Hello all,
Well, grandpop's (my dad) birthday was on Friday. He has reached 87 years, and I'm sure he's feeling every one of them.
It was a busy weekend for me and mine. My brother Mike came up from Virginia to celebrate Dad's B-day, and, last weekend, he had asked if he could stay with me this weekend. That was great, but it meant that I had to get off my duff and actually get some things done around my house. I was able to get some cleaning done during the week, but the majority of my weekdays are spent either working or getting to and from work. (I leave the house at 6:30 am and arrive back around 6 pm, every day) My house really needed some work, as to which anyone who has been there can attest. It was a real "train wreck".
I did some cleaning last weekend, interupted by the arrival of my nephews delivering a refrigerator. Mike Ragan had had an extra 'fridge at his house that was offered to me. I have been working with a fridge of the 1950's vintage, that Jessie and Nate had arranged to get for me 5 years ago from Nate's aunt. It has worked great, but had a very small freezer section (the old fridges had a small, aluminum box in the top of the fridge for frozen foods - about 8" high, and about 2 feet wide). The fridge that Mike Ragan talked about was a side by side - freezer and fridge.
Anyway, Mike brought that over last Saturday, in David McClain's truck, helped by John Ragan. I was a bit surprised (though Mike did warn me) at the huge size of the 'fridge. We did get it in the house though, and it is running nicely.
Anyway, Timmy had the weekend off from work (first time in about 2 months), so he drove his brothers up to my house on Friday night. They were a little late, since they were helping Lorena open up the pool before they left, so we didn't get to call in a birthday greeting to Dad on his birthday. Saturday, I woke up early (as usual), and did a little cleaning before going to my Weight Watchers meeting at 8am. Kathy and I had breakfast out (the boys were still asleep), and then she came back to my house to help me get it in order. I woke up the boys and we cleaned most of the day. It was amazing! My house went from looking like the town dump to only looking like a cyclone had hit it! At least you could walk through without stepping over things. Kathy, with my thanks, took off about 4pm.
Mike Melcher arrived about 5pm. He had bought and brought a hoagie for himself for dinner, so he ate that, then we all went over to PopPop's for a visit. The boys and I didn't stay long, since PopPop and MomMom get tired easily. We spent about 1/2 hour - 45 minutes, then went out and got some food at the pizza place around the corner from me. Mike spent most of the evening with our parents, getting back to my place around 11pm.
Sunday we went to 9 am Mass with Mike and Mom and Dad and Kathy at Sacred Heart. The boys wanted to go to thier friends' house to play a LARP (Live Action Role Play) game, to which I was invited, also. We spent most of the day (10am to 3:30pm) out in the sun, pretending to be vampires or midieval warriors, then I dropped Jason and Kevin off at dance practice and came back up to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mike asked if I wanted to join him at Kathy and Rita's after dinner, but I was exhausted and went home to sleep.
I was able to spend a couple (very few) minutes with Mike before I left for work this morning. He will be driving back to Virginia, today, after possibly making a couple quick visits to Sue or Pat, and Mom and Dad again (they like him to stop back to say 'bon voyage').
Phew! Weekend over, now I can be at work and get some rest!
Later!
-Thom
