Work Crew in Illinois

At Lori's baby shower

Lori and I painting

Mama Jo supervising

Mark on his way to work

Lori in her famous suspender painting outfit

Helping Deke cut materials for the bookcases

Deke, Mama Jo and I left a week ago Friday night for Scott AFB, IL where Mark and Lori live. We went to attend a baby shower for Lori, work on completing the basement remodel, get the nursery ready etc. It was to be a work visit.

We worked from dawn to dusk and beyond. Each night we fell into bed completely exhausted. However, the results were spectacular and we had so much fun being with Mark and Lori. We painted and painted and painted some more, laid tile, installed doors, trimmed out doors, installed baseboard, moved furniture, played 3 games of euchre, attended a shower, attended a softball game, and began construction on built-ins on each side of the fireplace. We hoped to get the nursery in order but only got as far as moving out all the bedroom furniture. Mark and Lori will have to shop and appoint that room on their own! They know what they want; just didn't have time to do any shopping.

It's Tea Time!

Good friends Don and Ruthann Roberts

The Organizer

Today at noon I drove to downtown Lafayette to attend my first ever political rally. There were about a thousand attendees on the pedestrian bridge between Lafayette and W. Lafayette. I ran into a teacher I had in high school, some fellow parishioners from my church, and some old friends from Flora. It was cold, cold and cold but we just got together to voice our protest that enough is enough. The rally was very civil and culminated with throwing about a pound of tea into the Wabash River. The rally organizer said he would pay the $120 fine if the city follows through with their threat. He had obtained permits from federal and state authorities but at the last minute, an environmental group in Lafayette protested that the tea would suck the oxygen out of the river, killing the fish. You should have heard the hoots and hollers on that one, considering the pollutants put into the Wabash River by the downtown businesses on a regular basis have already killed off every fish in the Wabash River.

Anyway, this 60 year old grandma couldn't let this opportunity go by without saying that for the first time in my lifetime, I am fearful for the United States.

Easter Feast

Grandma Mary, Mama Jo and Deke

After church, we three drove to Frankfort to be with Grandma Mary to continue the Easter celebration. Grandma had made reservations at the nearby country club with a seating at 1:30. We arrived in plenty of time and had a delightful and very delicious meal. Afterward, we went back to Grandma's duplex to talk about wedding plans, catch a nap, work on the computer etc. We left around 4:30. It was a wonderful resurrection day!

It's All About the Dress

Today I drove to Louisville to be with Emily when she picked up her wedding dress. It's been on order for a few months. We met at the bridal shop, tried on the dress (oohed and ahhed), ate lunch, roamed the quaint area, poked in boutiques and antique shops, kissed and hugged and went our separate ways. In the mean time we talked and talked about the wedding plans.

The dress is the smallest size made and fits exquisitely. It only needs to be hemmed and a tuck taken under the arms. Of course I can't show you the dress-you'll have to see it for yourself at the wedding or wait until after the wedding when I post some pics on this blog. But suffice it to say, it's beautiful and Em looks beautiful in it.

Lunch Bunch

L-R Mama Jo, Carole, Russ, Virgil, Ann

Today two couples came for a visit. We had a simple lunch and sat around and talked for 4 hours. They came to see Mama Jo and to love on one another. It was a delightful day.

Snow, snow go away...

A lonely little hyacinth trying desperately to hang on

Poor little daffodils shivering in the cold

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of crummy weather. I hate cold. AND I hate being inside all the time. Give me an all-around temp of 78 degrees and I'm a happy camper. So this winter has been especially trying as it's been nothing but cold, wet, damp, snowy and miserable. Last night didn't do anything to lift my spirit-we had a sprinkling of snow. It's nothing major- in fact it's really nothing much at all. It's just the fact that it's April and we're still experiencing winter weather.

I know what you're saying- she says this now but when it's 98 and humid she'll be whining about the heat! Not so, dear Blogspherete (do many guys read this blog?). Give me heat over cold any old day.

Anyway, I do have some hope as my lettuce and some snowpeas (ha, ha) have germinated and are poking their little green leaves through the garden dirt. Hopefully, they survived this latest onslaught. My early veggies are in the ground and if no deer or frost or rainrot kills them, we should be eating fresh greens within the month.

Another First

I think we've hit upon another Mama Jo first.

Last night after watching a movie in the basement, we did our normal routine of turning off all the lights, locking up all the doors, checking to see if the garage doors were down, and tucking in Mama Jo. All seemed normal. When Deke arose this morning, the basement lights were on. Neither he nor I had been in the basement since the movie. Are you sure? Well, of course I'm sure, I said. I should remember if I got up in the night and went to the basement!

Since there's only the three of us in this house, and neither Deke nor I went to the basement in the middle of the night... Mama Jo.

So now I guess she is wandering. Not only that- sometime in that same time frame she must have picked up and put on the bra and panties that I had laid out for the next day. Under her pajamas. I discovered that when I was helping her with her shower. Bra and panties? Wait a minute- she had taken those off before putting on her pajamas. I know because she has been giving me fits about removing them at night.

So, is Mama Jo silently rebelling by turning on lights and sneaking on the bra and panties? Who, in her right mind would want to wear her bra and panties to bed? OH.

It's never a dull moment around here. Fantastic things happen when our minds don't function normally any longer. It does wear me out when I have to show where the bathroom, kitchen, tissues, bedroom, etc are. Can't you remember? The answer is "no," She can't remember. She can't remember that she's been here 2 years or the location of anything in this house, or any of the people she meets at church, or any of her financial business, or her husband, or her children, or ANYTHING. She is very content to sit. Can you believe I'd ever say that of Mama Jo? She sits. Not interested in reading or watching TV or working on a puzzle or cleaning or raking leaves or anything. She sits. What is she thinking about?

There are two movies that best illustrate her present condition: "Awakenings" with Robin Williams, and the movie starring Drew Barrimore where she can't remember anything more than one day. Does anyone know the name of that movie? Erin tells me there is a character in that movie called "Ten-Second-Tom" (or something like that) who can only remember for 10 seconds. All of these people had brain injuries of some sort which affected their daily lives. If you watch one or both of those movies, you will begin to get a handle on Mama Jo. This is a scenario we never imagined.

So... what's next? Your guess is as good as mine, probably better. Stay tuned.