The Cure for Boredom is Curiosity.

I don't know when my mother got to be so frickin' conservative, but if she sends me any more crap about how horrible Hillary is and how great Bush is I'm going to go find a new mother.

We get the puppy on the 26th! Yay!

I'm ready for all the smooshy, squishy loving that will commence.

I posted the WRONG puppy!!!!
Ronette sent the wrong picture. The one I posted is a boy.
I will update when I get the right picture.

Most of the time I think the internet is great. I love email. It makes keeping in touch with people so much easier. Less hassle, no trying to find a stamp or leaving countless messages on voicemail. But sometimes, sometimes the old ways are better.

For the record, I love mailing cards and writing letters. Most of the people I write hardly ever write back. Which I guess should make me not want to write them ever, but I know it makes me feel good when I get letters in the mail. Hmmmm, I think some of these people should get a clue. Now given that I've known most of them since grade school and one (I won't name names) wrote back once out of every 10 notes passed, I should be used to this. Before I digress into a rant, I'll move back to my original thought.

Last week I mailed out a ton of Mother's Day cards. Most of them were picked out for Ronette's side of the family. Aunt Kathy was "tickled pink" to get a card from us. Apparently, her own kids didn't send cards. (This info is from Mom Patty.) And Grandma, who is staying with Aunt Kathy, was pleased to get a card too. I also sent one to Ronette's sister and with her mom's package. Now get this, Grandma sent a Thank You card. Which I thought was so nice and unexpected. Very telling of the era she grew up in too. I'm thinking that I'd like to be more thoughtful in similar ways. She didn't have to send a card, no one else did. I'm very sure she didn't send it because she "had" to. The older she has gotten, the more difficult it is to read her handwriting, so she often skips doing the "polite thing". I'm digging this idea of actual reciprocation. Now if I can only teach a couple of old dogs some new tricks.

I was talking to my dad the other day about my Grandma. Now, I have to explain that my Grandma is mean. Not in that "I've gotten old and can say whatever I want" mean, Grandma could compete in a meanness competition and win because all the other competitors would forfeit once they knew she was playing. As healthy as Grandma is, my dad had to put her in an assisted living facility because she refuses to do anything for herself. Not that she couldn't, but she won't. In all fairness, her ability to be mobile has deteriorated in the past five years. Atlhough, I do believe that is more of her unwillingness than her actual ability, but I digress.

Dad was telling me that if I went to a thrift store or cleaned out my closet, to look for and send clothes his way for Grandma. OK, I said, but why? He kept most of her clothes at his house so that her space wouldn't be overflowing. (Grandma was/is a clothes horse) Several of us have bought new clothes for her when she has complained that she has nothing to wear. Apparently, whenever anything is taken to Grandma within a week these new items disappear. Her drawers are empty and the only thing hanging in the closet is a sweater. She's an old woman, she has nothing, why steal her clothes? But if that wasn't bad enough her dentures have walked off, her glasses are missing and the final straw for dad was that her wheelchair wheeled itself away. The social worker had no explanation and spent 30 minutes of my dad's last visit hemming and hawing about what happened to the wheelchair. Now, I understand what it's like to not want to be around my Grandma, but you don't steal a woman's wheelchair just because you know she can't run after you.

As much as I really don't like grandma, I really do feel sorry for her. She's at a point where she has to depend on other people to take care of her, but the people that my dad has entrusted (and who get paid a lot of money to do their job) aren't holding up their end of the bargain. All I can think is that if assisted living facilities and nursing homes are this bad now, what is it going to be like when the mass of baby boomers need this kind of skilled care? Do I really want to have to resort to assisted resources when I hit my 80's?

I enjoy laundry.
I like the washing, the drying and the folding of clean laundry. I know, it's a little weird, but it's one of the household chores that I really do enjoy doing. I do a lot of thinking about things while I do laundry. Laundry makes me introspective. Laundry makes me contemplative. Laundry helps me to formulate ideas, thoughts, desires, wants, needs, etc.

Today while folding laundry I spied a picture of my granddaddy and me.
Obviously, the picture is from a long time ago.

I have this particular picture up because it makes me happy. It also makes me sad because I miss my granddaddy. I made peace with his death knowing that he was in a better place, but still that sad place in my heart is there.

And then I thought about Micha. She's the first cat I ever had.

For the first time, her name didn't come immediately to my mind. I felt terrible because I had to think about her name. But for the first time, my heart doesn't hurt as much and my eyes don't immediately fill with tears. And I realize that time does eventually heal all wounds. Well, time won't get rid of the scars, but at least it does heal the gaping wound.

No comments. I'm not in a sad mood, just contemplative and observing life.

It's cold here today. It was nice and warm yesterday. Blast those artic breezes!

Dexter is curled up in his bed sleeping. I put his sweater on because he was shivering. Bella has found a nest of warm clean clothes. A bit disturbed since I'm cleaning while she gets her beauty sleep.

I did some birthday shopping for the nieces and nephews. Jacob turns two on Friday, so I bought him a Veggie Tales collection of silly songs. DVDs were a suggestion from Grandma. His mom and dad bought a portable dvd player to keep him entertained in the car and in church a few months ago. Apparently, they now realize that his choice of entertainment is not exactly church appropriate. He LOVES The Wiggles, but embarrassing for mom and dad. *aunt giggles helplessly* Thus Veggie Tales will now teach him silly songs to sing in church. Britt turns nine today, so a gift certificate was in order so she can go pick out what she wants. So many birthdays in September. Mom Patty is going down under. I should send a card to Christy at least. I still need to find something fun and exciting for my brother. And I think we are probably going to put together a box of Slim Jim's, Kool Aid and goodies for RTL's brother.

Which leads me to another question, what is dry body wash? I know what dry shampoo is, but I've never heard of dry body wash. If anyone has an idea, please clue me in so I know what to look for.

I am cleaning house today. I can't stand the mess anymore. Too many projects and not enough time. I'd love to hire someone to come clean the house top to bottom just once. RTL asked me last night if I would be ready if Martha showed up at the door unexpectedly. Any other day, i'd be ready, but obviously not today.

Off to scrub.

I got an unexpected email a couple of weeks ago from one of my cousins saying that she and her fiancee would be in SF for a few days. RTL and I saw them last Sunday and had dinner at Bistro Chin. (I definitely recommend Bistro Chin for sushi.) RTL and I also took then up to Twin Peaks for sunset but you couldn't see a damn thing because the fog had rolled in quickly and thickly.

It was very nice to see Ashley. I don't think I've seen her since her sister got married, I'm thinking it's been 4 years. It was a bit weird though because she looks like my aunt but still Ashley. She's still Ashley. I have to laugh because Tonya and I spent from probably 1978 to 1991-ish trying to figure out ways to avoid or get rid of Ashley at all costs. Way back then she wasn't close enough in age, but now the age difference doesn't matter.

I like her fiancee. They are getting married in February. Hopefully I'll make it to the east coast for that.
It's good to have family that you want to visit every once in a while.

Weather:
No earthquakes in the past couple of days.
Rain has stopped temporarily.
Weather is actually nice and sunny here in No Cal.

People:
AJH had her baby on Thursday at 12:50 p.m. Tara Elizabeth weighed in at 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19 inches. Currently referred to as the "pooping machine." No comments for unoriginality.
K & F have moved into their new house and no longer under siege by the evil farmer. They also won't be coming to the States in September.
S & S have moved into their house in LA.

R & D:
Decided not to pursue Switzerland. Everyone can stop cheering now. Lots of factors that we had to consider and decided that it wasn't the best thing at the moment.
I'm freelancing for RTL for the next couple of weeks. Puts a slight hold on house stuff.
Still having trouble finding THE bicycle in Berkeley. We are considering driving up to Calistoga, since we've already found what we want there.
No vacation decision as yet.
RTL laughed at me for just finding Radio on itunes. But I also found the station that gives me the name of the song. Life is good.

I've probably missed other stuff, but you get what you get. : P pblttttttttt!