Monday, June 15, 2009

Surprise, Surprise...

I went to Austin to visit my kids for four days.  My son performed in a show some friends of his put together, and he wrote and performed a rap song...in gold lame pants and spray-painted blue shoes!  It was fun and interesting...I got tired just watching them run around the stage.

While I was there, the temperature, with the heat index, was somewhere around 105 degrees.  My daughter doesn't like to use her air conditioner, mostly because it runs up the electric bill, but also because she's used to the heat.  My son, who shares the house, finally decided he needed an A/C for his room, so we went to Lowe's and bought one.  I'll let them work it out.  They're good at compromising with each other, and Dan is willing to pay extra to stay cool.  On my last evening, my daughter finally relented and turned on the A/C.  I think my red, sweaty face convinced her that I'd have heatstroke if she didn't cool things down!

I almost made the trip home Sunday in six hours.  Usually, I get home six hours to the minute, and that includes a gas/potty break.  But I hit the Kountry Korner store in Marquez at a late shift change and had to wait 10 minutes to buy a Coke.  That put me home about 15 or twenty minutes later than usual, but I was in the door by 5:30pm.

My inside cat greeted me with strident meows.  She followed me around all night, even climbing in bed with me, which she hardly ever does.  But I figured she would have her kittens soon, and she did--between my knees, under the coverlet on my new bed!  I slept through the whole thing.  I'm just grateful I didn't roll over on them. 

When I was in junior high school, our family dog, Lady, had her puppies in bed with me.  I slept through that, too!  I had to sleep on the sofa until she moved the babies. 

The four kittens are beautiful, and, as I hoped, one of them looks like Buddy, the tomcat who disappeared about a month ago.  So, I have a replica of him, though nothing will replace him.  My awful neighbor gave Buddy to me--the only remotely "nice" thing she's done since she moved in.  He was my "puppy cat" and followed me around.  A sweet tomcat.  I miss him.

I'll take a picture and post it as soon as things calm down. 

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

One thing leads to another...

The A/C guy came out yesterday with his little girl in tow. Where else but Coushatta could a repair person bring his/her child along on calls?

Some starter motor had broken on the A/C unit, so he fixed that and added freon to the unit. I had to turn the water on outside so he could flush out the line. When I went to turn the water off, I couldn't get it off. The outside faucet on the side of the house didn't have a handle, so I used pliers to turn it on and off. When I couldn't turn it off, I watered the garden until the plumber could get here. He put on a new faucet--cheap, too. My garden flooded, but I'm sure the plants were happy about it.

But now I'm broke. Only so much money to go around.

I'm packing up to go to Austin on Thursday. My son is in a production, "Faster Than The Speed of Light." He wrote a song for it, and he's in the chorus. It should be fun.

Here's a random thought: I talk more to my children on Facebook than on the phone! Isn't that odd?

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Weird Weekend

I was out mowing the backyard on Friday when I saw a white pickup truck coming down the driveway. I thought it was more evangelicals coming to invite me to a revival, but I should have recognized the truck, since I rode in it to Ms. Emma's funeral on Tuesday. My brother and his wife drove in from Monroe; they wanted to go to Ed Lester's farm stand today.

Well, I love company. But if you saw my house at the moment, you'd know that company was about the last thing I needed. I have a bedroom set in my living room; the bedroom where it's going is a wreck--I've stripped glue off the floor and puttied the holes in the wall for painting. I have books and furniture all over the house. I'm usually an organized person, but, right now, I'm about as disorganized as a person can get. It affects my focus, which means I don't have any right now. I don't have much room to cook; didn't have anything thawed out except a whole chicken (which would have taken a couple of hours), plus I was in the middle of mowing.

And of course, I've been dealing with three cats dying, and a fourth that I'm afraid will also die (vet's on Monday, since I have a home for it). Add to that my summer school class that I should have been monitoring, which was difficult to do with company. I also had a lunch engagement on Saturday for a friend's birthday, so I needed to leave my house around 11am. And I planned to have the oil changed in the car, too, for my trip to Austin on Thursday (and I did).

The last time they spent a summer weekend with me, the A/C wouldn't work, and, believe it or not, it wouldn't work yesterday, either. It's been working great, but I turned it off for the coolish weather. When I turned it on yesterday, the compressor wouldn't work. That means a call to the A/C guy on Monday, as well as the vet visit. I can hear the money pouring out of my already strained account.

It's always better if people call me to let me know they are coming--not that I begrudge my brother and his wife their visit. I like company. I just like to be prepared for it. And, in some ways, I resent that people think I don't have a life. I have one; they just don't know about it because I don't normally broadcast my social calendar. Maybe, though, people will start calling me before they just show up on my doorstep.

Visitors are welcomed with proper notice!
*****
Update--I buried the last kitten this morning (06.07.09).