April Saturday

 I stayed up so late last night and slept only after 4:00, so I didn't get up until 9ish.  I'm not sure what's up with this insomnia and then not being able to sleep enough.  I'm not sick though, and the girls seem to be improving, so all's right in that area.  They wanted to come over today but had to clean their rooms first, so I had the day mostly to myself.  I spent some time checking all my stuff to make sure it was TSA compliant and making some copies of things in case I lose my phone, which I never have, but I would not be surprised to do just that.  

The girls and Carly met at the nearby Chevron station and got fruit slushies.  I'm not sure what they're called nowadays, but they are in colors designed to stain teeth and tongue and strange tasting, the one I tasted.  They took their drinks and their bare legs and arms and headed up to the school and Community Park to hang out a bit.  They didn't stay long and came home almost immediately.  I didn't ask, and they didn't explain.  Graysen's mood probably was setting the tone - tired, moody, bored.  After a confusing discussion about what they wanted to do and my offering to take them anywhere they wanted to go, they ended up running across the street to Fun Park, the smallest park ever.  Their name - only a huge rock and two benches but plenty of trees and shrubs and more rocks to do whatever role playing they were doing.  I looked out the window every once in a while, and they were very active, gesturing and hopping on and off the brick walls.  They finally came in and watched a Pokemon show (I hear)   I don't even know what that is, but it was definitely funny.  

They were wound up on the way home and tired of being teenagers and preteens and giggling and tussling in the back seat.  They are all so precious to me, even when they're being their brattiest.  

I took no pictures and really did nothing worth writing about, so I'll go dig up a couple of pictures from the past and just be thankful for a beautiful day with blue skies and budding trees.  

Just opening pages at random.

I was once brave enough to take a baby to Disney World and have a good time. Emily in 1978.  Me with what looks like a fresh perm.

My new pink tiles I got to attract the attention of the girls and maybe make them more likely to play with me.  They love the tiles but so far haven't thought enough of them to give me any attention.

Just a snowy day with a girl sitting on her great-grandmother's chest watching it snow.

I've forgotten how to download photographs without wasting a lot of time, so that's all I have time for.  I hope I can refresh my memory soon.  

Drop Out Day

 After having a full week full of packing and relearning to fly and Mah Jongg, I woke up this morning with a slight sore throat and in no hurry to get up.  When I finally did, I felt weak and still sleepy. I had a 12:30 appointment for a haircut, but when Beth called to cancel because she was sick, I was relieved.  Yesterday, my hair was in one of those rare states where it looked tolerable enough to skip a haircut.  But I did take a Tuesday appointment just in case.  A look in the mirror just now made me realize it won't hurt to do it.  

My thoughts all day:  I CANNOT be sick.  I usually don't allow myself to consider such, so I tried to ignore it, but I fell asleep in my chair in the middle of the morning and then went back to bed and slept several hours.  

Emily called about 4:30 and said she was on the way home and let me in on a lot of the news of the clinic - who is being hired and all that excitement - and asked if I wanted to come over and clear up some details of the trip.  We really haven't talked about it much.  It looks like one of those vacations where we just go where we want to for a few days and then end up at our destination for a week.  Lots of things depend on other people, on whether they can meet up or whether they can join us or none of the above.  We're okay with anything.  The 3 adults have a lot of memories to keep us busy, but the kids might bet a little bored with talk of the "old days."  We'll see what comes up, but we have just a few musts - one including the Original Oyster House in Mobile where I always got Mike's Grilled Shrimp with cheese grits and turnip greens with tasso.  Yum  I'm not sure how much it was when we used to go, but Mike W would have something to say about the $24 price tag, although after seeing prices here, it doesn't seem high at all.  

I just don't take pictures like I used to, so I'll be borrowing from the past months when I need something besides boring tales.  

The last thing we had was Graysen's band concert last week.  Elise and I went separately from the rest of the family but ended up on the same row.  It was good, and the kids looked like they were having fun with it.  I have a few pictures from a distance, but the music stand blocked their faces for the most part, so I relied on those taken by a school photographer.  

Graysen spots us from the waiting area of the seventh-grade band.  

This is a good picture of our friend Carly in the sixth-grade group, front and center!

And little sister Ida who sat two rows in front of us and kept an eye on us!  Love that bow!                                                             

         A little bit excited!

But serious when they need to be.  They sounded great.

This girl has a busy life, but I love that she is involved in school activities along with her team soccer outside of school.  This is her second year of band, and she completed two seasons of cross-country as well as two seasons of middle-school soccer.  She'd love to take track this spring, but where's the time to fit it in?  I'm hoping she and Carly and Katherine can all do cross-country next fall.  It would be a lot of fun to watch, but I'm not sure we can convince Kate of that!  She's not sure about the band and says she might or might not try it.  Keeping all her options open!  

Tomorrow is free except for a couple of errands I might decide to run and more perfecting my packing technique.

Happy Mah Jongg New Year

 I promised myself I would write something here starting in April, and what better day to do it than a celebration of our 2026 Mah Jongg NMJL card.  Today was the first time this group has played with it, and it was so much fun.  We were all mixed up most of the time with all the changes, but we were able to figure things out and have a good time.  Sharon brought some delicious goodies along with some 2026 New Year glasses, and we took a break and took some pictures and just celebrated playing together for several months now and enjoying each other's company.  

Sharon, our fearless leader, is in front and the picture taker.  Lori is on the back row left, then Gina, then me, always the life of the party, holding my card upside down!  

We almost forgot to add Natalia to the picture.  She comes to every game with her mother and plays there in our room.  I think she had been zoning out on chocolate at her little table and looking at us like we were crazy when Gina grabbed her for the picture.  She's almost lost behind her glasses!  We missed the others today.  It's very rare, with everyone's busy schedules and children and jobs, to get everyone there, but we usually will have at least 3 or 4 on Thursdays.  Sharon and I play on Tuesdays also with another couple and a big fellow group of around 6 or 8.  We're learning a lot and having fun.  We don't have house rules but want to learn by the National Mah Jongg League's rules.  While it's exciting to win, we get just as excited when someone else wins and pulls off a good hand.  

Not to get into too much detail because I would never move on, I'll just mention today a few things and try to be more consistent about keeping my memories written down. 

I'm going on a trip!  I thought I was done traveling and certainly done flying, so it's still surprising to me that I agreed to do it.  I feel like I'm never going to be much healthier than this, and what better way to make memories in my 80th year than to fly across the country, visit 6 states (some of them just driving through or flying out of), and spending hours in a car with the family sharing old memories and seeing familiar sights.  I might not go back again, so I'm drumming up a little excitement about it.  I'm not sure who we'll see, but I'll be sure to record all that when the time comes.  

Latest with the girls:  They've been sick for over a week now.  What bad timing!  Graysen went back to school Monday, but I'm not sure Kate has been this week.  I fact, she had another temperature today, so she's getting a flu test to see what's going on.  Poor things.  They're just sniffing and feeling alternately lousy and sick and then bored and wanting attention.  

Gray went to her school skating party Friday night even though she wasn't feeling her best.  She said she had a great time.  I knew she was going to meet up with a friend on the hockey team, and I asked today how that went.  She said, "He's a really good skater.  He can skate backwards with his hands in his pockets."  I said I hoped she was able to keep up, and she said very seriously, "Well, I'm not that bad myself."  She had one group of girlfriends who weren't as experienced yet, and she was able to enjoy some slow skating with them and then with others who were fast and crazy!  

Just heard that Kate indeed has the flu.

Emily says she's so pale with circles under her eyes.  Maybe she can get some rest and cuddling this weekend and recover before we leave on Wednesday.  I missed them this week, but they were smart to keep them away.  I sure don't need to be getting sick too.  

What else is going on?  Getting a mini hair cut tomorrow since I'm having wisps poking out that won't wait 2 weeks to get trimmed.  I'm glad I finally got a haircut that's short enough to not have to be dried and will hold up to the humidity I've heard still exists.  We'll go to New Orleans, Mobile, Panama City, and St. George's Island, FL, and I bet we'll be getting our fill of that humidity and heat.  

Noreen and I went to Home Goods and Marshall's yesterday just to look around and came home in a pouring rain.  She's a good driver, but I didn't enjoy the part where huge trucks were in the lane next to us on either side, and it was hard to see the road.  We got safely home and had naps to top off the afternoon.  There were really pretty things in Home Goods, but I really don't have any desire to have anything.  I'm happy with what I have right now with just a little holiday decorating sometimes. I was trying to find a few things for Easter baskets but had no ideas except for some different-looking candy.  Katherine is one of the few people who actually likes Peeps.  And ducks.  So I thought this would be good for her.  They've just had Christmas and Graysen a birthday, so I'm out of good ideas. The pistachio macarons were for Elise.   

Emily's company has bought the recently closed clinic down the street from me, and we were up there Friday night looking around.  It's bigger than I thought, and she's going to have an extra busy time trying to get people hired and positioned and all the updates that are going to be needed.  Like she wasn't already busy anyway.  

I'll leave with some pictures as it is now and call it a day.  The girls and I found a little freezer that had frozen ice all inside with cold packs lost amidst the ice.  We took it upon ourselves to start rescuing the cold packs and melting the ice.  It was a fun little activity and kept them busy while Emily worked in the office.  

Formerly Peak Physical Therapy - now Proliance.

Plenty of space for letting off some steam and setting up obstacle courses.

I think there are six treatment rooms and a central work room for the therapists.  Look at those views!

The Dollar Tree in this one.

Our ice project

    

I have lots to do tomorrow besides the haircut.  I probably won't see the girls because of trying to keep me from getting sick and Graysen meeting a friend after school for a movie, but it's time to do trial run of packing to see what goes where.