May 1 - Randy leaves early for his stint at prom decorating in the morning and chaperoning at night. A mere 160+ miles and 17 hours later, he drags home.
May 2 - We take a car (or two) to bring more loads from Katie and Matthew. Long drive/long day. News bulletin... not.
May 4 - Katie arrives home after finals, too tired to unload her packed car.
May 5 - Katie's car is emptied, and we are now turning sideways in our house.
May 7 - Katie returns to her college for graduation rehearsal and other activities.
May 8 - As we're preparing to zoom to Katie's college graduation, I notice a flat tire on the trusty '88 Camry wagon while I'm out on last-minute errands. That would be the buggy we're taking two hours away because our 'good' car (the 2001 Echo with 308,000+ miles) is still in the hit-by-a-deer ward at the vehicle hospital. Thanks to angel intervention and a couple of new tires, we make it in time to see our favorite daughter earn her degree in photography. Our favorite first-born, Matthew, earns his master's in education from a different college today as well, but he graciously opts out of his own ceremony in order to allow Katie to shine. Or so he says.
Happy graduates!
After graduation, brudder Paul and his wife, Jaymie, throw a humdinger of a fiesta celebration, as their favorite daughter, Bethany, graduated with Katie. After the party, Randy, Katie, and I stop by Matthew's apartment on the way home (2 hours away) to load up our cars with more stuff. We come home and crash... which beats the vice versa of that.
May 9 - Both 'kids' are home, albeit briefly, when Matthew arrives with the rest of his stuff. Happy Mother's Day for sure! We eat with Mom and have a great time. Chocolate is involved.
May 10 - Katie leaves for Charleston, SC, and not on a vacation, either. The girl is determined to get a job. And she will. The fact that she'll be closer to her boyfriend may or may not have had a slight bit of influence in her decision.
May 15 - My birthday. We won't mention which one, but it was good. Chocolate was involved.
May 17 - Spring football practice begins for Randy and Matthew, the defensive coordinator. Now if he can only get a teaching job to go with that....
May 18 - Jeffrey's 13th angel birthday! Wow. Chocolate is involved.
May 20 - Mow and weedeat by myself for most of nine hours. I will pay for it.
May 21 - Matthew leaves for a weekend visit with a friend, while Randy has fun gathering up large vinegar barrels for football practice.
May 22 - 245 miles later, Randy has collected enough barrels to make him a happy, if exhausted, camper.
May 23 - Katie emails early that she and Boyfriend Paul (as opposed to Uncle Paul) are on their way here to pick up more stuff, now that she's moved into an apartment. Boyfriend Paul's dog will be coming. Meanwhile, Matthew heads back home from his weekend trip. Randy and I scramble around, cleaning like crazy and running to the store for real food. We eat at Mom's and have a great time. Chocolate is involved. Don't get a thing accomplished on the Absolutely Must Do Today list, and the world doesn't collapse. Well, maybe it does, but it's not because of that. Bonus - the hairballs all get along just fine :) The two weary travelers make it back to Charleston.
May 24 - I start on prednisone to help combat a wicked case of poison whatever all over from my valiant yard work marathon four days ago. The dosage is substantial. Once again I mow the entire yard with my personal bubble mower (stopping briefly for rain), hike to the cabin to work, and dig up dirt in another flower bed for more planting. I am still going at 2:30am the following morning. Now I know what the Energizer Bunny is really on.
Throw in some bizarre behavior by Kali (on the verge of turning 13), a loose bird in the kitchen, switching the main blog (The Suite Life of Lucy and Ethel) to WordPress, etc., etc., etc., and it's been perhaps a tad nuttier than usual. Perhaps.
Which brings me to why I haven't updated this baby lately.
Let's just say the weather has been gorgeous, the flowers are blooming, and we had a bit of excitement this morning across the road.
Hope to see you at Angel Mountain! We promise not to stand too close to you in the event some of this lunacy may rub off. On the other hand, compared to the lunacy of the real world, you just might want to take your chances....
