August 10

Today is Mom's 92nd Birthday. Yesterday as I searched through the rack of greeting cards at the drugstore to find the card with the perfect message I had the same thought that I had last year. How many more 10ths of August will there be that I go through this small but significant ritual? Is this the last time? The imponderables.....

Today is also the day I take Dad to get a few dental extractions; not exactly the best timing but oh, well. Coordinating schedules is a challenge. Poor Dad. Yet he takes all this nonsense in stride and is far calmer than I would be were I him facing the needle and a pair of glorified pliers today.

Tomorrow is the day we've set aside to actually celebrate Mom's 92nd Birthday at the Adult Family Home. I'm hoping our cake-ice cream-punch party warms her heart as the Seattle clan gathers to sing, eat, and play in her presence. If all goes according to plan there will be young ones, five and under in attendance to liven up the show. Glen Miller big band music playing in the background; what more could we want?

Summer days move forward. We are well into August.

Fighting the Demon called Pain

Water Bill Woes

580 bucks for a water bill? OMG! I wanted to faint standing at the table opening the bills yesterday. And then, I got mad. And then I got sad. And then I got all reflective. And then I started this internal checks and balances thing; I'll pay this bill and then I won't spend on this....

Granted the bill is for two month's usage but to my memory, is a record high. Do we have a water leak? Apparently not. D. says it's the sprinklers which have been ON this summer dutifully watering our front and back yard three times a week. I'm not so sure. Our lawn still looks like it's dead. We've had that sprinkler system in place for years and unless the system is on overdrive and the water rates have gone up considerably, something else is happening. We've done a lot of laundry; two kids at home generate a lot of dirty clothes. Extra showers this summer, beyond the norm. There have been more cycles of the dishwasher; more meals prepared, more mouths fed.

but Geez......

Now I'm mad again. That's a lot of money. It isn't the kitchen tap water that's the problem. In fact, considerable savings come from drinking that sink water instead of buying bottled water. I quit the bottles over a year ago after investing in a Brita water pitcher. Of course I could drink directly from the sink water but......"baby steps". I'm working on it.

D. "adjusted" the sprinkler system last night; he cut way back on the watering time which is fine with me. We'll wait for the rainy season to return and pour sink water on the potted plants to keep them going. As for laundry, showers, and dishwasher machine cycles? I dunno (yet). I'm thinking. But I'm pissed and that usually leads to some changes.

A Link for the Anemic Soul

I'm lazy today; reading blogs but feeling uninspired to write. Fortunately, there are talented people out there who are neither lazy nor uninspired.

This post is gorgeous. My sister posted it today on her blog Second Seating, a chronicle of her upcoming show scheduled to open in Houston in September 2009. I'd like to be feasting at this table, literally and figuratively. Seems it's the infusion of iron for the anemia of my body and soul.

That First House

Yesterday as we enjoyed lunch with Heather and Chris after a tour of their new rental home in Gig Harbor, I reminisced about that first house and the many wonderful memories associated with finding a place to live and the process of turning a house (or apartment) into a home. It's great fun, energizing and fulfilling; like starting anew. We were so impressed with their new place. Chris will be living there for now and he and Heather will be working hard to get everything set up and ready for their lives together come November.

I remember back to our early days of marriage in Houston; we were lucky to be able to purchase a small, two bedroom bungalow from my brother at a great price. Denny had a lot of furniture and kitchen "stuff" having lived on his own in an apartment so we had most of the things we needed. We did have to buy appliances though; a refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer and thankfully our parents helped us out as we were still in medical school and well, rather broke. We loved that little white clapboard house with the single car garage and the big backyard with the wild rosebush. Sweet memories.

I hope the energy in this jump for joy propels these two forward into many wonderful days ahead.

Love those Blues.....

SeaFair weekend draws to a close for another year. The Blue Angels were spectacular as always. Saturday, Denny and I watched the show from our favorite (relatively secret...shh..) vantage point above Lake Washington along with a growing legion of other spectators (not quite so secret anymore). The sounds and the sights were enough to turn my blood to icy chill on a hot summer day. That's always my criteria for a good performance. Love it I do. Love it I do.

We'd have returned for the second show today as we often do but elected instead to visit Chris and Heather in Gig Harbor to check out their new home. Love it we do. And more on that tomorrow.

This has been a good weekend.

The Eighth Month

August is here; a new month flips over. Usually that's a "good". This time? Well, August is not exactly my favorite month and the reasons for that are complex, mostly related to the accelerated rate of change in light at these higher latitudes. But, I digress. August.

In this month many things happen.

Chris moves out after a two month stay at home. This is the the big move out; engaged with wedding plans for November, he journeys out to a new "home base". In fact, his "bags are packed" and he's "ready to go" so to speak as of today although I suspect that this will be a move that occurs over stages and days. He's borrowed this van and the help of some buddies to haul most of his stuff down I-5, the 40 miles or so to his new rental house on the "the Harbor" as he calls his new hometown. We are excited for his future in Gig Harbor, his plans with Heather, and his new life ahead but the move itself brings out the bitter with the sweet. One chapter closes, another opens. It's all good.

Laura heads back to school later this month for her senior year at G.U. Our house, once again, will be very, very quiet. There will be only two "big people" around here after three months of what I call "big people" (my term for grown up) and "big people's" friends populating the rooms of our home. That will feel strange indeed. Quiet and strange.

The days will grow shorter. The nights will grow longer.

This is Birthday Month. I will try to honor (note: not celebrate) my birthday. This is not a milestone birthday but an important one because it ends in a five. Two of Denny's sisters will celebrate birthdays in August; one shares the same day with me. My Mom will turn 92 and one of her great grandsons will turn 5, also celebrating on the same day she does.

My Dad will have 2 teeth pulled.

I will continue physical therapy for this frozen shoulder of mine.

I will go to work and take on call duties two weekends this month.

The Danskin Triathlon will come and go. I won't be participating this year.

These are the things that I think I know. Plus, there are many more things that stay locked in my head. What may be waiting for me as a nice surprise or a not-so-nice-twist-of-fate are things beyond my control. In fact, even what I think I know is beyond my control. Sigh.

I suspect September will come; the days will start to cool, the longer shadows and the hint of autumn may work a kind of subtle magic, consuming August and its 31 days into a mist of memory.

Surrender, Kate