My updates seem so banal next to the boy's (http://somumwillpay.blogspot.com/), but something is better than nothing, I suppose, and nothing is what I've been putting up these past few days. After the rain on Saturday, I went down and joined Mom & ME at the Maritime Festival. We sat in the sun by the water listened to the Revels group singing their sea shanties and folk ballads. All in all it was pleasant. (There are more pics on my Flickr site.) Because I was so late, I missed the boat races, but got to see some of the entrants on the dock. I think this one was my favorite. Apparently it was powered by someone in the wheel, running.

I woke up early this morning to the sounds of the first real rain that we've had in a long time, maybe since May. Finally!
The cats kept going to the back door to be let out, only to stand there looking puzzled and dismayed. Yar finally made a dash for it out of the front door. I think there are more sheltered spots out that way. He's come in and out again since then but now only sits on the porch, watching. The Cat with a Thousand Names hasn't been so brave yet. Jazz is the only one who is unperturbed. She cried at the front door to be let in, but it was only so that she could use the house as a short cut to the back yard. She's disappeared out into the weather again, silly little wild thing.
Of course, this is the day that I'd planned to go down to the Maritime Festival and watch the boat races. Looks like a much better day to stay inside and catch up with all the odds and ends. I'm supposed to meet sister ME down there for a performance of sea shanties in the late afternoon. Hopefully that's got an inside venue. ;-)

Made it over to hear the WS Big Band at Hiawatha last night with D. I really should have been doing homework for today's class instead, but somehow sitting in the sunshine listening to swing music really seemed more appealing than wading through more articles on education theory. But that means I'm in catch-up mode again today. I'm really hoping that this class has some applied aspects as well, otherwise it's going to be a long 5 sessions.

Gave sister B. a call this evening to catch her up on how Mom's surgery went, and we had a nice chat. They've had a string of mishaps this month, and to hear what all's happened, I think she's lucky to have gotten away with just a bump on her car door (from a tree while camping). Her winter plans are up in the air as there are several possible ways that she may wind up going, so we're not sure when we'll see her out this way again. Daughter B has made it to Spain where it is hot. She's been joined by another traveling companion so there are the three of them together for the rest of the trip. I've always heard that three makes for the most difficult number in a group, but I've always liked it best. I found that it lets each of us have some down-time by ourselves while the other two go off on their own way. It's worked out well, but maybe it's just the company that I keep. She'll have several more days in central Spain, then they'll move to the Mediterranean coast and finally on to Italy. Hopefully all the fires will be under control before they make it to Greece.

Just got back from Mom's and her cataract surgery went really well. Now we've all got to start getting used to seeing her without her glasses. She'll go back for eye #2 in three weeks.

Started a new class yesterday and she's warning us up front that it will be heavy in theory. Blah. I got through the last theory class by trying to focus on how the theory related to what I wanted to do in real life, but I got pretty snarky towards the end. Now we have two in a row? That's going to be challenging. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

I really meant to get up a little earlier this morning, but the Cat with a Thousand Names came to curl up beside me for a pet and a purr. Very unusual. Who could resist that?

Whoa! the day's almost gone, and I've goofed off all day again. Time to put the computer down and get some work done!

Flickr Updates continue

Man-oh-man, is that really the time? It's taken all day to get the pics from our drive down to Glasgow sorted out and uploaded. Hope this doesn't take this long tomorrow; these uploads could wind up taking longer than the trip itself!

Amazing how quiet the day is with just the two of us here. I've gotten most of the stuff from Scotland cleared from where we dumped it in the front room, and the fellow from GE has come in to repair the washing machine.

The day is a warm one and the cats are crashed in the front yard.
Yar can't quite pull it off the way that The Cat with a Thousand Names can, but he tries hard for the camera.

Catch-up day yesterday: the late homework has been finished and turned in and the voter's ballot researched and mailed. Whew! Today the fellow from GE comes to fix the washing machine, so the next focus is getting all the trip stuff off the living room floor and put away.

Having coerced the scion into leaving a blog entry somewhere, I agree to reciprocate.

Today we drove 5 hours back home after leaving him at college. The cats were happy to see us again, not being sure that we won't abandon them again like last week. Yar remains unconvinced that we won't try to slip away again, however, and tried to follow us down the street when we walked down to RS to try to replace a USB cable. I had to lock him into the house to keep him at home.