Family Matters

Friday my mother and dad and older sister and her new husband arrive. In addition, Ilona and her parents will return on Friday, which means that my house is going to be quite full. There will literally be people in every room! I need to clean out the hall way and put all the furniture back in the right place. Since we cleaned the carpets about 3 weeks ago, the furniture has remained in the hall. Mostly because I like the bareness of the family room without all the pieces. Cris and I are only going to put the book cases back and a few small items and the rest is going to Goodwill. Nathan and Gillian have two drawers of toys that need to be sorted through and given away and I absolutely must finish that before Friday.

I am excited because one case each of peach, plum, and blackberry jams making their way to my home. My friend Judith made it for me and I bought three cases. I cannot wait to taste each flavor all of which are my favorites but plum jam is my most favorite of all. Gillian loves blackberry, and Cris is a fan of peach. I'm going to package most of the jars for holiday gifts to my friends and family. I enjoy gifts that are not traditional. My sister Peg, and my sister-in-law, Marci, are the queens of non-traditional. They put so much thought into every gift making them that much more special.

Sunday I spent the day with Erin and her friend Gunnar. They wanted to go see Despicable Me the movie in 3D. It was a fun movie and Erin and Gunnar laughed so much. After the movie they decided they wanted to shopping at Target and at Barnes and Nobel. After over an hour of shopping, we ended up at Chevy's for lunch and a park for a quick swing than back to my house. Gunner has autism and he and Erin became friends over the course of last year. Erin of course has a huge crush and Gunner just doesn't know what to think about that. But he's kind and makes and effort to hang out with Erin on occasion. They call each other on the phone during the week and talk for a few minutes. Erin and Gunner are both pretty quiet but if you can get them both on a topic that they enjoy like movies then they seem to do pretty well together. I was exhausted though at the end of the afternoon.

Dad is bring his landscaping equipment with him on this trip to California. We are going to try and renovate the back yard in a week! All I care about is taking out the tree, old deck and spa, and making everything level again. Those darn gophers had dug holes all through the back yard and nothing we try will make them leave. So I figure if we just dig up everything then maybe they will just go away! A couple of boards on my planter boxes need to be restored, so hopefully one of two pieces of the old deck will work for that.

I'm looking forward to seeing my older sister again. It's been about two years since I've seen her and she's finally gotten married again! It's been fourteen years since her first husband passed away. I'm so happy that she has found someone to share her life with again. I hope he will treat her right and take care of her because she deserves it after so many years of being alone and having to raise her two sons by herself. Her boys are grown now so I guess she decided to finally do something for herself. I'm proud of her and I wish her all the happiness in the world. Whenever we get together we are like two peas in a pod; or as Forest Gump says, "we are like peas and carrots again." I love talking with her and I miss that we don't live closer to each other. She wants to be close to mom and dad just in case anything happens since they are getting up in age. They are both diabetics and mom can't walk anymore, so it's a strain on dad to care for her and still work and take care of himself. My sister likes to be close by just in case they need anything and Peg and I really appreciate that she's willing to be the person that they can turn to for any day to day assistance.

I have a boat load of work to finish before Friday, but then I'm taking off the entire week that my folks are visiting, so it will be nice to sleep in a bit next week. After that, it's enrollment time for the kids and school will start in three weeks. It will be crazy busy, as Ilona will be getting ready to go home and Silje will be arriving from Norway. Change of the guard so to speak. It's always stressful and busy, and I feel like I've been hit by a bus by the time it's all over. Before I know it, the holidays will be upon us and a new year will be approaching. I never know what the tide will bring, but it's always good to wake up to a new day.