Almost Over Now

The year is finally almost over. Mom died on the 5th, and we had the funeral on the 12th, immediately after which Maria and I left for Florida.

She had a wonderful time, and I enjoyed myself - right up to the time we got to Wytheville, VA. Six hours later, the traffic started moving again. Three hours after that, we were only a couple of cars away from the tunnel when they closed it. For the night.

Six a.m. They opened the tunnel and we hurried on through. You would think they might have plowed a little while we were sitting there. But no, we got just as bad roads on the WV side.

At 9:30 we arrived at Tamarak - a trip of 45 miles.

So, thus far the year has included one high school graduation, two weddings, four family funerals and a blizzard.

I'm hoping next year will be better. And that next time I'll remember to have toilet paper in the car.

Mom

Yesterday my mother died. She was 85 years old, and had been ill for a long while. But still, it is hard to believe that she's gone.

Happy Friday

The presents are wrapped, the cat room cleaned, the carpets cleaned and soaked with Febreeze. I'm going to take the day off, I think.

Oh, maybe I'll do a few things here and there - get rid of some cobwebs, put away some fabric, start in on the packing for the trip, that sort of thing, but I'm considering putting off the trip to the hardware store (for another snake) until tomorrow. Of course, tomorrow isn't going to be any nicer than today, and I do have to get the car washed and cleaned inside and out, and I still have tons of stuff to move from the trunk into the garage, but a nap just sounds like so much more fun right now.

Nap. Isn't that a lovely word?

Cleaning and swearing at the kitchen sink

Well, today and tomorrow are cleaning days - got to get ready for my daughter's return from college, and I might have a surprise visitor in the next few days. Maybe. Or not, as is often the case when I start to expect something.

I've gotten the cat pans cleaned out, and am working on cleaning up the disaster area that houses them and their food, water, and litter. Of course, they have free reign all over the house, but I do try to keep the mess confined to one room. Try, I said. Not succeed, try.

Oh, and the kitchen sink is clogged. Badly. Suddenly.

It happened on the day before Thanksgiving, of course. And then I was away for the entire weekend, so there was nothing to be done about it. It had drained when I arrived home on Monday, so I left it until yesterday, when I ran to the hardware store and got some drain cleaner. (Because plunging had not worked. At all.)

Yeah, well, neither did the drain cleaner, so back I went today, for a snake. I know what to do with one of those... shove it down the drain, clear away a bit of the clog so the drain cleaner can get to the rest of it. Right?

Wrong. The stupid end of the stupid snake is too big to go down the drain in the sink. So now I'm back to plunging, in hopes of moving a little bit of the clog enough for the drain cleaner (which is still sitting in there, as the water won't go down at all now) to get to it and do its job.

It is 20 after 5, and I have accomplished exactly none of the tasks I had set for myself for today. Oh, the joys of home ownership.

What's happening in December (so far)

Tomorrow and Thursday are house cleaning days. Today was pet prep - bought two more 16 lb. bags of food, and two huge buckets of litter to go along with the bag of food and bucket of litter in the trunk. I'll need them all for the times we are away.

The 11th I pick Maria up at the airport at 10am. Then we're going home to do her laundry from college and pack for Florida. At 5am on the 12th, we leave.

December 13-17 we are in Florida. We return on the 17th, but instead of coming home, we're going to my sister's house for her holiday celebration on the 20th. Then we come home for a few days, have a holiday dinner with some friends and take her to a doctor's appointment, and then run back down there for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Boxing day (the 26th) we head out for Chicagoland. I'm taking Maria to visit her father's grave. We'll probably be there until the 28th or so, and then return home. I believe she has a party on New Years' Eve.

She returns to California on the 7th of January.

And then I get to play winter in Ohio... only I will be doing it alone this year. (Except for the cats, of course.)

So now what?

Hi there. Welcome to the rest of my life.

Maybe you can help me figure out what the hell to do with it.