The Best Part about Vacation

Is waking up at 5:30? No. That can't be it. It must be going back to bed for an hour and then reading for 1 1/2 hours until I felt like dragging my butt out of bed. Oh lovely vacation, how I've missed you.

I must admit that I did skim through work emails on my phone while driving - but if you had driven the 9 hours to SD before you would understand my level of boredom even with the ipod full of podcasts. Why must only the last hour of the drive be interesting? I was going to try and drive 60mph, but I was so bored I went 80. Sorry environment.

A whole box-load of stupid

Do you ever have one of those days that you talk too much and then only stupid things come out of your mouth? That was pretty much my entire work day. I should have just worked from home today. One day I hope my brain will catch up with the words coming out of my mouth. I wonder if that will actually be the day I die or the day before I die.

Chicken with Rice

We had typically been taking Lily with us when we went somewhere without Grandma because she forgets that Lily has been outside already and then tries to take her outside while handling her cane. This may not be so bad because Lily is a small dog and doesn't pull too much, but my grandmother is not steady on her feet. Then there is the collection of squirrels, bunnies and birds that my grandmother feeds daily. Those are the animals Lily loves to chase because they are much smaller than she is and I can see her pulling Grandma right off her feet in her eagerness to catch one of those animals.

I decided to leave Lily home on Sunday night because she is so mean to their dog who tends to take it personally. We have started leaving notes for Grandma when we leave so she won't become concerned because she can't remember where we've gone or when we left. I thought if we tell her in the note that Lily does not need to be let out and has already eaten dinner that she would happily sit with the dog until we returned. Unfortunately, it was not to be. We got back around 10:30 and noticed some strange food in Lily's bowl - this turned out to be an entire can of Campbell's Chicken and Rice soup. I was a little shocked that any remained because Lily will eat until she is so full she throws up, but maybe Grandma gave her half and filled the rest of her bowl once Lily decided to go into her kennel and Grandma fastened the door. My first concern when Lily didn't come over to greet me was that Grandma had let her outside and then forgotten about her and I would spend the evening walking around the neighborhood calling her name for the remainder of the night. Instead, Lily drank all the water in her bowl because Chicken with Rice is so salty and then roamed around the bed and then asked to go outside at 3am to poop. She pooped again first thing in the morning and each time we stopped at a rest area and she'll eat her regular food, but she waits a bit longer and I wonder if the chicken with rice didn't sit well or if she no longer finds her regular dog food acceptable. She stares at me and stares at the food and then stares at me until she has decided just maybe to eat something. Since she's not lethargic otherwise and the pooping has ceased I assume she will return to normal in the next day or two.

When we're there, Lily loves to go sit on Grandma's lap because she's the only one sitting down. Mom and I are cleaning and fixing things. Grandma loves all animals and I think she has taken to feeding them more than just birdseed because it makes her feel needed. Mom said that Grandma told her she was hoping to get to the point where the squirrels eat out of her hand. Since she can't really sit outside and wait for it hopefully it won't happen because if the squirrel bites her I think she would be devastated. So as long as Lily survives and she wasn't wandering alone outside, it's not so bad that she ate almost an entire can of Chicken with Rice soup. Right?

Hoo Boy

When it comes to my grandmother I am nearly always at a loss. My very dry sense of humor has never quite hit her the right way. The only way I had figured out how to speak to her was through books. She loved all the history books I gave her. Of course we could never discuss them because then she would say something like "I wish all black people thought that way." She could love all the same things I loved and still we disagreed on the overall perception of a race of people.

Now I've lost that way to communicate with her. Her memory is such that the ability to concentrate on a book is no longer possible. So I'm left wondering if there is a way to express my concern for her well being in a way she won't take offense. I tried sending her a birthday card that reminded her of all the people she had been a good friend to and had no response. At the moment she read it she may have loved the words, but her memory can't hold onto them. Her memory is full of the pain of being 89 and of all the people she's ever been angry with. It makes me sad to think that she is no longer the woman people would call in a crisis for comfort. She is now the woman people feel bad avoiding. I am the worst culprit.

Tomorrow I will regain my sense of humor about some of the things that happened this last weekend. But tonight I'm going to mourn the woman she was.

Dear Ikea

I am not sure how I survived before you built a store in my town. I purchased a fabulous patio table and put it together last night. It can seat 4 or 10 because the sides fold up. Why does no other furniture place think about the fact that you want furniture to not be huge unless you want it to hold a lot of people? I have spent the last couple of years looking at furniture for my house and haven't bought much because it isn't efficient or I am not keen on mirrored shelves and lighting. Yes I'm complaining about the state of china hutches. These are my requirements: glass shelves on the top so I can put my wine glasses and pretty dishes in the top, drawers for those silverware I only use when serving a big meal, the wine opener and upright cabinets to hold the liquor and some additional dishes not so pretty, but need to be stored somewhere. Maybe a deep drawer to hold tablecloths. That would be nice. I'd also like it to match the super fabulous dining room table that without the leaves can be 12 inches wide and seat 2 people or with all the leaves in can hold 10. And no swirly wood fanciness either. Mission or modern is all I like. If I have to shell out loads of money it has to be what I want. Also I would like 2 end tables that will hide/hold lots of stuff and match my t.v. armoire. And two lamps that are black and in the shape of a rectangle (sitting on its short side) with a round lampshade. And finally, bedside tables that fit in my bedroom and have drawers and a space to fit the 3 books and 2 magazines I seem to be reading at the same time. So I'm a bit picky about what I put in my house. And also cheap about spending a huge wad of cash. So Ikea is pretty good for most things - I'm just hoping they will get some of the items I'm searching for. Or I'll find them on craigslist. Or an antique store somewhere.

My eyes are larger than my physical capacity to do that much work

Turns out that doubling the space in the front garden is going to have to wait until next year. I did move all the rocks and remaining shrubs (amen) to the back driveway and put in new flowering bushes, shasta daisies, coneflowers and alyssum. That was quite enough work without doubling the size of the flower bed. Plus, I worked out how much I'd spent so far and I have $50 left for gardening. I think that's going to have to go to annuals to fill in the holes until the perennials get larger and the huge window basket and maybe some more cocoa bean mulch. Because it's so lovely and I might not have enough. Then I will spend the remainder of the summer watching the vegetables grow and weeding. Wow I love gardening. It's really difficult to not blow the budget and just keep planting. But I will be good. Things will grow in the next year and next year the perennials will look that much better. I can't wait!

Rain, Rain go Away

I don't think my local climate totally appreciates the fact that I'm re-landscaping the front yard. The latest showers threaten to take over the weekend I've fully set aside for gardening. Unless it's totally pouring I will be outside moving the last of the landscape rock (I'm quite certain it multiplies as soon as I take away a wheelbarrow of rock), doubling the size of the flower bed in the front yard and planting the plant exchange items I scored last week. It would be a great deal more satisfying if the weather stayed in the 70's this weekend and it was not raining. I think summer is supposed to equal sunny, at least it did the last time I checked. Ah well, maybe I will get some gardening and some sewing done. I have to start on a gift for my dad for Father's Day. Maybe I will even sew something for myself. That would be nice.