I just mixed

my two fav. beverages. Red bull and Grey Goose...
the jury is still out, but i guess it's o.k.- I'll find out later, if I am bouncing off the walls, then I will know it wasn't such a great mix.

Today- anxiety level is high, so I just busied myself. I weeded, trimmed my weeping cherry tree, weeded... then I pruned back the rose bush climbing on my arbor. All while this was going on, I was doing wash, and making "gravy". I still do not get why anyone calls pasta sauce "gravy." to me- "gravy" is something you put on meat. Simple. It is either brown, or tan. Never red. OY. so my first batch of gravy is in the hot bath and the timer just went off.

Tomorrow, we are heading home, for a tough couple of days. Pop will be laid out at the funeral parlor in Narrowsburg ( are there any 6 feet under fans out there??) from 2-4 then from 7-9. Monday, we will be there again at 9, then the service is at 10, then we will go to "inter" him. Inter?? Who comes up with this stuff?? after all that, there will be a reception, and cocktails. (i am seriously going to need one then. I will spend some time with my sister, which I think will be nice. Although, not sure about staying at my mom's. I have been thinking a lot these last fews days, about Pop and what he and MMC mean to me (us). EVERYTHING. For every major (and minor) event they have always been there. Supportive, unquestioning, and loving all the same. Ones you can turn to, for advice, solace, or just a friendly face. I keep thinking about their house, and how odd it will be, not to see him coming around the corner, to engulf me in a bear hug. :( Kimberly, (bless her little independent heart) was petrified of anyone with a beard. Not uncommon, I know lots of kids go through that phase. Pop had a beard. a big fluffy beard. Christmas day, when we went to visit, I thought she would be sent into fits of shrieks, like she had when visiting Santa. Nope. She went over to him, gave him a hug, and then sat on the living room floor to play babies with him. :) She was never afraid of him.

Just put the second batch of sauce in the hot bath. 12 quarts in all... YUM!

Ok I will impart a favorite memory of mine with you all, then I will stop for a bit.
When we got married, My dress was literally 27 lbs. I went to pick it up, the week before the wedding, and had no place to put it. My parents lived in a house trailer, and there was no way the walls would have stood it. So I called Gin. She told me to bring it down, she and Pop would think of something. I get there, dress in hand, and laid it on my bed at their house. (I stayed there a lot as a kid, so I had my own room) anyhow- Pop went into his "back room" and came back up stairs with a 10 penny nail. He put that in the frame of the window, and strung some type of cord, and that is where my dress was, until he delivered it on the morning of the wedding. What is funny here, is they had my room painted last summer. (I also share my room with Grama Yates when she comes) The painter looked puzzled and asked why there was a 10 penny nail in the window frame. he asked if they wanted it removed, and they said no. It is still there. ~sigh.

On a very happy note- it is FINALLY summer. There are a few lightening bugs flying around the boy's room, trying to figure out how to get out...