Well, it's a new week. I don't have much of a plan for it, since I was expecting to be working in the office for a while, filling in for a co-worker who had knee surgery last week. The folks at the office did a little re-shuffling of duties and think they can manage without me. I'm more or less "on call" to come in if they need help answering the phone.
They'll have to give me lessons, first. It makes me feel old to admit that this new-fangled stuff perplexes me, but it's the truth. Our phone system is a nightmare to use; the terminology doesn't even make sense.
Maybe they won't need me at all. <fingers crossed>
This weekend was kind of strange.
Saturday morning, Son #1 called, all in a dither. He could not find his phone. He remembered last having it Friday night at Nanny's shop, where he was working on his step-son's girlfriend's car. But when he went to the shop to look for it Saturday morning, it was not there. His fear was that he'd left it on the bumper of the car, and it had fallen off somewhere on the road. He did not have his "location" on, so the "find my phone" trick wouldn't work. By the time he called me, his dander was up. He'd called his step-son to bring him his work phone, but he had not yet shown up. The boy (my boy) is like his mama in that expects people to do what he says, when he says it, and people's dilly-dallying in executing orders stokes the temper. He came up to our house hoping that we could do something to help him locate the phone, since it's still on our account. We tried a few things that didn't work, but eventually got a message that the phone had been found. Son #1 paced the house, waiting for a call. Meanwhile, I did some googling and got to a web site that showed us where the phone was; it was in his driveway. His mood improved considerably until later that afternoon, when he was working on his truck and discovered he'd been sold the wrong part.
I had to go to a meeting in town Saturday afternoon at the new community garden. This will be the garden's first year in operation, and everyone who had reserved a plot was required at the meeting. My office reserved a plot and nominated me to tend it. Thanks, guys. <eye roll>
Sunday afternoon, I had to go to the funeral of the husband of a former co-worker. By the time I got to the church, the line of people paying their respects was all the way out of the church and wrapped halfway around the building. As I made my way toward the end of the line, I saw and spoke to several other people whom I knew from working with my friend, and one of them sneaked me into the line with her. (I felt kind of bad about it, but not bad enough to refuse.) As soon as I hugged my friend, I skedaddled and came home, not staying for the service. I can't bear funerals anymore. I do not plan to attend my own.
About 4:00, Son #1 showed up again with his family in tow. The daughter-in-law needed to use the t-shirt press. Evidently, S#1 and The Husband had been strategizing, for #1 showed up with his guitar, and they played music together. It's about to get warm enough to crank up some Sunday afternoon back porch pickin', and they are trying to learn a song that The Husband's uncle has requested.
While they picked, I puttered. Son #1 has two step-daughters, about 10 and 12, and they wanted to paint. I set them up with supplies and started supper - Reuben sandwiches. The only corned beef I could find in this county was the canned stuff, which I'd never used. It kind of resembled cat food, and those little girls weren't ABOUT to eat it. Neither was their mother, and so they were planning on picking up tacos at a drive-through. Son #1 took a Reuben to go.
A little while later, Granddaughter #1, home from college for spring break, showed up at our door. She spent a long time with us. It was wonderful. I'm so proud of her. She is kind, and responsible, and mature. She's supposed to get her braces off today.
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The broccoli and cabbage seedlings are doing well in the plastic bin. I transplanted a few of them into 6-pack trays. Some of them will go to the community garden as soon as they are big enough. I left the bin drawers on the patio table last night instead of sliding them back into the frame, thinking that they could handle a little cold - it got down to the mid-30's last night. They look fine this morning.
The English daisies and lupines have sprouted. The daisy seeds were tiny, and I put way too many in the 4" pots in the cold frame. The seedlings are almost microscopic at this point. They'll need to be separated soon.
The purple tomato seeds have not sprouted. Might be a little chilly for them, yet.
Some time last week, I planted a few zebrina mallow seeds left over from last year. They're under the grow lamp in the studio. This morning, one tiny little sprout has poked its head above the dirt.
I'm getting antsy about preparing the vegetable garden for planting. For a month, I've been driving around with giant bags of fertilizer and lime in the back of my car. The stuff needs to be spread, and worked into the soil, but it's been too wet to work. There's not any rain in the forecast for the next few days, so maybe we can get to the garden this weekend.
