The Weekend of Many Things

We had much to do this weekend. K- and I went to our Dragonfly/Damselfly program on Friday morning. On the way back, we cruised past Kohl's to purchase some school uniform pieces. We had $30.00 remaining in consignment store cash and a 15% coupon. Between the sale that they had and the previous two monetary helpers, we got $82.00 worth of school uniform clothing for her for $11.00. I don't think that was a bad exchange!

On our way from Kohl's, we dropped by the grocery and made it home in time for our friends to show up for their play date. It was a warm day, slated to be 90 F, so I filled our little pool up before we left so it could heat up during the day. We were celebrating E-'s birthday, so we had root beer floats for everyone.

Saturday was a crazy day. We had Aunt Arlene's memorial service an hour away and K-'s last reading class at the same time. My friend, Kim, took K- and let her hang out with them for the day while we went. We really had a nice time. Quite a tribute to a wonderful woman. I learned so many things about Aunt Arlene that I didn't know.

- She was a seamstress for Richmond Bros.
- She had a cake baking business from the early 1970's - 1991.
- She worked two jobs at one time. One job was at Richmond Bros. and another was at a drugstore.
- Uncle Gene was called off to the Korean war when they were newly married. He was gone for 3 years.
- They had the first new car on the street. They bought a Ford.
- They had the first TV on the street. Hubs' dad talked of how he would go to Aunt Arlene's apartment (just above their place) and watch TV when she wasn't home.
- She had quite a collection of hankies, which her daughter Jackie was busy handing out prior to the service.
- She kept a calendar of all birthdays and special people that she had to contact. I told Bob, her son-in-law, of how Aunt Arlene used to call me several times a week when I was home by myself after my hospital stay with Bailey. None of them knew it. Not even Hubs' mom and dad. She would call to check in. We'd talk some days. I'd cry my eyes out others.
- She entered a bathing suit contest at Euclid Beach and placed in the top ten.
- She took belly dancing with her friends! :)

Oh how we'll miss Aunt Arlene. She truly was a one of a kind lady. To tell you that she did everything with all of her heart is not exaggerating. If I can be only 1/2 the woman that Aunt Arlene was, I would be happy. Don't worry, I'm striving to be all that she was.

Saturday evening was a little long for me. Know that a lesson was learned that perhaps eating 1/2 a head of cabbage (I made cabbage and noodles) and chasing that with 1/3 of a jar of Corn and Black Bean salsa results in intestinal devastation. Apparently, my stomach was churning so loudly that it was keeping Hubs awake. I returned from my middle of the night bathroom stay only to find the bed vacated. Hubs couldn't take it!

Given my continued intestinal burbling, we opted to stay at home today, rather than have a long family day out. I told K- that she couldn't play with E- until she had all of her toys taken out of my vehicle. She filled a paper grocery sack, a reusable grocery sack and a collapsible canvas picnic basket full of toys. That's not counting the American Girl wardrobe box that was out there, too. The next portion of her task was to actually put the items away in their proper creature homes. (Yes, that is what we call it.) She did the hoof and haul. Hubs told her that if she worked hard, he would help her. When he came out, he checked with me to make certain that she was holding up on her end of the bargain. They tackled the basement play area together. I tackled her bedroom. Though I didn't think to do before photos, I'll give you after. Keep in mind, her bedroom is all of 10' x 10'. I moved the two shelves with all the dolls up as far as they could go and added the lower shelf. All those books were on the corner of her desk, which ended up just crowding the desktop up and making it a convenient place to dump. I changed her hairbows over to a larger board. By the way, K- has been making her own bed and she is doing a rockin' job, I believe! Here is her desk. Previously, we were under the suspicion that there was a desk top there. Look! I found it. Getting the books off there (they were where her learning kit carry all is now) has made such a huge improvement. If you look through the doorway, you'll see I have more laundry to put away. That was another job I tackled today. And yes, I realize that we need to clear out the bulletin board. Rome wasn't built in a day. But hey! I figured that I would show you the nifty thing that hangs above her bulletin board. I used to have it sitting on the desk, leaned against the wall. Hubs' co-worker from his other park job brought this back for him from Costa Rica. It is all handstitched and needed stretched. I handled that several years ago and have had it hanging in K-'s room ever since. A crooked picture, I realize, but this is her dresser/armoire. K- calls the armoire part her "panty closet." This wasn't bad. It just needed dusting in a severe way. The other corner. Why not show you all the corners of her very petite room? And now it is all organized! Hooray! Hubs rewarded K-'s hard work today with the Slip and Slide. She loves that thing!

Smiles in my day:
- Going on a hike with my people. We found Touch Me Not pods to pop. We walked through the herb garden. We listened to a Bard Owl call several times. It was at 7:30 PM, so that was much earlier than what we would have expected. Hubs even tried to call back. We did hear Hubs' favorite bird, the Wood Thrush.
- Getting one more room tackled.
- Learning lots about Aunt Arlene.
- A good sermon today on prayer.
- Laundry on the line.
- A decluttered truck. Thanks, K-!
- A beautiful day in the neighborhood.