sing something secular for a change!

Now to seriously practice my sermon. Dh isn't home so I can belt it out should I want to become a bible thumping preacher.

[Harriet]

I've got my hair set, and dd is in the shower. My ddad is dressed and watching old Fiesta Bowl footage, so he'll be as fine as I can manage when HRH's friend shows back up - something that will be a huge disappointment to my ddad. (Yesterday he asked me if I thought the friend would leave if he offered him money.) HRH has called and is stopping in to a grocery but then they will be home soon.

I have the directions to the splash park written down, and I know how to get from there to the fire dept, too, if necessary. (getting to the fire dept from here is something I've done many times, so if that's the way things go it's no problem.)

Unfortunately, the most recent weather report calls for a thunderstorm right in the middle of the time frame of the party, so I don't know which way to go, really, and I know ds and ddil are a little anxious. Having heard nothing yet, I'll head toward the park.

LOL - this was still sitting here and I'm already back and have had supper!

[Twins' Mom]

So was the party at the splash park or fire dept, Harriet?

Dh and I took ddogs twice around our circle and they are satisfied. After a week here, they start getting antsy for their walk if we're not moving in that direction.

Hate the news of the CO theatre shooting and the feeling I get sometimes. Last night when dh and I were walking there were two boys playing "shoot 'em up" and that gives me a weird feeling. I tried to keep ds from playing those kind of games when possible, tho some neighbors boys encouraged it. Today at the grocery, there was a guy in a mask waiting at the curb and being picked up and that gives me a weird vib. Maybe I'm overly sensitive but it just makes me apprehensive sometimes.

Tomorrow I need a trip to the pet store and then perhaps walk through Tar-jay. Need new smaller choke collars for both dogs as they've lost weight.

[Harriet]

Report from them that's doin'.... (ds27 and ddil, not me)

The venue of the splash park was ideal. Darling boy walked right in, just as delighted with the times he was getting sprinkled as not. He and the other little children wore themselves out to that tired-eyes-but-happy-eyes state without incident. Ds27 kept up constant "lifeguard" duty, with ddil manning the covered area. Covered area was ideal for everyone who was not helping with getting wet. First-piece-of-cake in a mostly-plastic highchair with the background of the water park made a great photo-taking spot, and in fact ddil's brother kept a camera in his hand most of the time, which was probably helpful to her. Ddil had placed all napkins, utensils, etc. in bright colored beach buckets. The cake (she had had someone make) was decorated with seashells and funny sea animals in fondant. Toys were to be put in the parents' gift of a large red molded-plastic sandbox. She had a beach ball inside that, too, and when the other children wanted to get at the presents in the sandbox, she gave them the beachball instead and they were happy.

Dfirstmil and dfirstsil did come but didn't stay long. Dfirstmil got her picture made with me and baby and ds. Both she and dfirstsil were careful to say things in just such a way as to allllmost compliment, but then....pull it back!! "This thing about your family is a good thing, but isn't it a shame that other thing is disappointing" "Your child is ______, but of course other child in the other part of the family is so much MORE _____. " LOL! Oh well, that's better than it could have been. Actually, I take it back, dfirstmil did have compliments for the baby!

Only bad moment was at the very end when dd13 looked down at her arm and realized mosquitoes started biting. Hopefully, they won't be too bad, though. We didn't hear anyone else mention bites, and I hope not - lots of very tender skin on view there!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I took time to give myself a pedicure, practicing the sermon during each coat's drying time.

I'm exhausted. But I still have wet toes so will load my service into its binder and mark up the hymnbook and bible. Then I'm off to bed. Still haven't picked my outfit for tomorrow. I have a skirt and blouse in mind but will see what the forecast says.

[lucylee]

Oh my, Harriet... your first d?mil & d?sil... oh my goodness. Just know this -- you are going to have so many stars in your crown that you will not be able to hold your head up in Heaven. (((HUGS)))

OTOH -- it sounds like the party was a tremendous success! Happy birthday to dgs!

I just keep wondering what we'll be doing about this time next year... so exciting to have a little one around.
Even if all he does so far is eat & sleep!

Twins -- a man in a mask would give me the creeps, too!!! There is just no sense in that at all. I'm not crazy about it at Halloween -- but JULY??? Good grief.

LOL @ Harriet's ddad.

(Yesterday he asked me if I thought the friend would leave if he offered him money.)

Lilac might want to try that...

Good luck with the sermon, Kathryn.

Waving to everyone! I think we are going to go see Batman tonight -- if the Braves don't end up in extra innings again.
Movies are kinda nerve-wracking right now... but dh says we can't just stay at home forever.
Oh my goodness... people told me, "Be careful about marrying an older man. You'll want to go out and do things and he'll want to stay home all the time."
Yeah.
(DH is ten years older than I, in case you're new to my novellas.)

[Lilac]

LOL lucylee! I too, laughed at Harriets ddads comment about paying the company to leave. So far so good. When they came in they asked me where a certain restaurant was because a guy at their hotel had recommended it. It is the place that dd2 and dsonilaw like to go. Prime rib is normally $25.00 but on on Saturday nights they have a 2 for $30.00 special. It includes a wonderful salad bar, an appetizer, 10 oz. prime rib, choice of potato, asparagus and a dessert to share. It was a delicious meal and quite a bargain.

Then we came home and played F arkel except for dh who doesn't like to play games at all. Dd1 came over for awhile.

I had thought about not going on the trip to the homestead tomorrow and using the excuse that I needed to pull together a meal so that we could have grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and brats for supper. Dh and I talked on the way home from the restaurant. It is so hot that we really don't want to mess with it. I told dd1 our plan that we would take everyone out to eat pizza. I had never ordered a cake for dm, so dd1 told me that she will round up a cake tomorrow, plus get plates, ice cream, etc. I really appreciate her willingness to help me out. I called dd2 to tell her the plan and she was hesitant. I thought it was because they eat pizza so much, but she thought we were doing the cake there and I told her that we would all come back to our house and have cake.

Dd2 had called earlier today and asked me what the plan was and I told her I didn't have a plan. I was just waiting to see what their plans look like and going from there. So far that is working. I will probably cook Monday and Tuesday evening, but then again maybe not. We have plenty of restaurants!

Well I guess I better start heading to bed.