Labor Day Weekend

It was a nice 3 day weekend. We didn't go anywhere but just hung out at home and tended to the to-do list that always accompanies a house.
Since the start of kindergarten, T and I (at his insistence) have been taking a walk or bike ride around the block to visit any or all of the 3 kids in his class. He's really connected with a little girl who also apparently got the "tall" gene and matches T in height and weight. (Makes it more even with the occasional wrestling/tickle matches that happen). She's also an only child and so I think her parents appreciate having another child over to play with their daughter. As I was enjoying a glass of wine with "A's" mother I lamented (during last week's heat wave) that my air conditioner won't stay on and keeps tripping the breaker. She volunteered her husband to have a look at it in the coming week. The next day (yes, it's almost a daily occurrence to go and visit due to T's persistence) I complained that I tried to install the new front door latch but one of the three existing holes drilled into the door didn't match up perfectly and now I have to wait to borrow a drill bit to make a new hole. Again, he piped up and volunteered to have a go at it. Of course I jumped at the offering! The next day the whole family came over and he trimmed the neighbors wayward tree (that was partially blocking my lemon tree), installed my new latch, fixed the air-conditioner's problem (needed a larger wattage breaker), and adjusted the side yard gate so that it actually latches properly again. Plus, he's willing to come demolition one of the back yard sheds to make way for my new back yard plans, whenever I want him to. My goodness! He says he's done with his own "honey-do" list (having been unemployed now for a little while) and finds it more fun to work on someone else's house. I can see that. And I totally appreciate it!!! It makes me feel a little guilty having someone do so much for me without paying him. Maybe I'll have them all over for a nice spaghetti dinner soon. That'll be good.

Yesterday, dad came over and together we made plans for my "city strip" (the strip of land between my front lawn and the street). My parents and I removed the old English ivy that was there a few weeks ago and now a few more sprinkler heads need to be installed so that grass and flowers can grow there instead. Dad is very good at making plans on paper (from his years as a draftsman) but unfortunately he had to make 3 different trips to Orchard Supply because he kept buying the wrong pipes, elbows and Tee joints. Finally by the day's end he was actively installing the new piping but was unable to finish, so tomorrow he'll finish up the job. Then it's up to me to get some excellent soil, install the 2x4 boundary markers for my flower bed around the existing Japanese Maple tree and get the sod. In no time it will be gorgeous! Dad says he kept making mistakes because he's still getting over his illness (the one my brother spread around during our camping trip) but it could also just be that his brain doesn't work too well any more. I'm thankful he didn't become too angry at all the wasted time, energy, gas and "wear and tear on the poor engine" as he kept driving back and forth.

I called mom a couple of times. She's still sick as a dog. She says she'll go to the doctor again in 2 days if she's not much better. She went late last week and was diagnosed with an ear infection and what ever viral illness she suffers from. She wants to give the antibiotics time to do their thing before making the effort to call and go in again (she hates using the phone for some reason). But she really enjoyed the peace and quiet while dad was away at my house. She was especially grateful he'd need to come back to my house to finish the sprinkler project. Poor woman. Anything to brighten her day....

Hopefully she'll make a turn around for the better soon. In the mean time she's lost quite a bit of weight and is enjoying watching the graph marks go down to new territory (she keeps a graph on the fridge and she and my dad plot their daily progress on it--makes it more fun and really helps keep the motivation going).