27th AM

Evie is sick now (nothing serious). The year is coming to a close. We've decided to make January our "work on the house" month. We are painting our room this week. It will be "Darjeeling" by Friday. We will be installing picture molding and Scott is building us a new bed.

We are of to a poetry tea later this morning. We'll hit the post office while we're out--gotta mail out more cookies! Sending in our radon detection kit too. Scott's mom's house had very high levels of radon, it turns out. It is most certainly implicated in her death from lung cancer. Please make sure your house is safe. The tests are easy to obtain: First Alert RD1 Radon Gas Test Kit


We have been sucked into the early 1900s through WWI. I love it when things collide. "Downton Abbey," "Maisie Dobbs" (series by Jacqueline Winspear), "Perfection Salad," the soccer game truce of 1914. History is alive and under discussion at home right now.

Off for some dark running. Maybe I'll post a picture again someday.

My head is generally more organized than these posts.

Ho Ho Ha!

And now I have the flu!

We had folks over for Solstice and singing last night. Really some of the best people in the world. I didn't eat a drop of the apparently wonderful soup. I spent the night awake, feverishly counting glass wings (???).

Much better today. Had to cancel our annual Christmas blood donation. I don't think they want my germy fluids!

Cozy night in with Scott, Evie is out at the farm doing elfy things.

We need more snow. Other than that, things are great.

Films

Happy Solstice!

I am pretty much only adding to my documentary list.

Making more plans, installing new smoke detectors. Fun stuff.

43

Scott is 43 today! More later.

Back in WI . . .

We made it

We made to the house by 11:30. We passed through bands of snow and sometimes it was beautiful.

It is surreal being here. Since we live so far away I feel like we haven't really grasped the fact that Scott's mom is really and truly gone. We will never see her again. Her voice is still fresh in all of our minds.


Right now the packing just seems like a job. Sometimes memories will make it seem like an ending, sometimes it is just vacuuming endless mouse poop.

What is missing is her. This house has always oozed hospitality. Never mind the fact that she ran it as a bed and breakfast. We never experienced that side of it. When we were here generosity oozed out of every corner, comfort sated us every day. Jean loved to throw a party. Jean loved to make people feel special. As family we didn't feel like guests, we always felt like we belonged.


Now we are packing boxes and throwing things away. We are marveling at things like the brand of rum she kept on hand for ONE person--just in case he came by. Her pantry shelves are bare now. That's how we're all feeling. A little bare without her.

So we left . . .

. . . and great silliness ensued.

Let's see . . .

Evie sat on a chocolate covered pretzel, it melted, use your imagination.

I got pulled over in OH because my tires touched the white line (next to the break down lane) three times in a mile. Officer Ohio was just trying to make sure I wasn't falling asleep at the wheel. Scott says he is going to turn my warning into a Christmas ornament with glitter glue.

We hit a crazy, freako, blizzard of doom in western PA. Thanks to Scott's sheer awesomeness we managed to make it to our goal city.

We ate a crappy meal at a place with not a single vegetarian option--I was that annoying customer who asked for something not on the menu, oy!

I am now fantasizing about some sort of back-rack, twisty table to return my back to its original state, the truck is in a mess and we may have 6 inches of snow out our door in the morning.

Great start!

Skills

Awhile ago Scott asked Evie to change the oil on one of our vehicles. Evie said, "Sure, if you'll show me how." Scott said, "Actually, you need to find out everything yourself." "Okay," was her response.

Yesterday she changed the oil on our truck in preparation for going East. It involved two trips to the auto parts store, several hours, the owner's manual, the computer and Scott's enthusiastic company. I have never changed the oil in a vehicle. We have someone else change ours regularly. Scott's brother thinks we're nuts. For him, vehicle maintenance is like breathing.



When Evie finished, her smile was a mile wide. Then she backed the truck down the driveway so they could clean up. You should have seen her smile then!



There is no question that it is faster and cheaper (for us) to have someone else change our oil. There is also no question that offering a challenge to Evie to find out something we don't know is worth the time and money.

Gotta love learning new skills!