at the tail end of the shutdown

Dragon Mood? -- confused and disoriented

I haven't posted in so long, it feels almost foreign to do so. Sheesh!

Today is the last day of my two-week shutdown period with work. (Sad face, grimaces, groans.) It has been such an odd time for me, fractured and broken up, that it may almost be a relief to go back to work.

S had to work through this shutdown time. She hated it! She's up against a big, brick wall of a deadline so she had no choice in the matter. Therefore, we had no vacation together which makes us both sad ... and mad ... and frustrated.

Since I posted last, I traveled to Madison via car, plane and bus to see mijita, Carolina, and mijito, Yoshkie. We spent a quick weekend together, drinking lots of beer, watching numerous videos numerous times and trying to stay cool. The temps were in the high 80s with loads of humidity to boot. We used Caroline's A/C liberally and necessarily.

I returned back to the Motor City late Monday night. S and I had a sweet lunch near the tower and then I headed home to the pine trees. I have been cleaning off and on (mostly on) since then, trying to get ready for the big barbecue/picnic/wedding shower that will be held next weekend. We're anticipating 40 to 50 people attending, including four to six house guests and a marathon euchre tournament late into the night after the party. It should be a wingding of a bash!

I keep talking to myself, trying to allay my occasional anxiety attacks about this party. It will be okay, everything will be fine and just try to relax and enjoy the process. (So much easier said than done, huh?)

Wednesday evening, J & J invited me over for dinner and a ride around the lake on their pontoon. Kevin was there and we had a lovely time. Unfortunately, S was still at work, trying to wrap things up. We both went back over there Friday evening, as well, had a few drinks, shared some pizza and sat out on their deck overlooking the lake. The sky was rather overcast but we hashed over the world's problems and Kevin, Jeanne and S did some birdwatching and bird-sleuthing. Joanne and I played with their dog, Buster.

Thursday was a mambo-jumbo doctor-visiting day which I'll post about in a separate post.

Last night, Saturday night, we got to babysit our new grandbaby, Preston, which was delightful and surprisingly easy. We played with him and talked to him for about an hour ... and then he conked out. I mean, CONKED OUT! S and I could only surmise that the pleasant coolness of the house after all the heat and humidity just knocked him out. He lay on the futon next to S, totally relaxed with his arms splayed up around his head. He has a beautiful face and looks so much like pictures of his dad and uncle at that age. We watched "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" on TNT and then channel-surfed until 1 a.m. Then we woke him up, loaded him in his carseat, put him in the backseat of my new (used) Protege and returned him home to his partying parents. Mark had already drunk too many shots of tequila and had thrown up. He looked quite rough. We wished him a "Happy Birthday" and headed home.