just so sad...

 ...before I tell you all about our nice camping vacation, there is some really sad news, and no nice way to put it:  my swim class instructor has passed away.  If you remember my saying, his wife passed on, back in January of '25, she had just been diagnosed with cancer the previous autumn. 

When his wife Joan was the instructor of the shallow water part, he lead the deep water aerobic part.  They were a busy couple, always going to church luncheons and sporting events and family gatherings.  When she passed away, he seemed to stop going to church things and family things...the pool was his main social event.  I did not detect any red flags in his behavior recently, I saw him on Wednesday at swim, before I left for camping, he seemed okay. He had some things weighing him down, but I had no clue he was struggling so much.  No clue.  

As with all stories, the details aren't really ours to tell, but it was shocking and tragic.  Another pool member was worried when he didn't show up for class on Friday...I was camping and didn't have any idea...he wasn't answering texts or phone calls, so G. went to his house to check on him...no answer...he went back later, and went into the house, and found him.  

We had a sad and crying class today.  I just want to say this:  check on people.  Ask them if they're okay.  Have a person, a person that you can talk to.  There are people who care about you, who would help you.  The ones you leave behind are bewildered and hurt and angry, we would have stepped up, we didn't know.  Is that valid?  Should we have just known?  It's so hard.  

We did have a wonderful time camping, and I still can't put pictures up, but I will fix it one of these days.  We had some cozy camper time in the rain (the best was when Suze got there with her huge Lab Winston, after a four hour drive she had to walk him around in the pouring rain, but then came in and joined us...Mariel, Char, Cam, granddaughter Elise and Anya...we had the lantern on, and had snacks and coffee and cold drinks...it was so cozy and fun).  We had some sunshine and some swimming, and some sweatpants and sweatshirt weather.  Our campfires were full of stories and laughing and marshmallows.  We had meals together, and Camille made the best pancakes:  blueberry, and M&M...the dogs were all good.  Nate and Evelyn visited with newborn baby Bridget, and their Newton the Frenchie was good too.  

I slept pretty good, it's not the best Princess and the Pea bed in the camper, but I sleep so well after being outside all day.  It's just so cozy.  Suzanne and Zech stayed in the camper with us for the weekend, it was so much fun.  (Char and Cam tented with Mariel).  The Adirondacks: oh so beautiful.  The lake surrounded by pine trees, being in the woods, the fresh air...ahhh.  There were barely any mosquitos, either.  

It was relaxing, and it went by too fast.  We got home yesterday, and the girls were super helpful getting the camper unpacked.  I've done several loads of laundry, almost caught up.  They wanted to go to Target, so off we went...I got some baby things for Abigail and Derek's baby, who will be joining the world in September, and a new sweatshirt for me, marked down to $10.50.  

We went to Aldi and got some food for the week.  The girls made a tentative meal plan, it's nice when they go with me.  

I came straight home after the pool today, and am sort of working on cleaning around here...I'm kind of in shock about Rich...when he wasn't there this morning, well, he's NEVER not there.  It's hard to come to terms with, such a sad sad thing.  He was a good man, a good friend, and it's going to be tough.  

You all have a good summer afternoon, and hug your dear ones...

and off we go!

 Ahh, the Adirondacks!  But, Paul cannot fit his kayak in, wah.  The camper is hitched up, the fridge hopefully working (we brought a big cooler to transfer things if it stops), all the cold stuff packed in there...the freezer is teeny tiny, with two bags of ice, some burgers, and that's it!  I figured the brekky sausage could be in the fridge, as long as we eat it in the next few days.  

I feel like Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story movie when the Mr. was going on an adventure, and she kept packing more things into his back...the longer it takes us to get out the door, the more things I think of that we could use.  Oh yeah, some acetaminophen!  The small cooler!  The big stainless steel bowl!  Some snacks for the ride!  Get me outta here!

I did go for a nice workout/swim this morning, so glad I fit it in....  it's wonderful.  You all have a really nice day, and a good weekend!

something sad...

 Last night, I had a dream that was so real, it was almost really real.  I had things to tell my sister, so I brought the phone into my room, sat on my bed, and called her.  She listened and she talked and we laughed and had a good old time, then I remembered....it was like a sock right in the stomach...and I said, but you're dead!  Then the line went silent...she was gone again.  It seemed so real.  In the dream, I told my kids that I had talked to Cheryl!  I told her girls, too.  They all thought I was crazy.

I miss her so much.  

This fine day, I woke up with the thought:  I have to pack for camping!  I had to make my shopping list, the meal plans are done, but I needed to go to the store.  I had my dentist appointment, and thought I'd go afterwards.  Then Kathryn texted about something she had to do in the same city, and I could help her with the kids, so we decided to add in a trip to a play-space.  

Ellis pushed a shopping cart, he's so good natured and happy.  Achilles was happy too, romping around and playing and being silly.  Rhys and Jamie were put on the construction vests and helmets, then played in the truck, the grocery store, with the baby dolls in the play-house corner.  We were going to all go to the store afterwards, but they had enough fun and were falling apart, as children tend to do sometimes.  So Kathryn brought them home:)

I went to Walmart.  It was not exactly a nightmare, but it was a slightly bad dream.  They've been reorganizing it, putting up strange new walls and making it hard to find things.  I couldn't make heads or tails of it.  I bought:  one green plaid blanket, for fall and Christmas:  $7.  One really cool rattan vase, marked down to $6.  I bought pancake mix, gluten free pancake mix, and a bag of Jimmy Dean frozen sausage links.  I went to the self checkout line, and the lady behind me suggested I go up to the front-most register, there was no one there, did it work?  I scanned one item, it did work.  But.  There was something already scanned!  Butter Rum, it said...I looked into a cooler bag sitting there, and there was a big bag of Butter Rum Lifesavers!  What?!  Next thing I know, an angry man was asking what I was doing with his stuff!  He had to go back to the deli because his ham didn't have the proper sticker on it, and the worker had told him just to go....I didn't know that register was in the middle of a transaction!  He yelled at me!  I apologized, said I didn't realize.  I was very nice, he backed down and then ended up thanking me for being patient.  It was a whole ordeal though...

The dentist.  Raise your hand if you love going to the dentist!  Not I!  I don't hate it, but don't love it either.  Although shh, when the kids were little, I kind of liked sitting there getting a cleaning, with them all in the waiting room playing and watching each other, knowing that it was my break.  

Anyways, our family dentist has moved in with a group of dentists in a big huge old house of an office.  He actually did my cleaning today.  He remembered my tooth and it's history.  But, he suggested we wait, as the x-rays show it's not that bad inside.  We decided that if I need an antibiotic once or twice a year, we can wait to pull it, because he suspects a wisdom tooth behind it may be the culprit...I'm okay with waiting...I know if it bothers me I can go in and get it pulled pretty quickly.  I didn't have any cavities, so yay!

After that, I went to Aldi to get the food on my list.  Well, they didn't have ANY boneless chicken breast, and one of our meals is grilled chicken fajitas!  So.  I got what I could, then went over to BJ's.  Pepperoni, chicken, cream, Starbucks Cold Brew, and a bag of Reeses' Peanut Butter Pumpkins ALREADY!  

In Aldi though, there was a mom with a few kids, one a young teenaged girl...they were down the aisle from me when I heard yelling:  I TOLD you to get BEHIND me!!!  The poor girl!  Her face was beat red and she had a boo-boo lip, so embarrassed so I looked away quickly.  ugh.

Later, as I was putting my cart away, the lady was coming to put hers away too.  I said a prayer for her, and wanted to say something kind to her, here's what came out:  It sure is hot out here today...and I smiled big at her.  She did smile back.  What I wanted to do was give her a big hug and tell her she's doing all right, and to be patient with her kids...it's so hard to do sometimes!  

You can't just tell someone not to yell at their kids though, they might take it out on them more if they get embarrassed.  If they think their impatience is the fault of their children, they won't be hearing what you're saying anyway.  It does grieve me.  There is so much suffering in this world.

Ah well.  Home....I tried to put the cold things right into the camper refrigerator, but it wasn't working...Paul was fixing it though.  Being married to Mr. Fix-It is handy!  Cam helped me put things away in the camper and bring the rest of the stuff in the house.  I bought a bag of frozen Tyson chicken strips, and a cauliflower crust pizza for an easy dinner.  

Our camping meals besides the fajitas (and Jasmine rice) are BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, which Ben and Ashley are bringing, and hamburgers and hot dogs with salt potatoes.  We packed peanut butter and jam, and fresh Italian bread, and croissants, and the s'mores stuff, crackers, pepperoni and cheese, arugula (it's so good with lime juice and a splash of avocado oil and some craisins, cucumbers, maybe blueberries).  

I plan to get up and go to the pool, then come home, pack up, and leave for the Adirondacks.  

You all have a good day tomorrow, and a nice weekend...we will not have electricity so I won't be bringing the Macbook.  We will turn on the generator each day to charge our phones and grind our coffee beans...:). (I never said we were roughing it!)

all is quiet....

 ...phew.  What a week.  The girls are all home now.  Grace will have to take some time to recover, she has her sister with her to help with the kids, and of course Sam is great holding down the fort when he's not at work.  Evelyn went home from the hospital last night, same thing, will need some time to get her strength back.  Kathryn is doing better too.  

It takes a village, and when things get rough, it's amazing to see everyone pull together and help.  My pictures refuse to load, not sure why..

I don't know why I've been so sluggish to post on here, I think it's the tight wire of my blog/their business...I love them all so dearly, don't want to cross any lines!  

But.  I went to see Miss Evelyn yesterday, she's finally feeling more of her old self.  She has color in her cheeks and it was wonderful to see.  I am so proud of her, she's such a good mama to that tiny little baby...Nate though, he's been the real hero through all this, he was Mr. Mom for Bridget's night time shenanigans, and he did wonderfully.  

We got to see Grace for a few minutes yesterday too, she seems to be doing much better.  Say what you will about modern medicine, but I am super thankful to live in these times.  Most of our family would be dead and gone by now.  Seriously.  

This fine day, I shall pack for camping, as we leave tomorrow...then I have a dentist appointment, which I had to pre-medicate for, but I also had to go on an antibiotic for that awful molar issue...but I didn't want to start without the probiotic, and Amazon messed up and didn't get it here until yesterday...so I waited to start the meds...Amoxicillan really hurts my stomach, but I discovered when I take the Saccha-whatever Boulardi, it really helps.  

After the dentist, I'll get some camping food...we have meals planned with Ben and Ashley.  Suze and Zech are coming too, and Mariel...and Char and Cam.  I think we might get a visit from Nate and Evelyn, if she's feeling up to it...they were the ones who planned this, but oops, little Bridget decided to bless them with her presence.  Yesterday was her due date, and she is a whole ten days old now!  

I don't know why my pics aren't loading, it's a shame because I have some really good ones.  I was with Ev yesterday when Ben and Ashley came over with Anya, Elise, and Declan to meet the baby.  Those girls were in LOVE.  They wanted more turns with Bridget!  

Ah well....you all have a good day, and thank you SO much for the kind words, kind thoughts, and prayers!  We have much to be thankful for!  

oh my goodness what a week...

 Walking the line between what's my story to tell and infringing on privacy isn't always easy.  But we have had a challenging week here.  Last I told you, Grace was in the hospital, she was there until last evening.  Evelyn had a bad migraine, which turned the corner in a very bad way.  I was headed to Sam's house to celebrate Ruth turning five years old...poor girl, her mama in the hospital on her birthday!  (I stopped and got pink frosted cupcakes and donuts and raspberries and strawberries, bacon and eggs, frozen meatballs and sauce).  Anyway, Sam lives across the street from Evelyn, he called me and asked what was wrong with Evelyn, because there was a police car, firetruck, and ambulance at her house...I thought he was teasing me, they all know how I go from zero to totally freaked in no time flat.

Well, he wasn't kidding.  Evelyn went to the hospital and suffered several seizures.  They moved her to the ICU, and gave her meds to stop the seizures and lower the blood pressure, she had some other serious issues going on, and it was very scary.  Emily left work and came here to take care of newborn Bridget, I came back from Sam's and helped her...Suzanne and Zech came over because Suze was quite upset, and they wanted to help...turned out they were needed...half hour after they got here, Darius called and needed someone at his house so he bring Kathryn to the hospital...here's where I'll leave you in the dark, she likes her privacy, but Suze and Zech went over there immediately.  

Kathryn is most likely going to be okay.  She may be able to go home today, after two nights there, her baby is doing well (due in Oct/Nov). She's on the same floor as Evelyn, who was moved from the ICU last evening.  So we went and visited both of them.  Molly works at that hospital, so she came in too.  Mariel works at the cancer center right up in that area, so she was able to be up there when things were really scary.  Emily used to work with the dr. who took care of Evelyn, so that was helpful. 

Yesterday we had a full house here.  Nate had spent the night here taking care of Bridget, so he left to go see Evelyn, I had newborn...with Suze's help...then Darius brought Achilles, Rhys, Jamie, and Ellis over.  He went to spend some time with Kathryn.  Oscar and Sonja came over with little Kaia, the kids had tons of fun...Sonja played hide and seek, Oscar played Sorry!  Zech talked to Achilles for a good hour about Spongebob show plots.  

I wanted to make sure I gave the kids some dinner, because Mariel was picking them up and bringing them home...it was like one of my nightmares!  The box of corndogs I was thinking of giving them had only one in it.  I had no hot dogs, so I made boxed Mac and cheese, sliced up some chicken breast I had grilled that was still good, made corn tortillas (Suze did that), chopped onion and cilantro, made eight crunchy chicken drums in the air fryer...it was like when the kids were little....Kaia and Ellis were in the kitchen with me, toddling around...Sonja put Ellis in the high chair and fed both he and Kaia their dinner...Achilles didn't want any dinner, even if I make the same food as his mom, he said, it tastes different...I get it.  He was also anxious about his mom and wanted his dad to come back.  

So Suzanne and Zech and I headed up to the hospital with Bridget last evening, right as Mariel was picking up Kathryn's kids...(Paul held down the fort for a little while).  Evelyn was so happy to see her baby, although she couldn't hold her very well yet.  We left baby with Nate and went down the hall to see Kathryn.  Suze and Zech went down to the vending machines and got snacks and drinks for Kap and Eve and Nate before we loaded Bridget back into her car seat and brought her to spend the night with Aunt Emily....

My pictures aren't loading at all, not sure why...but I have things to do and places to go and a living room to vacuum...you all have a good day, and hug your dear ones....

oh you never know...

 Yesterday morning, I got up and went to the pool, then to the diner in town for brekky with the swim friends.  There were only a few of us, and the highlight was when one fellow actually spit out his milk in sudden laughter.  You couldn't fake it that well, it was perfect, yet it was spontaneous.  Charlie said something so hilarious, and he wasn't even meaning to be funny.  oh dear.  

In the mean time, Miss Evelyn was having a really rough time.  She had a headache that was getting worse and worse, so she wanted me to come help Nate with baby and with Newton the French Bull dog, while she went in for an appointment...well, she ended up going to the Emergency Room, for fluids and bloodwork, just to rule some things out.   I drove up there and took her to see her dr. afterward, it seems it was a really bad migraine.  

I did get to sit and hold one small Bridget, who made funny faces.  She smiled and raised her eyebrows in her sleep.  She wriggled and tooted and snuggled, she's like a little doll.  I think Evelyn is feeling a bit better.  (Nate is very patient and so good with baby!)

Then, because it's always something, Grace got sick and ended up in the hospital, I don't know if I'm free to share details, so I'll just say that she thinks she'll be okay, but today is Ruth's birthday and Sam is home with the kids.  So, I have birthday presents and am going to stop and get a cake, and head up there so Sam can go see Grace or pick her up or whatever has to be done.  

These are the times I am super glad I don't work!

Ugh, I'll tell you something awful.  I have a molar that has a very expensive crown, yet it insists on giving me trouble.  The dentist told me a few years back that it's best to yank it, but there's no hurry.  I went a few years with no trouble, then had an infection.  Then nothing for a long while.  It flared back up in the wintertime when I had a brand new knee, so I called and got an antibiotic quickly.  Well, this past week it started in again...I'll spare you the details...but I happen to have a dentist appointment next week, so I called this morning and have to go pick up antibiotics today.  (I am thankful, so very thankful to live in these times!  I would be SO dead by now!).   I'm sure we'll revisit the tooth pulling conversation on Tuesday.  

Charlotte Claire and Camille are going camping in the Adirondacks this fine day, for the weekend.  They've been packing and prepping!  Kathryn and Margaret are going too, it's a girls' trip.  I sent my broom and solar lanterns and a tablecloth, and my favorite tent.  They are going to have so much fun!  

It'll be quiet here again though....

Anyway.  I need to get moving...have a really good summer day!  Go bare feet in the grass and get some sunshine on your face!

a sunny summer Tuesday...

 

One little baby spam:  Bridget Suzanne:), pic stolen from Evelyn.

This fine morning, I headed to Target all by myself for a store pick up.  I had ordered body wash, shampoo, ect., had a few coupons, ect.  Of course I decided to wander around a little bit.  I didn't find much, but I did get some marked down donut holes and lemon poppyseed muffins for the girls and grandkids.  I was rang up at the service desk because only one register was open besides the self serve ones, she called me over.  So, I couldn't see how much things were ringing up.  Well.  I got out to the car, and the $4.99 muffins which have a date of tomorrow, did not ring up the $2.00 on the big yellow sticker.  The other things rang up way too much too.  I did NOT feel like going back in on an 84 degree sunshiny day for five dollars in overcharges.  ugh.

Anyway.  I headed out to visit Ms. Kathryn and children, and go for a swim.  That sunshine, ahhh!

Home...time to grill the chicken I had marinated in lime juice and cajun spices, before I left.  The girls came home from work and made coconut rice, chopped cilantro, onions, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, and made guac.  I put a cauliflower crust pizza in the oven too, it was going to expire:). I didn't have the coconut rice, although it sounded yummy, I had a bowl of arugula with blueberries, lime juice...and chicken on top.

I slathered the chicken breast with avocado oil, salt and pepper, and grilled it to 145, then put it in a bowl with foil to finish up.  I sliced it up, and it was so tender and juicy!  There is nothing like it.  

After dinner, Paul took us all for ice cream.  Why does soft ice cream have to be so good?  It was a lovely drive through the countryside too, especially fun with Char and Cam along.

Life is good.  You all have a good evening...maybe tomorrow I can put more than one picture on!