sad day, glad day...

Today is my brother's birthday. William James, Billy, my older brother. There were seven of us, two girls and five boys. Billy was a genius. Seriously, he was wicked smart, and snarky too, a sense of humor that was just right on point. A few of my sons remind me of him so much. The older you get, the more intense your childhood memories, the more it seems just like yesterday that he was acting all nonchalant about his birthday cake. I've posted about it several times, but Billy took his own life, he shot himself. And yes, it was a few years back, and no, I haven't gotten over it. Suicide leaves the family in tatters, what didn't we see? What could we have done? He could have talked to me. I would have helped him.

But that sadness aside, today is a glad day too. Because, roadtrip!!!! I do love a nice seven hour journey, one that takes me to see my little Sammy, all grown up and a daddy now. Our little red minivan will be packed and ready to leave in just a few hours...Margaret and baby Wulf are going, and Evelyn, Suzanne, Camille, and me. Not only am I excited to see Sam and Grace and baby Grant, there is a pool and a hot tub at our hotel. Aaahhhh. And, we're staying three nights! And, we might go sightseeing in Washington, D.C. I LOVE it.

Just a side-note, I am a house-wife, not a stay at home mom, or SAHM. I am married to my house. If I don't pay it enough attention, it gets me back. This past week, I have been renovating a bathroom. I'm not one to drag on a project, I want results, and everything else suffers as I spend every minute I can working on what I want to get done. So the bathroom project ugh...you know, you just want to slap on the paint and see how pretty it is. But there is spackle and sand, washing the walls, and the trim! That took forever and a day! Oh, and the ceiling, too. Now I'm on to the counter tops. Remember the burgundy?


This is with a few coats of primer, then some pearl white, which didn't cover enough, so I primed again early this morning, then decided to rummage for a different paint, and found a little sample bottle of this Valspar satin gray. There's not much of it, so that adds some excitement: what if I run out?!!!


This is just the first coat of gray. The waiting-for-it-to-dry time is agony, I just want to be at the point where I can pour that Envirotex Lite on it, and leave the house. Seriously. With a lot of us gone this weekend, it's the perfect time to have these sinks out of commission, and if I don't get to it before I leave, there will be some rocky days with teenage girls next week.

And today has a few more things to accomplish, as in I have to pack. I have to help Camille pack. I have to go to the bank, pay a bill in town, and get air in the van tires. I am picking the high school girls up at a bit after two, so I have five hours to do all of this.

It seems like a lot of time, but ugh, I have no idea what I'm packing, and have to shower and wash my tangly hair. It does indeed have paint flecks in it.

And here's the best news, news that's both sad and glad.

My daughter Kathryn is ENGAGED. Can you believe it? That's why she's been taking trips to the west coast. She is marrying Adrian's brother, Darius. A spring wedding is being planned...and yes, I have been with her to try on wedding dresses already, and couldn't say anything because they didn't announce it until last night. The sad part of this gladness is that Darius lives in Oregon! He has a house and a job, so it's not like they can just move here! Wah! The United States is a very big country, and driving from New York to Oregon would take four whole days if you slept at night. 2,800 miles, 41 hours. So four ten hour days of driving, or obviously less days with more driving, but still. It's too far to drive. Not that I mind a little airplane trip now and then, but, Kathryn is my good friend, and not to see her on a day-to-day basis is a huge loss for me. With Joseph moved out and married, and Evelyn planning to move in to Margaret and Adrian's place for the winter (they live in a small city north of here, and can you say, "Lake Effect Snow"?) It'll save her the commute to work in the winter weather.

So anyway, I'm obviously happy for Kathryn and Darius, but oh my soul...

Today we have no small children here, as Lydia went home last evening. Soon Mali starts a new job with regular hours, no more 12 hour shifts, night shifts, weekends...Monday through Friday. So that means I'll have Lydia here Monday through Friday. I don't mind, because of course I LOVE the Lydster. She's so funny. She asks everyone all the time, "What are you doing?" She prefaces it with the person's name, and yesterday she asked me a hundred times, "Grandma, what are you doing?" She hops and skips and sings through the day, never quiet, and never still, except for the occasional time she gets into playing dollhouse, but she is usually still singing.

Ah well, never a dull moment. I'm looking forward to a somewhat relaxing weekend...:)