Thursday Stuff

Tom and Conni arrive late this evening. We are ready!

Tomorrow night is the picnic set-up. It's all going to end at 10 p.m. or so when all of the Steigers are going to downtown T.C. for the release of the new Harry Potter book. Jana is arriving around 8:15 p.m. tomorrow evening, so she'll be here just in time for all of the Harry Potter fun.
Downtown is really getting into it - the shops have all changed their names to Diagon Alley shop names. The Horizon Bookstore is Flourish and Botts. There's going to be treasure hunt all along Front St. and a human chess game in the street. Somehow, they are planning some sort of Quidditch, although none of us can see how they'll do it. The release of the book is at 12:01 a.m., and we have 3 books reserved.

Today Dick did the final outdoor manicuring of the yard, Chip washed off and inflated all of the tubes, I changed and laundered bed linens and made centerpieces, Laurie set up the playroom. Laurie and I visited Mother and showed her the video of Dylan's Tae Kwan Do class, and a video tour of Laurie's home.

Then we went grocery shopping for the last minute items for Saturday.

Chip visited the chiropractor and Dick and Dylan had ice cream.

Long Lake

Dylan says:

We went on a boat ride. We went to an island.We played in the water. And there was this old water pump and there was a little dry spot that looked like it could hold water that went all the way down the hill into the lake. But then Mommy came and got to be the big funner messer upper ruiner and told me not to make the river. Then me and Daddy and Autumn did something fun. We got lost in the woods. We walked right off the path because it ended, and got lost. So we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and then Daddy decided to go into the water where there weren't cobwebs and spiderwebs and acorns. And then we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and then we walked two more feet and then Daddy found a little bullet that was red. Then we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked up a big hill on the island so Daddy could see the path, and then Daddy came down and said he couldn't see the path and he said I'm sorry to Autumn. (for having to climb the hill)

After that we walked and we walked some more, and then Daddy found the blue bullet, and then we walked and we walked some more and then I asked Daddy if we should get back up in the woods. He said, Are you crazy? And then we kept walking, and walking and walking and walking some more. And then we found another red bullet. And then we walked and we walked some more. And then we saw a sign. Daddy read the sign. It said, No campfires, No dogs. And then we walked seven meters and saw an opening. We came out and we saw the pontoon boat! Me and Autumn ran as fast as we could towards the pontoon boat. Then I shared the Coconut cupcakes with everyone, and they were yummy.

Then we went to another island. And there were stairs on the island. Me, Grandpa, Autumn, Brooke and Mommy followed. Then we saw trees making some X's. Then we saw a giant sized woodpecker hole [probably made by a pileated woodpecker]. Then we walked and we walked and we walked some more. Then we walked ten feet. And saw a million tadpoles!! And lots of good skipping stones. I skipped one that almost went to the other island that we were just on where the pump was where Mommy was the big fun messer upper ruiner. Then we went back past all of that, and back onto the pontoon boat. And then we set sail for home. Then when we got home, we played a game of Follow the Signs. Grandpa won. Then we watched some TV. The we wrote this journal. The End Good Night Good Bye Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me Leave Please I Mean It! Thank You.

Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore (Sand Dunes)

Dylan says:
We went to the dunes and climbed up a big big big hill. And that hill was steep, steep. We got to the top. There was another hill. We climbed that one too. That hill was a steep, steep, steep, steep hill. But we got to the top and rested for about 10 minutes.

Then I ran off a ramp thingy and fell 2 feet. Then I ran all the way down to where these logs were. We went up the hill where the logs were. Then we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked. And then we saw that someone had built something on the dunes made out of logs. It was shade!! I rested for 3 seconds.

Then we kept going. Then I ran down a hill and went up a hill. This hill was not as steep as the other two hills. In fact, I don't even think that hill was steep. Then we came to this big circle thing. I took a wrong turn and ended up about 35 feet above the ground. Then I lost my balance, caught myself on my feet, and ran down really fast. And I'd say that hill was about 10 steep-steeps. We kept on going through the whole circle thing.

We found ourselves in the middle of a dune desert. We had a drink, then proceeded. Then we came to a slope - we ran down it and went up it. It was as steep as a ladder almost. We got up to the top of it - Mommy and Daddy were still trying to get up. I ran down the other side into a valley and up the other side. And then Mommy and Daddy got to the top on the other side of the valley. They asked me - Dylan - What's over there??!! Some trees, a mountain, and another path!!

Daddy shouts - we don't have enough water for that. I ran down through the valley again and up the other side. Mommy wanted to race me down the hill that's as steep as a ladder. I said, You're on! On your mark, get set, go! I ran - I was in first place. And it got really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really steep! I was twirling and whirling in mid-air! Ker-plop!!!! I went into the sand head first. I wasn't on the bottom - the race was still on. But when I landed face first, a giant sand cloud appeared around me, over my head, and straight at Mommy's face. She was blinded and went back up to the starting line. When the sand cloud went away, she realized that she was on the starting line of the race course, and she said, I won! And I said, Did you notice that you are up and I am down! She looked. She was up. I shouted - I win!

Then we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked past the dune desert. And we walked and we walked until we came to the big giant slope where we started. Then me and Mommy raced down it and Daddy too.

When I said On your mark, Mommy took a startling leap. She was ahead of everybody. She went before I said go. I started down after her. I picked up a lot of speed. There was a little ramp. I ran off the ramp. I was up in the air, I had enough time to do a flying side kick. It created another sand cloud like my face-plant did. This one stung Mommy's legs. I ran and I ran and I ran as fast as I could. I did a bad aimed flying side kick, and made a smallish sand-cloud that went up to Mommy's ankle.

Just as planned, it hit her in the feet. Before she could stop saying Owie, I was at the bottom. And I shouted I Win!! The End

Dylan Friday

Dylan says:

We were the first finders of a geocache. We walked in the Tunnel of Doom with Grandpa and Mommy. It was a hard hike through the Tunnel of Doom, but we managed. Although Mommy and Grandpa cheated by following a deer path and leaving the Tunnel of Doom to get out.

Alden is Kicking

Dick cooked breakfast for the four of us - he did the banana/pecan thing again - best pancakes in the Western World. He also cooked both bacon and sausage, so we had a most agreeable breakfast. We never run out of things to talk about with Bill and Jan. It was fun to hear about their new condo, all of their grandsons (4), and Belleville gossip. They had to leave early to be back down in Wayne County to pick up Mike and Kim at Metro at 5:45 p.m. So we waved good-by at around 10:30, and they were on their way.

Dick bundled up all of the cardboard out of the garage, loaded up the trash and we went to the dump. He swept the floor of the garage, which still had remnants of sand and salt from last winter.

On the geocaching website, he discovered 3 new caches in Alden, put out by the Alden Search Party. After a second trip to the dump with a forgotten bag, we were off to Alden.

As we entered the village, we couldn't help but notice all the cars and trucks with boat trailers that lined the road on both sides. Of course it is the 4th of July weekend, but we never expected such masses of boats! The boat launch is right at the end of the main street, and people were still launching, and trying to find a place for their trailers. Alden has about a block and a half of "downtown" with little shops and cafes - it's a really unique little place. The villages in Leelanau County, like Glen Arbor, are really a lot more upscale and boutiquey, while Alden maintains a village atmosphere. It was busy, busy, busy - people everywhere. (see link above)

The first cache we attempted was in the Helena Twp. park - a great little park with tennis courts, a nice play-structure, a fitness center, basketball, clean bathrooms, and swings. Our target was over near the swings, and the swings were totally filled with small children being pushed by their dads. So we decided to save it for later. Too many muggles.

Next we went back woodsing to the Helena Twp. Cemetery to find cache #2. This place was deserted, and so we found the cache easily. It seemed to me that the cemetery was way out in the middle of nowhere - kind of unusual. It was also unusual in that there were several plots that had benches as well as headstones.

Back to the park, and the swings were empty. The cache was cleverly hidden, the coordinates were right on, and we had no problem retrieving and replacing it this time.

The 3rd cache was at the Coy Mountain Preserve, which is a hop, skip and a jump from downtown. Dick hiked up the hill a quarter of a mile to find the cache, and that one was easily found also. I stayed in the shady, cool parking area and called Jana on my cell.

Having found all three, we started driving around the lake, and miracle of miracles, we wound up at Docksides for an early dinner. We found a table on the deck. The sun was warm, and the boats on the river were fascinating. You can see just about any kind of watercraft imaginable while sitting out on that deck. There was a profusion of boats on the lake, and the beach by Docksides was jammed also. It's very satisfying to be at Docksides on 4th of July weekend. Of course we can go there anytime we want to, year around, but there's a certain energy abroad today.

We drove home through Torch River, and we could see masses of boats at the Torch Lake sandbar. I've never seen so many people at the sandbar - the boats were in a huge clump 25 boats wide and 5 boats deep. It's quite a scene. http://www.torchlake.com/trr/Torch%20Lake%20Sandbar%20Large%20Photo.html

When we got to T.C. we did a modified Subaru Cruise - downtown Traverse was amazing - we saw huge groups of people (maybe 40 in one group) wearing matching t-shirts - we have no idea what that was about. Front St. was loaded with people - it has to be the busiest time of the year. The Cherry Festival started today. Discretion was the better part of valor, and we didn't go down on the Parkway. I heard on the radio later that the Parkway was bumper to bumper and barely moving.

This was a gorgeous day weather-wise, and activity-wise. We had a great time.

Bill & Jan

Dick worked at the Visitor Center this morning - they had 66 visitors in 3 hours.
Bill and Jan arrived around 11 a.m., and we had a nice visit, shared pictures, broke in the new guest room porch, and waited for Dick.

After a leisurely lunch, Jan and I went to see Bewitched (save your money). We felt that Nicole Kidman sold out a bit - the part was beneath her in my opinion. I went in thinking that she must be a really good sport to take on a part like this, and I left thinking that she made a really bad choice of roles. Will Ferrell was Will Ferrell - cute, funny, and "charming". The story is a yawner - it might have been better to just recreate some of the episodes of the original.

After more visiting and more picture sharing and more gossiping, we went out to dinner at the Big Eazy - very relaxing and casual. Watched the View on TiVo and went to bed.

The weather was rainy, dark and overcast so Dick and Bill didn't get on the river at all.

Sign Here

The carpet cleaners came this morning - they did the living room, dining room and sofa. So the house is a little torn up, with furniture sitting around in odd places.

Dick is working on the landscaping around the new porch. Today he battled the humidity to put down stones along the drip line and mulch around the front.

I took the papers for selling the house to Concord Place for mother to initial and sign. She seems fine, and looks good. She's glad that things are going so well with the house. She seems lonely to me though and a little wistful. I told Dick that maybe Concord Place should be called Wistful Vista - like the old Fibber McGee and Molly Show.

Talked to Laurie and Dylan - it was good to hear from them. Laurie thinks they'll be here for the Big Parade, but it's not etched in stone. They'll stay until the first week of August. Dylan is looking forward to visiting the "Tunnel of Doom". He says you have to keep walking, or you'll lose your shoes. I'm hoping that he'll still want to do blog entries this summer. Last summer was a hoot.

Tom writes that he's coming for a long weekend - Thursday to Monday July 14-18. His friend Conni vanBilliard is coming with him. She must be a brave, brave soul.

Dick and I went to the Cherry Speedway to place the new cache "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines". It's the perfect spot for a cache. We have the owner's permission, and he even sent free passes for us to include in the "treasures". The owner's wife is my nurse at the infusion clinic, which is where we got the idea. http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/may/07cherry.htm

We went for a leisurely ride around Long Lake - very pleasant.

Smoothie Highlight

8:30 a.m. - appointment for annual diabetic eye exam. Everything is great. Only thing is, they dilate your eyes so that you can't stand any bright light for the rest of the day. It finally wore off around 5 p.m.

Dick was my chauffeur. We went to the Flap Jack Shack for breakfast. Breakfast was great, and my eyes were OK as long as I faced away from the windows. Natural light doesn't have the same effect as sunlight.

Meanwhile, Sunday night the crown that was re-cemented last week fell off again. Dr. Kevin doesn't work on Mondays, so I had an appointment today at 1:30. Remember the dilated eyes? When they turn that light on you at the dentist's office, the best thing to do is just close your eyes. I was wearing dark sunglasses too. The crown was back on in 15 minutes. I'm crossing my fingers that this time it will stay put.

We did some errands - Square Deal, K-Mart, Sherwin Williams - checked Mom's house. Then Dick had this great idea of sitting downtown with a cuppa and watching the touristers. We decided on Crema, moved our table so we could see down the street, and I really enjoyed watching the babies and the outfits through my dark glasses. Traverse is really loaded with tourists of all sorts. We've had many 90 degree days lately, and it's perfect summer weather. We saw people walking directly from the beach to Front St. I had the Power Island smoothie - raspberry, strawberry, mango and banana. It was the highlight of my day...

...until later this evening when John called. The buyer person has agreed to our price for Mother's house, and we can initial the agreement tomorrow. Closing will be August 1. Hooray! Hooray!!

Now It's Empty

The Estate Sale was a huge success - only a couple of small tables and some very small items didn't sell. They are totally cleaning out the house today, and it will be empty now. (see link above) We'll get the results of the Estate Sale in approximately 2 weeks.

Our realtor has had an offer on the house which we think is too low, and today we plan to make a counter offer.

We're hoping to have some more interest generated by the Estate Sale. All of the flyers concerning the house were picked up.

Today (June 27) would have been Mom and Dad's 74th anniversary. Yesterday we attended the Concord Place Picnic. Mom used her walker and walked to the elevator and into the community room by herself. It was a very nice picnic - they actually cooked hot dogs and hamburgers out on the grill, so it was authentic. To be honest, these events are always slightly depressing to me - I have the feeling that everybody there, including the residents, would rather be somewhere else. Mother stayed downstairs for about an hour and then was ready to go back to her room. And so were we.

Mother seems to be glad to have the Estate Sale over with - she was interested to hear what I observed during the sale. She can't believe that people actually purchased some of those things - her bed, all of the dressers, the china cabinet, the dining room set, even the kitchen table - everything is gone. She doesn't seem the least bit emotional about it all - just interested. Now she wants to have the house sold. And so do we.

Second Day, Launch, & Power Island

I got up very early and boiled potatoes and eggs, chopped celery and onions getting ready to make potato salad for the Concord Place picnic tomorrow. I wanted to get everything ready because we have a busy day planned. So all of the ingredients are in the refrigerator and the potato salad is ready to be assembled - probably tomorrow morning.

I went in to town to watch the Estate Sale again. Today everything is 50% off, and it's much much cooler, so I think people will definitely have a more pleasant shopping experience. I was sitting there listening to the radio, and heard that the launching of the sloop Welcome was this morning - so I called Dick, and he came into town, and we went out to the coal dock to watch the launch.

There were historical re-enactors there. The soldiers were all dressed in 18th century British Army uniforms, carrying muskets and looking very spiffy. They were re-enacting the King's 8th regiment which was stationed at Fort Michilimackinac in the 1700s and whose soldiers manned the original Welcome. (See link above).

Two huge cranes lifted the vessel off its resting place, swung her around and lowered her into the water. When her hull entered the water, the regiment fired their muskets in unison as a salute. The Welcome's sister ship, the schooner Madeline, honked her horns and everybody cheered. (http://www.mhatc.net/photow.htm)

It was a fascinating event. We were glad we witnessed it. Those two vessels will look so lovely out on the bay. The Welcome still needs to have its main mast installed and most likely won't be sailing around until 2006.

I went back to watch the Estate Sale. Lights were on in the basement - Mother will notice the increase in her Light and Power bill - take my word for it. From where I was parked, I could see people inside the house through the big windows - I don't know why it was so interesting to me, but it was. Lots of ladies came out with blankets and bedding. One man carried out 3 huge boxes of who knows what! Another had one of Dad's power tools still in the original packaging. Once again, there were tons of people coming and going.

Dick's mission today was to take the pontoon boat to Power Island because there are two caches there. He had previously contacted Ray and Jerry and they planned to meet us at the Bowers Harbor launch site to ride along. We got there at the appointed time, and had a very pleasant boat ride to the island. It was overcast and cool, and the bay was flat - good for boating. They found both caches with little trouble. One of the caches is the oldest cache in the entire State of Michigan. I think the whole project only took about 2 hours from launch to take-out. (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=53) (Scroll down to Basswood Bend)

Dick and I had a very late lunch at the Peninsula Grill, and came home to our computers. When Dick logged on to the geocaching web site, he immediately noticed a new cache over in the Hoosier Valley, so off he went, and he was the First to Find!

I talked to Joan of the Estate Sale people, and they like the location of the Sale so much that they're actually going to open it up again tomorrow morning from 9 to 12. She said that they have sold almost everything of Mother's, and she said that "we think that we've done very well for you". So hooray! They'll clean it all up on Monday.

Right now it seems like a very long time since I chopped those potato salad ingredients (yawn).

First Day of Sale

This was a big day! The first day of Mom's Estate Sale.

They were open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and there were tons and tons of people who stopped to look everything over.

I parked to watch for a while, and people were buying the most unusual things - one lady bought all of Mom's old Christmas wrappings on rolls. Another lady bought all of the gift bags.

People were leaving the yard with boxes, and two kinds of bags, so it was hard to tell what everyone bought. I did see one little old lady who bought two shovels, a hoe, and some pruning shears! And an old gentleman who was all bent over actually bought the ice-melter jug that was 3/4 empty!

One man who bought a shotgun was wearing a State hat. I guess Dad no longer cares. I saw baskets, Kennedy memorabilia, Army cots and sleeping bag and furniture being loaded into cars. One lady had both arms full of books.

The Sale looks to be very successful - a lot of traffic passes by that corner, and I'm sure a lot of the customers stopped on impulse. The Antiques Appraisers people seemed very efficient.

It was a very hot day - the temp got up to 95F, and it was also very humid. I'm sure the upstairs was not very comfortable.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. Dick had an all-day training at the Agency, so I did errands for Mother, and visited her.
We did go out to dinner at the Freshwater Lodge - we sat outside on the patio, and it was very pleasant watching the sailboat regatta on the bay. This is what Dick wrote to Sharon:

"Just a quick note to say thanks again. We used the gift certificate at
Freshwater Lodge last night and had a great time. We sat out on the porch
in the evening breeze. It was quite fun, there were lots of sail boats out
on the bay and the colors were dramatic. We even saw a pontoon boat put out
from the marina headed for town."

I was a little bit down today because we learned that our plans for our 50th anniversary will not be happening. (See June 13) The Resort does not rent for just a weekend during the tourist season. If we wanted to use the Resort, we would have to reserve it for an entire week, which is not at all what we want to do. So I say PHOOEY. It was such a great idea - but I'm sure we'll come up with something just as good. Maybe.

Moo

Cleaning out my closets and furniture to make room so Dick can move in when Laurie, Chip and Dylan come. This is not an easy process - I started in the guest room closet, moved to my bedroom closet, and then my big dresser. I wound up with three big bags to take to Goodwill.

Meanwhile, Dick is working on landscaping the perimeter of the new porch. We do manage to keep busy.

After a little down time, we went into town. I had 6 more Kanitz Family Tree letters to mail, I wanted to buy backup discs for the Family Tree Program, ant killer for around the outside of the house, and to take the bags to Goodwill. We had a good time doing all of that - traveled from Acme to Moomer's with four stops in between.

After Moomer's, we won't be cooking dinner tonight!

Driving around today we saw a burned out building, a torn down building or two, tons of condo construction, and new subdivision and I don't know what all. It's hard to keep up with what's happening around here!

The new Wuerfel Park ballpark for the Traverse City Beach Bums is surrounded by new traffic lights all draped in black plastic - three that I know of. I'm thinking they'll only use them after games until the parking lot has emptied.

Geo-Caching - Still Fun

Happy Flag Day

We both used the morning to do our various jobs - Dick is working on the landscaping out by the driveway. I'm putting historic GenFest pictures into albums so everybody can enjoy the memories.

Just before noon, we packed up the GPS and took off for Frankfort. We found 2 caches before lunch. We love to have lunch at Dinghy's in Frankfort - love their menu. (See the link above)

After lunch we went to Crystal Gardens and found a lovely blue hanging basket - just what I wanted. Dick got some ivies for the tubs of flowers. The girls at Crystal Gardens were wearing flags stuck in their hats.

Then we were back out into the woodsy trails - such a pleasant place to be! We found 3 more caches before we headed for home. We haven't been out caching for three weeks anyway. Guess what - it's still fun!

Spider Lake Resort

We're planning a millennium quilt project for GenFest this year. Everybody is going to bring two squares each with his/her name on it. We're asking for two because it will take 100 squares to make a full size quilt. We'll have the quilt ready for the 2006 GenFest.

The real activity this year will be the Basswood Bend Film Festival - it should be a hoot. Teams will use video cameras to make "movies" - then we'll all watch everybody's movies and give out awards. The "Genevieves" (you know, like Oscars) came yesterday, and they are perfect. It should be a ton of fun.

In 2007, we're not having GenFest. That's the year of our 50th wedding anniversary and we want to do something special. There's a beautiful new resort on Spider Lake that's just perfect for our whole Genfest family. I think there's even room for Jim and Emilie, Kris&Mike and Dan&Pam. We plan to rent the whole thing for the weekend of June 22 & 23, 2007. Everybody can come and stay for two nights pre-paid by us, because that's the way we want to do it. It should be quite an adventure. There's a beautiful sandy beach, a boat dock for our pontoon, a place for a campfire, a game room with foosball, pool, game tables, shuffleboard,etc, two fully equipped huge kitchens, a community dining room, a fireplace lounge, a TV lounge, a workout room, 16 motel rooms on two floors, an elevator, - and what else would we need? They don't provide meals, but we could do meals on our own, or have the Saturday meal catered and then just do breakfast and snacks on our own. I'm leaning toward a catered meal on Saturday.

This Spider Lake Resort thing is NOT next year - it's 2007 !! In 2006, we'll just do a regular old run of the mill GenFest.

Today I went to JoAnn Fabric and bought everything (I hope) that I'll need to do machine embroidery on our quilt squares. I had looked up on the internet how to do it and what I would need - stabilizer, thread, needle size, etc. I bought remnants that I liked so I can make some extra squares to fill out the quilt. I don't know how to quilt, but I think I can sew the squares together and then have somebody else do the quilting. I have my fingers crossed that my "sew-chine" still works because I haven't tried it lately.

I had a nice visit with Mother - she's being well-cared for - seems alert and comfortable. She has an interest in what goes on outside her door - likes to watch people passing by.

Planting, Planting, Planting, and More Planting

We planted and planted. I planted pansies in the flower bed off the octagonal deck. Dick planted southern Grand Traverse County. Everything looks very summery, flowery, and colorful. We got dirty, sweaty, and disheveled. But we "got 'er done", as they say.

Getting more and more Family Tree information - something new almost every day. I have a new contact that I found on the internet, believe it or not - it turns out that she's the wife of a first cousin once removed. And I got a second new contact from the wife of a first cousin. It's so exciting to get some new leads - it opens doors to lots of new information.

Mailed the invitations to GenFest - can't believe how close it is...just a month to get ready! But we'll "get 'er done"!

Flower Day

Today, since we think that the danger of frost is almost over, we decided to go buy the annuals and the hanging baskets. We naturally gravitate towards Plantmasters at Suttons Bay. They have never disappointed us.

We bought flats and flats of pansies, ageratum, geraniums, and I don't know what all. We got 2 glorious hanging baskets of fuchsia, but we couldn't find the blue basket I wanted for the dining room porch.

It was a rather warm, humid day, so we plan to plant tomorrow in the morning when it's cool.

Iron Dextran Infusion

I arrived at the Infusion Clinic at 9 a.m. I got right in, and even got one of the comfortable chairs. I brought along a good book by Nevada Barr. I even got the good nurse. So I was happy and comfortable both.

This time it only took 3 hours, so even though I was happy, I was even happier to leave at noon. I turned down the offer of a hospital lunch, thank you very much.

Oh well

I guess things weren't as great as I thought they were. Dr. Burke (world's greatest doctor) called this afternoon and said that I need an iron infusion based on the test results from last week.

Push Your Button

What a day! We are boo-zausted.

It all began this morning.

I had a Doctor appointment and blood test at 8:30 a.m. (Everything is fine)

Dick came with me so we could go out to breakfast afterwards. We went to the FlapJack Shack (Breakfast bar for Dick, blueberry pancakes for me) . We brought along the real
estate papers from John so Mother could sign them this morning.

As we were driving away from the restaurant, I called her on the cell phone. She answered, and then there was a big crash. I couldn't hear her for a while, and then she said "I fell out of my chair" (followed by miscellaneous noises).

Then she said in a panicky voice "I'm bleeding."

I said,"Mother, push your button. " No response.

"Mother, push your button."

"I can't find it. " I gave her time to look for it. She finds it.

" Did you push it?"

"Yes."

"Push it a couple of times more."

We wait for a bit, and then I hear her say "I fell out of my chair", and someone replied, "Well, I can see that!"

Whew! So then we knew that she was not alone, and that she would be tended to. By the time we got there, she had already been evaluated by a nurse from Bortz, and Betsy was cleaning her up and holding ice to the back of Mom's head. Her blouse was all bloody - the phone was all bloody, and Mom's hands were bloody from touching the back of her head. It really was just a minor abrasion and a bruise and a bump on the back of her head. She didn't need stitches or anything. They got her all cleaned up, changed her blouse, cleaned things up, checked her vital signs, and that was it. She was a little shaken up, but she really is a trooper. It is such a comfort to know that all of that help is just a buzzer away.

She said that the staff had wanted to call 911, but she talked them out of it. I'm glad to know that they think of doing that first, because who knows when it may become necessary and we would want them to do that. Then they wanted to take her to Dr. Auer, but she talked them out of that too. She has such a firm grip on her faculties, and she's very sensible, so they respected her wishes. I was also very glad to know that they would take her to the Doctor. That gives us such peace of mind if we're out of town or unavailable. We thought that everything was very well handled.

After a couple of deep breaths, and a chance to settle down a bit, she signed and initialed the 14,000 real estate papers that are necessary if you want to sell a house. She was still a little shaky, but she got it done, and she was able to converse, and joke a little bit. Her pupils weren't dilated or anything. I know that the staff will be keeping an eye on her all day, and I'm sure that her head will be sore for a few days.

Then we went home to take a breather, check e-mail for Family Tree information, and make an appointment for Dick at the barber shop, and an appointment to meet John to give him the signed papers.

Back into town to meet John and give him the papers. He was going into the house to do some measuring. Now I feel like the whole thing is out of my hands - John will handle the sale of the house, Joan will handle the estate sale, and we just stand by and let it happen. It's kind of a weird feeling, but in general it's a good feeling. I almost feel like celebrating.

Dropped Dick at the barber shop, deposited the Income Tax refund check, and went to Horizon to wait for Dick. Two iced teas later, we did a couple of errands, and then went to K-Mart and found some white wicker furniture that we want for our new porch. It was not easy to purchase - a long story - but in the end we have a wicker love seat and 2 chairs on our new porch.

Footnote - on the packaging of the loveseat, it said Do Not Use Outdoors. Oh well - maybe we made a big mistake. At least the porch has a roof!