A week already?

Can’t believe it’s been a week since I posted.   Life is suddenly very busy here.

Don has been lured out of retirement and will race dogs in Dubuque April through October.   Boyoboy, does that ever change all of our spring, summer, and fall plans.  But it’s a chance to make a fair amount of money in a short time.  That will help us achieve our goal of a second home;  a place for vacations now, and retirement later.  I know, we’re already retired, but there will come a time when neither stairs nor snow will suit us, and we’d like to be prepared ahead of time for that.

Next source of busy-ness is a fabulous and completely surprising birthday gift from Christina.  She has sent me a plane ticket to London, and I will celebrate my 70th over there with her.  I am beyond excited!   That is only three weeks away, however, so I have a few things to do in preparation.

In the meantime,  Diana has asked me to come babysit so they can have a short weekend away in April.   Of course I will!

So here’s my schedule for the next two months or so:

March 15-19:  London;  March 29 – April 8:  Dubuque;  April 11-15, Woodside, California;  April 16- 25, home here in Stevensville;  April 26 – May 6 (or so) Dubuque;  then, finally, home to take care of the spring gardening chores.

Wow….pretty busy for an old lady!

Ah, Cupid

No, not the reindeer!  haha   Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Winter at last

We had almost two feet of snow yesterday.  It was beautiful, despite causing us to be trapped in the house the entire day.  Jeff finally plowed out the driveway, and eventually the Township plowed the street.    We have had almost no snow at all this year, so this was actually welcome.

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Life, a minute at a time

I know that my children love me;  I know they would be there in a heartbeat if I had an emergency; but the truth is,  they are busy adults with full lives of their own.  This is just as it should be.   We can’t, after all, live our lives for our parents.   What a horrible thought.

The facts of life, however, are this:   It’s not the yearly visits, the special dinners,  the birthday gifts, that make up a life. (Although I love those things!)  It’s the moments.   It’s the difference between waking up and being alone in the house day after day, and not;   it’s the difference between having someone to exchange a cheery “good morning” with, and not;  it’s the difference between eating a lean cuisine while playing a game on the computer and sharing a meal with an interesting person.   These are the things adult children cannot provide for a parent.  Thus,  we need to find a way to get them for ourselves.

The ‘kids’ don’t need to feel guilty that they don’t have more time for us;  we don’t have to feel guilty that we don’t spend every vacation racing to wherever they are;   we can all just relax and enjoy our own separate lives, remembering every minute how much we love these dear, dear people, but not needing them to be part of our every day lives.

Whew, strange entry, but it’s what’s running through my brain today.

February at last

Unlike most years, winter isn’t really dragging for me this year.   With the additions of Don and Vera to my life, it’s actually pretty busy around here.   I shouldn’t lump them together like that.  LOL    But I did acquire them both last summer, so it’s hard not to.   Don’t tell.

The groundhog once again saw his shadow, but honestly, we haven’t had enough of a winter this year to care.   Now watch,  March will bring the worst blizzard in history!   In the meantime,  daffodils are poking their green leaves up, I’ve started cutting down the ornamental grasses, rabbits and squirrels are running all over the place.   Vera can’t begin to keep up with them all, although she surely does try.

Life is calm here, and I like that.  Don fiddles with his trains,  we both read.   The latest is that Vera is apparently musical.  I was playing the piano the other day, when all of a sudden Vera grabbed a squeaky toy and squeaked along with me.   I thought it was just a fluke, so later I sat down to play again.   She immediately grabbed the toy and started squeaking it again.   An instrumentalist greyhound!   Too cute.

If seed catalogs are in the mailbox, can spring be far behind?

Like most, if not all, gardeners, I’m happily thumbing through seed catalogs.   Will I try this new hybrid marigold?  zinnia?   petunia?   Where would I plant it?   What color theme am I considering this year?   What happy questions!

Outside the window, there’s nothing but snow; snow with dog footprints, rabbit footprints, squirrel foot prints, bird footprints.  It’s like a little nature lesson out there.   Inside,  it’s me and a hot cuppa.

But I’ve been looking at photos of flowers past, and dreaming, dreaming.

 

 

Random thoughts

What a winter so far;  warmer than it’s been within memory (mine, anyway, and I’ve lived here for 25 years);  almost no snow;  quite a lot of sunshine.   Weird.    I like it, personally, but wonder if it will negatively impact Lake Michigan and all our smaller lakes, rivers and streams.   This is fisherman’s paradise, and that requires water.  We also get all our drinking water from the big lake.   When levels get low, that’s a serious problem.

Yesterday, I went shopping with Jane and Cheryl,  two of my closest friends here in MI.   There’s a huge discount mall in Michigan City, Indiana, about 30 miles from here.  It’s an outdoor mall, so not many people shop there in 30 degree weather, but Tuesday is senior discount day, so down we went.  To my surprise, I bought a few things.  Usually when I need a sweater, I call Lands End or LL Bean, it was fun trying on, then buying.   The trunk was full by the time we called it quits.  Girl time.  Loved it!

Tomorrow night, Don and I are taking Noel and Bob to Grand Mere, one of our favorite local restaurants.   It’s a bit belated, as this is our ‘thank you’ for taking care of things while we were in Florida.   Travel is much, much easier because they are here to manage the house.

One of Don’s train friends came over yesterday to see his progress;  Ron was properly impressed, especially with the lake Don created.  He is turning out to be remarkably artistic and talented with the scenery he’s made.  Who knew?

I got bored on Sunday, so decided to clean out the big linen closet in the bathroom.   Vera came along to supervise.   She’s by my side most of the day, mostly, I’m sure, hoping there will be food near me and that I’ll drop some.   Anyway,  the top shelves were dusty, so I used the feather duster on them, dropping it from ladder top to floor when I was through.   Next thing I know, Vera has grabbed it by the handle, tossed it down the stairs, and pounced on it!  Yikes.   I grabbed it back before too many feathers were gone; then I shut her in the family room with Don.   Too much help.

Library today.  I’ve been reading through the John Sanford series of detective novels, and just finished book 18.  Not sure how many to go, but as that one was written in ’08,  I think a few.

Coffee time.