Dog Days of Winter

It was a good weekend.  NICE and warm!!  We got up to 55 degrees on Friday and Sunday!  Saturday was colder but had a high of 40ish.  It's like Spring is TRYING to push through and I am all for it!

1) my brother stopped by on Saturday to see if he could fix my deck.  We found that the patio room is keeping us from fixing it properly and it's doing it's own job of falling apart anyway, so it's coming down.  He threw a few 8 inch screws into the main deck board to give me a sense of control over the situation and will be back in a few weeks to complete the job.  

We can walk on the deck now without fear. Whew!

He'd gone skiing on Friday and tore up his shoulder in a head over heels tumble on the slope so he was in a lot of pain.  I gave him some meds and he bought me breakfast. and muffins for later...

2) Later that afternoon, Maddy invited Meri and myself over to play with her dogs and watch a movie. 

 We talked Meri into watching the first episode of Only Murders In The Building.  She hadn't really WANTED to see it but we both had enjoyed it and wanted her to also.  After the first episode, I said, Well I need to get going!  But Meri said, Nope, we're watching the 2nd episode too!

okey dokey!  I guess she binged watched the rest late into the night on Saturday when she got home. :)

I'm glad she enjoyed it! The 2nd season is being filmed at the moment so we'll all watch it together when it comes out.

3) Sunday after church, I visited with a dear friend to refill his TIVO.  He doesn't have internet.  Failed big time.  The TIVO antena thingy is flakey sometimes...  But since I was running out of time, I left it and went to go visit with my bestie, his wife, at the nursing home.  I went back to Mike's house on Monday night with Leon and we finally go the TIVO working.  Whew!  His TIVO is good for another 10 days.  Leon wants to come along next time because maybe it will be warmer and he can explore the deep dark forest easier. Ummm, you'll be at your mom's kid.  The NEXT time...

Then Maddy and I drove about an hour away and saw Grandma at her independent living apartment and visited for a while.  I showed her the video I'd made of Robb and we all cried.  And we reset the channels on her tv.  For some reason that no one has figured out yet, she accidentally deletes the channels from her lineup. Then Maddy and I picked up Leon from his mom's and brought him home.  

4) We got home just before it got dark, but by the time Maddy brought her dogs over, it WAS dark.  That didn't stop us.  We walked out to the cemetery in the dark.  When you have a walking companion and a couple dogs with you that bark at a dropped leaf, you just feel safe, even when walking through a cemetery.  Sunday was the 1 year anniversary of burying Robb.  

Daisy and Zola got all worn out and Maddy sent a video of the dogs all sprawled out on their backs, sleeping the walk off. :)

5) One of Meri's cats passed away during the night Sunday evening.  Zucchini, Keven's brother.  She was just torn up about it.  She had been planning to take him to the vet on Monday because he hadn't been eating well lately.  Both the girls came over early Monday and they made a paint print of Zucchini's paw and then we buried him behind the garage.  That was the only spot where the ground wasn't frozen 4 inches down.  Maddy poured in some boiling water to help soften the dirt as we got deeper.

Then we each said some things about Zucchini and sang Amazing Grace. And Maddy quoted Robb's saying that he would do for goldfish deaths.  "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Bless Zucchini, may he never rust." Or something to that effect.  Poor Meri.  It's been an extra rough week for her.

6) Leon and I made cupcakes last night for his birthday dinner tonight.  He is TEN years old today!!!  Remember THIS post?  Sew Not My Day!: An Introduction and a winner!

I got him a Lego set of an X-Wing fighter ship from Star Wars.  It's almost 800 pieces and will probably take him an hour to put together. :)  He got the Y-Wing for Christmas and had asked for this one.  The dining room table is stacked with gifts for him to open tonight.

Each of the kids gets to pick what meal to have for their birthdays and he chose Sushi this year.  I don't even think he's ever tried it but he's feeling adventuresome, and for that alone, I'm thankful.  I'm also making steak strips and sweet potatoes as sides, just in case he changes his mind...  Matthew made rice balls last night and Meri is going to make a bunch of sushi with the bamboo mats this afternoon.

Jen will help me decorate the cupcakes this afternoon, because Leon wants them to look like mushrooms.  He definitely has a unique personality and there is NO one like him in all of 4th grade.  At least not at our homebased online school!  I had picked up little gummy frogs for him and he wants them on the cupcakes to give them that extra mushroomy, woodsy feel.  We'll see what we can do!

Happy Birthday Leon!!!