catchin' up

I know this is the time of year when bloggers often reminisce about their posts of the past year.

But see, I happen to know that there's been a whole lotta' stuff going on around here in just the past few weeks that I have yet to post about, stuff that I know you're anxious--or at least curious--to hear about.

So, kind blogger that I am, I'll share at least a portion of that recent stuff. In my favorite written form: the no particular order list.

1. Have I mentioned that Gus has a tiny brain? Like, so small, that it's only big enough to ensure that he keeps breathing, his heart keeps beating, and his legs keep him upright, although he often uses only three of four legs while running. It's becoming more and more clear to me that every time he blinks, it's as if a new day just started. He operates on instinct and his instincts tell him to do whatever other dogs do (read: JoJo does). She runs, he runs. She catches food, he catches food. She fetches, he, well, he hangs off of her neck by his teeth while she fetches. Tonight it became clear that at some point in his pre-gardens life, somebody used to brush him. He jumped up on my lap tonight and I started brushing him, thinking he'd freak out and get down, but he turned into this calm, non-biting, non-licking sweetheart. I did not see that coming.

2. For Christmas, Jack gave me a Nook. One of his friends had heart problems recently, and when Jack went to visit him at the hospital, the guy's wife was there with her Nook. She said she loved it and Jack thought I might like one. When he told me she had a nook, I thought he meant a little corner of her house with an old-fashioned reading lamp and a comfy chair. Uh. So. Any suggestions for books or magazines I should add to my reading list? Besides textbooks.

3. Tonight for dinner, I made lima beans and ham. Such a great use of the remnants of the Christmas ham.

4. Do you know how many blogs are out there on the internet? Whoa--it's a big world.

5. Jack, Jr & I spent several days at the Provo house in the past couple of weeks. The tile in the upstairs shower was threatening to fall into the tub. Jr and I went down the day after the tenants left for their two-week holiday vacation. I pulled off one tile and sand poured out from the space behind the tile. Keep in mind that this was the above ground part of the house, not the basement. After the sand stopped falling into the tub, Jr and I discovered black mud. He started scratching at the mud, and I kept thinking, wait, we're above ground, why is there dirt in the wall? Have you guessed yet? We pulled down the rest of the tile and that is when we discovered the adorable 1928 brick bungalow Provo house was made from adobe blocks, then faced with brick on the outside and plaster on the inside. Apparently there was a leak from the window in the shower behind the tile, which destroyed the plaster. After a week of drying time, we made several trips back and repaired the window, put up metal lath (sharp, metal screen), then a coat of cement mortar, then cement board, then tile, then grout, then caulk, with accompanying patching of plaster and paint. Totally did not see this project coming. I don't know how I thought the house was built, but I did not ever consider that the structure was built out of clay blocks.

6. My mom got her eyelids done a week before Christmas. Eyelid surgery. At 76. I could post for days about this whole thing, but I won't. I'll just say that the evening after the surgery included a three-hour visit to the emergency room at the hospital to check her heart rate (it was healthy), and it was similar to previous visits to the ER, except that when she talked to strangers this time, it was to assure them that her black eyes were not caused by her husband hitting her. Strangers. After two weeks, her eyes are starting to look more normal. If you know my mom, you know that she is all about asking people (who she doesn't know but who look somehow 'foreign' to her) where they are from--and if someone says they are from, say, Sandy, she'll reply, "No, where are your people from?" I'm convinced she means no offense, she's just curious and a bit out of control. So it was kind of fun to ask her what she was going to say when people started asking her where she was from because it appeared to me that the doctor had slanted her eyes up a bit. She thought it was hilarious.

7. For Christmas, I gave Jack a blue-ray player. Do you know how many movies are out there on Netflix?

8. We had two family parties after Christmas--Jack's family one night, mine on the next. Lots of people in the house, lots of food, lots of commotion.

9. The Californians came on the 23rd and stayed until early on the morning of the 30th. It was great to have them in the house. They had a lot of visiting to do during the week, but we still got to see them every night. I could count on a girl snuggling tight on my lap whenever they were in the house. It was a delight to sit in the office and listen to them playing together in the next room, especially when their cousins were visiting too. Yes, there were a few moments of, um, drama, but mostly it was delightful. One day, all of their parents went bowling and the five girlies played for several hours together in the gardens. Lots of giggling, happy sounds. One of them wanted to take a bath, then a sister joined her in the tub, and before I knew it, all five were splashing together. It was so much fun.

10. After all of the parties and commotion and Provo house remodeling and giggling, Friday was very quiet around here. I may admit to staying in my jammies until I changed into different jammies late in the day. I may admit to feeling a bit alone with no girls in the house. I may admit that for the first time I remember, I didn't even brush my teeth until it was time to go to bed that night. Yes. Poor me.

11. Yesterday, Melissa came to clean the kitchen, bathrooms, floors, and dusty horizontal surfaces. I had to get up, shower, dress, and put on my happy. One of the great things about having her come every other week--I know the mess can only get so bad and then she'll show up and wipe it all up, everything will be tidied, polished and bright. And she does this really cool thing that I love--she folds the end of the toilet paper into a point, like the way the toilet paper looks when you first check into a hotel? It always makes me smile.