What do you call a two-foot tall vampire?
I'll answer that one in a minute, but first you should know that the Empty Nesters got out of The Home again and they are roaming the neighborhood with empty pillowcases.
So if they knock on your door and shout, "Trick or treat! Smell my feet..." just tell them, kindly but firmly, to go home and put the pillowcases back on the pillows and take a nap. Do not give them candy. Or apples. Or nuts. Or medication. Well, maybe medication.
But under NO circumstances should you say, "OK. Trick!"
SomeONE will held responsible for the results if you invite these two to do something silly, and it can't possibly end well.
A pain in the knee.
That's what you call a two-foot tall vampire.
Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?
Because he didn't have any guts.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo who?
Don't cry. It'll be all right....
Have you missed me? I know I've missed you.
Our local AT&T techs, Mikey and Rodney, are my true heroes.
Every other service person I talked to (seven different people and about a dozen different phone calls over eleven days - not counting the original agent I talked to almost a month ago) should be ashamed of their "work". Phone service transferred easy peasy in the move, but Internet was like getting a man on the moon.
Oh, wait. Getting a man on the moon was probably easier.
Well, so here we are getting moved in. A three-car garage full of everything we own. Except cars.
Guest bedroom. Before...
The view through the french doors in living room:
The view from the dinner table of The Park:
It looks like this when we open the front door:
And look who's home to greet you at the doorstep!
There's still plenty of moving-in to do, but we are truly at home now, and it feels good. Come see us some time.
I have some of both.
Friends.
Books.
Friends who share books. Friends with whom I share books.
About half a year ago I celebrated a milestone birthday (and in about a half a year I'll have another one -- every birthday is a milestone. Really. That's why we celebrate.). At that time I received a gift card from some dear friends and since then I have spent several sweet hours browsing online to select just the right title.
When I pulled up to Our Home with the first truckload of Our Stuff yesterday evening UPS had left a box to welcome me at the front door and it contained my birthday books. One book of poetry and one book of history.
I can't think of a better way for a microwave-with-a-house attached to say "Welcome" than with books from friends. I'm looking forward to sharing Our Home with them.
Friends & books.
So August and September just kinda swamped me and I did a lot of faking-it and just-getting-by, but we've had a lovely cool spell this week and even some rain the last 48 hours that has snapped me to attention.
I love Fall. Or Autumn. Or OctoberNovemberDecember.
Baked potatoes. Soup and bread. Hmmm. We had both last week and I'm pretty sure it's soup for dinner tonight when I finish this post in a few minutes.
But I won't be warming it in the microwave.
Until tomorrow or the next day.
See, this crappy lovely rental house doesn't come with a microwave, so I've learned to warm things in a pan on the stove or in aluminum foil in the oven.
Until tomorrow or the next day.
Because we bought a gently-used microwave oven.
It happens to come with a house attached.
And we begin moving in to our microwave-with-house-attached tomorrow or the next day!
Last night Bob and Jenny, who have lived in the house for it's entire life, treated us to a delightful dinner at the best Mexican place in town. They were tired and sore from so much packing and moving. I guess it's our turn next. We all had a grand time teasing Marcos (our server) and swapping little life stories.
Later Mr. Last and I turned on and off all the lights in the empty house and sat on all the benches in the back park. It's really not a yard because Jenny has brown knees and she created a lovely park that fills my soul with peace. One bench is strategically placed to watch the Western sky and the sunset. We lingered there for a few minutes then moved to another and admired the rising moon casting its glow on the clouds in the darkening Southern sky. Of course the moon made me cry because I think Daddy would have appreciated the view and the peace in my back park, too.
I know Number One Grand Son appreciates the features on the opposite side of the lot because he called and told me so. He said, "Oma! I'm excited about the dirt track in your back yard!"
Can't wait for dirt track races, and lizard-hunting, and frog-catching, and bird-watching, and running through the sprinklers, and picnics and tea parties in the park with all the Grands.
But right now it's time for soup.
