If it's Saturday, where did the rest of the week go?

I guess it's about time I post again, eh? I thought I'd try writing on my own computer last nite but it was too uncomfortable, especially for an extended amount of time of sitting. I was too tired to mess around with getting my daughter's laptop out of her bedroom, then going thru the process of getting it all hooked up with an extension cord so I could bring it out here to the couch where I can stretch out and not be so cramped. In a house as old as ours there are precious few electrical outlets so we're connected to everything by extension cords, it seems. There weren't all that many electric appliances back in 1912. Closet space was minimal, too. In fact, one of the original bedrooms in our house didn't even have a closet when we moved in here. But the other one had two...go figure! They're very small, tho. Just ask our daughter who sleeps in there and has about 1000 books and no place to put any new ones. Plus very little wall space to set up any extra book shelves or book cases, considering she has 4 doorways in her 12x12 room...one to the dining room, one to our Jack 'n' Jill bathroom, and the two closets. Builders weren't very practical back in those days.

Enough about that. It's Saturday and a rainy one to boot...again! Today here in Portland is the huge Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, an annual event that's been going on here since the late 1800's, I believe. I'm not big on parades or temporary amusement parks set up on the muddy grass along Waterfront Park or sitting out in the cold and rain with around 300,000 people watching floats and high schools bands march by. It may be more people, it may be less who come to view the parade. They stake out their 'territory' for viewing a day in advance, a lot of them, and even camp out on the curbsides along the parade route to ensure they keep their spaces. I've been to 2 of the parades in the 41 years I've lived in this area. The last one I was 17 years old and I went with friends. We got there late and ended up standing waaaaaaaay in the back where we couldn't see anything. Bah. That was enough for me. You can see it better on TV but I don't even bother with that.

One good thing about it, tho. It keeps the crowds away from restaurants and stores in my general neighborhood so grocery shopping was great. Fred Meyer and Wal*Mart were ghost towns when I was out and about earlier. Around 11:30 I'm picking up my friend Ivona and we're going out for a nice leisurely catch-up lunch...I can't even remember the last time we did that. 10 years ago? I ran into her at Wal*Mart unexpectedly a couple of years ago and we had coffee at the Subway restaurant in the store. Dylan and I walked down to her house a year or so ago and visited with her and her son. We met when we began working for the schools as lunch ladies back in 1997 and formed one of those instantaneous friendships that don't occur very often in life. I haven't had or found the time to do something like this with a 'real life' friend for ages and I am so looking forward to it!

I began caring for both of my little grandsons this week. It's back to getting up at 4:15 and being in bed by 7:30! My daughter-in-law has been so busy with transitioning back in to work...she's been dropping the boys off around 6 am and not getting here to pick them up most days until 4:30 or 5 so it's been making for some long days. Not that I mind, tho. Dylan is like a little duck slipping right back in to water...Grandma's house is as much 'home' to him as his house is, I think. And Cooper...oh my. I was wondering if I'd be as much in love with him as I am with Dylan. No worries there. He is the cooing-est, happy-est, smiling-est baby I've ever come across. I'm not even sure what he sounds like when he's crying, he's done so little of it. I'm sure when teething time comes around I'll become better acquainted with it, but until then he lets out a couple of grunty groans to let me know he's waking up and that's about it! Feed him a bottle, burp him and change his diaper, put him in his bouncy chair, and he's as content as can be, keeping his eyes on Grandma and Dylan. And when I go over and rub his tummy and play with him his arms and legs go wild and he 'talks' like crazy! Dylan seems to be accepting him just fine. When I'm cuddling Cooper, I ask Dylan if he wants to come sit with us, too, and he snuggles in next to me on the couch and we watch episodes of "Super Why" together. I've been trying to get their late-morning naps co-ordinated and so far that's worked out well, too. Then it's Chloe dog's time to snuggle. My arms or my lap are rarely empty!

I actually bought a paperback novel today. At retail prices! I can't remember the last time I bought a book brand new. I saw this one at Fred Meyer the other day and tried looking it up on our library's website but it wasn't listed. It was on sale at Wal*Mart today for $4.97 so I went ahead and bought it. It's called "Pieces of My Sister's Life" by Elizabeth Joy Arnold and it looks like it's going to be good. I hope so! Now it's just a matter of finding time to sit down and read it!

Well, I'm as bad about keeping up on email right now as I am on doing much writing on my blog so I suppose I should go and see if I can make a dent in that. Maybe I'll squeeze in another walk with Chloe dog...the fresh air and exercise feel good. The peace and quiet in the house right now feels pretty good, too. Maybe we'll just content ourselves sitting here watching the rain fall. Take it easy for a while.