Last week began as usual. Work stuff for me and Mama. School stuff for the kids. Peter is doing his thing. A comfortable buzz of business. I was reminded early on in the week by Scottie that he was coming up for a spell (that's a good thing). I'd forgotten, honestly, but I remembered when he left a voice mail saying he was in Ft Worth and would be here in 45 minutes or so. I got the voice mail after he walked through the door, but I DID get the message!
It was good that Scottie was here, and not just because it is good to have him here, but also because he could help Noah (and me) gather data for Noah's Science Fair project which was due on that Tuesday, and not in a few weeks, as I thought. So, we all bundled up to ride and time some downhill stuff on Noah's bike as part of his experiment.
While this is all happening, Mama received and alarming email from one of her cousins living in Ireland about her (Mama's) Aunt and other cousin being stuck in Cuba without any money and "Send some immediately! It is an emergency! It cost more there than they thought!" type thing. No note about where to send it or if they even know the money is coming and no way to contact them (phone or email) to tell someone, "WTF are you doing in Cuba with no money?"
Stressful, and unnecessarily so. The bright side, for us, is that since that Aunt is the one who normally cares for Apple Granny, it meant Apple Granny was headed back to us to stay for awhile, as Nonno had to head to Terlingua for some business. The downside (for me at work) is that we could arrange for Tina (who cared for Apple Granny a few hours per day last summer) to only come in for a short spell each day with so little notice.
While this is going down, Peter moves out in a huff.
I get a call from the school that Buddy has a fever. Sorry , Buddy. I ignored that voicemail that day, and I played dumb when I took you to school the following day, since they require kids to stay away for 24 hr when sent home sick. But as I see it, he was never sent home sick. So there.
Kathe, Mama's closest friend while growing up, came to visit this past weekend as well, bringing her cool-as-all-get-out 18 month old, Jay. I wish we could just scoop up these two, even if would be awkward adopting someone our age. Kathe's husband died 6 months ago in a car accident, and this was the first time we've seen them since then. I'm not one for drama too much, but I just sort of hoped they'd stay for a long, long time.
Then Chloe's Aunt missed her flight back. I'm not sure if it was a missed flight in Cuba, the connecting in Pananama or what, but it meant that things were
Sadly, we got word about this time that Grandma (my step-Mom's mother) passed away on Thursday. We spent some time visiting with her over Thanksgiving, so I'm glad we had that. She was a classy lady.
The ice storm hit on Friday, cancelling flights, which meant Apple Granny was here for bonus extra days too! Since Tina had a previous commitment, Granny and I had Friday to ourselves, so I practiced making waffles, and we tried to see how much tea we could add to her honey without screwing up the honey. It was a good day. Kathe and Jay arrived.
Saturday was a planned team mini-camp from our house on Saturday. We'd been looking forward to this for some time. GSTz was gonna be there, complete with our Junior team, as well as the new women's team Lone Star Works has now...it was gonna be a blast. A training race thing in the morning, then a big, Mama-style lunch, just the way Mama would want it, with all kinds of family and friends and big appetites. But the weather was too much, and the thing ended up being called off at the 11th hour. Bum-mer.
It was probably for the best, as I ended up napping in full-on, drooling, wake-up-and-not-know-what-time-or-day-it-is mode for a solid hour that morning. Guess I needed it. Noah and I took turns riding the rollers. I was on my new track bike (Thank you, Robbie!). We made bets with each other to determine who had to go outside in the freezing rain and ice to get firewood, and we basically had a great time with all the little ones and company around.
Meanwhile, it is end of the quarter at work for Mama. Actually, it is end of the year stuff as well, so it has been stupid hours. She was on the computer last night at 1130p, and on it again at 645 this morning.
Oh, and the kids didn't have school yesterday, so I gave up trying to work. I messed around in the kitchen and came up with an even better (if I do say so myself) waffle recipe, and then we tried to catch a movie at the theater, though the timing was off for the one appropriate show at each theater we tried. So (gulp), I took them to the mall.
We held hands and walked up and down that place (I was not spending another day in the house, since it is also my office). We ate pizza. We played on the playscape thing. We rode the $0.25 rides which now take four f'n quarters each for one ride. We window shopped, and Reanie informed me of all of the clothes I should buy Mama. We went up and down the escalators. We checked out all of the fountains. There is something about the fountains in the mall that gets Buddy fired up. Sort of like his catnip. We walked right passed a toy store, and the magnet or black hole must not have been working, because they just looked in the window, said something like, "Neat," and we went on our way. Or, I said, "I think there are cookies up this way.'
The day really was a great one. Holding hands as we walked everywhere was the highlight of my day.
According the thermometer outside my window, it is 24 degrees outside. I'm glad my kids like the Jeep, though I really should get a top for it. We're off to school!
Oh, I forgot about Noah's shark tank! We picked up that on Sunday after taking Jay and Kathe to the airport. We then spent the afternoon getting it set up. Right now, it only has the "pretend fish" (per Reanie), since the water has to be conditioned for a week before adding the shark(s). Yes, sharks. I didn't know you could either.
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