Sunday morning, comin' down

Sorry, all, that I haven't been here. I have actually been working at work and home has been busier than I am used to, too.

Sunday I was ready for the kids to come and then remembered the bro in law was supposed to be back to finish the sumps. I had just gotten respectably dressed and poured my second cup of coffee when the bfg, Daring Dame, came wandering in with the short person in tow. I had already noted that as soon as one of them showed up the rest follow, like lemmings or locusts or something, so I wasn't totally surprised when the mom and the dad, about 2 minutes apart, came knocking at the back door or when the teen, about four minutes after that, came to the front door. But the dogs went off every time! The quiet of my morning was shattered four times because they can't just all come in a lump....arg!

As I mentioned last time, I had a plan I thought we could all live with. If we put the RV behind the house and between the drain fields they would be closer to the power and the water. It would be easier to run to the showers and such. With the cars parked in the drive they would be walking thru the back alley so I would know when they were home or not and the house would look more like company visitors than white trash heaven.

While we are discussing them moving the RV and vehicles from the flat lands and parking in the drive way and such they are planning who is going to work, who is doing laundry, who is moving RV and getting the (invisible still today) generator out of storage. The chatting got intertwined until I could just barely track it.

DD got herself a cup of coffee, the rest didn't ask or I would have made more. She drank it off, asked to use the shower and left. As they got the assignments sorted out I told them I was cooking down a big roast for hot beefs, they were invited for dinner. I had bread and said if they wanted buns instead they would have to get them while they were out because I had people coming over and wouldn't be at the store that day.

The Mom left saying she was going to get dressed and get the laundry around. The Dad, The Teen and the short person were still sitting at the table. I had given the little one about 30 pennies and a plastic bank. She was content putting them in, getting the Teen to dump them out and reloading the bank. The brother in law and sis arrived. Bro went straight to the basement. Sis came over and got introduced but there was no place to sit.

I suggested the Dad and I discuss the location of the RV and headed out the back door with him and sis. I showed him where it was safe to drive and gave them choice of a large area to park. The Dad said he was going to get the RV ready to move and left.

Sis and I went back in, I made a second pot of coffee and we sat at the table. My #1Son and crew showed up before we even settled in. I introduced them to the girl and shortie and then asked the teen if "you could please take a hike so I could visit with my kids and I would see her later." This, later, causes more trouble....

My boy was there to do the same thing the mate's youngest did on Saturday, take home the things he had given the mate and the things I think the mate would have given him. Only he was getting the computer and games, third only to the bike and I in the mate's affections, and very hard for me to let go. Another large and very empty space was going to be created in my home again and I was trying very hard to stiff upper lip it. It's not something I wanted to share with accquaintences.

The kids brought the yummy bagels I love and that dad loved so. #1Son went up to disassemble the machine. Sis, DIL, grand and I visited and nibbled our treats. DD came to say she was leaving and they would get the compressor tomorrow while the grand was screeching because I was trying to hold her while her mom used the bathroom. She said "oh poor baby" and the cussed little thing went right to her and quit crying. We all laughted. DD handed her back to her mom and left for work.

When the coffee was done I got a cup for the Bro and went down to see what was happening. The sis ended up on a parts run after her coffee but by the end of the day the sumps were functioning legally and I was happy. Now I have to add some cement to corners and slope the floors a little better this summer and, with new guttering, I should have the basement under control. The furnace guys have dinked me around so badly I am waiting till high summer to buy a furnace when they are on sale and it doesn't matter how long the install takes. If anyone has already done the research on propane vs. fuel oil vs. electric I would love to know what you picked. With prices for gas like they are I am thinking electric heat and a big generator outside would be more economical in the long run.

I will be buying some cheap floresents for the basement, the 48" size, to improve the lighting, I am scraping all the junk out and going to ask the nephews to haul the old water conditioner out for me for junk day the end of this month and run the shop vac down there. I think about 2 cans of spray foam and 5 gallons of cement paint in light grey and it will be nicer to be down there in a tornado or what ever. With the cement ledges clean, I can even store some of my canning and planting supplies in small crates down there. What a concept!

The #1Son got the stuff all boxed and bagged up from the desk then loaded his car. My roast was about ready. The Bro was done and I couldn't thank them enough for their help. The kids decided to leave and we blew off moving the desk just yet. I waited a little but the gypsies didn't show so we ate without them. The bro and sis and I made small talk and enjoyed the meal.

They wandered back to their own life and I put everything away, did the dishes and planned on doing the floors Monday, like always, for bible study on Tuesday. The RV never moved. I never heard a generator starting up and no one ever came over to say they were not coming to dinner. I was annoyed but blew it off, got out the guitar and practiced. It went pretty well. I am realizing I need to know exactly what medication to take to keep my sinus and allergy problem under control to sing. Benedryl puts me to sleep now so I need something else.

I get a phone call from the #1son. The monitor is not working. It works with his laptop but not the computer it came with....This totally ruins my night. We try a few things and reboot. Nothing. So I tell him tear it all apart, put it back together and reboot then call me. Meanwhile I grumbled to the mate about how everytime we did this for the boy something screwed up and if he would just take a minute and quit being angry about something he wouldn't be able to use anyway I'd like very much for this to NOT be a problem.

The #1Son didn't follow instructions but did plugged the monitor back into the video card. It must have not been seated well even though we had already done that twice. Right? Because when he called to say it was up he told me he turned it on it worked like it never had a problem. I felt much better but a little spooky.

I gave up on the DD visiting after work and finally talked myself into going to bed about 12:30. Then I told the mate a proper thank you and cried myself to sleep.