Adventures and other oddities

We had plans, good ones, for the weekend. We knew we would have the girls very early Saturday morning, starting at the crack of dawn in the morning, namely six AM. Their parents were going out of town for the night and would not be back until late the following afternoon. We talked about what we would do with them. Would we take them to a movie? (More screen time? I mean I know it's a very big screen, but still?) Would we take them skating, as we had promised them the day we went to the carnival? To Urban Air (Kinda expensive). We opted for skating, but within five minutes of their arrival, I knew it was not to be. I looked at Claire's flushed cheeks and heard her cough and knew we would be in for the weekend. No skating. No movie. No church. We would just have to find something in the house to occupy us. It wouldn't be too difficult, because tomorrow was Ally's birthday, and we had some work to do to get ready, the kind of work any kid would love, such as blowing up balloons, and putting up paper streamers. I know, I know, Ally is 28 years old, but still loves all that stuff, so we do it. Also it was Memorial Day weekend, so there was food to cook. There would be stuff to do. 

But I digress. 

First thing I did was call Mommy and Daddy. They apologized profusely. I could have had them call off their overnight trip, but I knew they needed it and her fever wasn't too high, so I told them to go on. 

I dosed Claire up with some children's Motrin and gave her something for her cough, and she was soon feeling a little better. Ally bought donuts for the girls for breakfast, and about noon we decided to make a big brunch. Ally, for her birthday, had requested eggs benedict, and so it was, hollandaise and all, with bacon and sausage, and poached eggs on toast, since we don't have any English muffins. Arya was not so sure about the poached egg, but Claire asked for another. 

Brunch cleaned up we hung around for a bit. I let the girls watch a little TV, and then we decided to head to town for an early dinner and a trip to Hobby Lobby for art projects to keep the little ones occupied. So we all piled in the car and headed west about a half an hour. We stopped at a steak house and had some dinner. I had some kind of caramelized lemon on herbed chicken, which was ooh la la! I had a salad too, with my own avocado oil ranch, which I sneaked in under my sweater. I don't want to appear snobby, and really I'm not, but I just can't eat dressing with soybean oil in it, anymore. More on that in a later post. 

So I'm bringing my own. 

Again I digress. 

We were in their awhile, maybe an hour. The Mr. didn't really get to eat, because the prime rib he ordered came out raw. They took it back and came out with another raw plate. He just said no, take it off the order. His new liver, much to our dismay, is giving him trouble. He just can't eat rare meat. 

So we went over to Target to get some coffee, and walked around a bit, and then went to the art aisle, and perused all the art kits. Both girls simultaneously lit on the same type of kit, although not identical. This would be a new adventure for us. It was called diamond painting. Keychains and stickers and lots of "diamonds". I wasn't exactly sure how it worked but I read the directions on the half hour drive home, and then it dawned on me. 1000 gems! It said. Per box. Two THOUSAND gems were about to descend on my house. What have I done?? I thought to myself. WHAT. HAVE. I. DONE!? 

But it would be fine. And they would have so much fun with this. 

Back home we opened the boxes and got out the directions. I thought they would need help, but Claire let me know right away that she knew what to do. Ok, I said, then tell me what you do, and she proceeded to tell me, step by step. Apparently she is not as new to this art genre as Grandma is. She has done this before. And Arya had no difficulty. There were little plastic trays to put your thousand gems in, and tiny little squares of wax, and a stylus. You take the stylus, stick the point in the wax, pick up your gem with the waxy end, and then deposit it on the corresponding sticky dot on the plastic picture that will soon be a piece of art. 

I went downstairs to take Frankie out, and saw that the Mr. and Ally were headed to the store to get some stuff for her birthday the following day. I started to open the door, but heard a meowing cat, so I held back a minute. Cautiously I opened the door, to make sure the cat was gone before we came out, but the cat was nowhere to be seen or heard, and neither were the Mr. and Ally, well on their way down the street to the store in the car. 

Fifteen minutes went by. The phone rang. It was the Mr. You won't believe where I am. I'm at the oil changing place. His phone was cutting out a little. I was confused. Why was he there? Wasn't he supposed to be going to the grocery store? Then he told me the unbelievable. There was a CAT in our wheel well! We are at the oil place, they are trying to get it out! 

It's been in there since before we drove to Sherman! (He told me later he heard it when we left but didn't know where it was coming from). 

So that cat, actually just a tiny kitten, had been riding shotgun in the wheel well of our car most of the day! That's an hour of driving time, plus eating and shopping, and no telling how long it had been in there before that. Poor little thing! They were able to extract it, and she was fine. She was dehydrated, and her tongue was hanging out, and she was fighting mad, but they got her out. The garage asked if they could keep her, and that was fine with us. We don't need a kitten, especially with Frankie around. 

I was glad that worked out well. Turns out they had been looking for a cat for their shop. We were happy to oblige.

Sunday morning and the girls continued with their gemology projects. Arya was very pleased with her keychains. Because we had spent time making bracelets last time they were here, she knew exactly how to connect the chains and lobster clasps to the keychains. She asked for the tools and she did it all by herself. 

By evening their were gems all over the house, as I knew there would be. Claire accidently knocked her tray on the floor. We swept it up and Grandma spend a large parcel of time straining it through a colander to separate the gems from the dust bunnies that live on the hardwood floor. 

Five O'clock and Mom and Dad were back and Great Grandma was here for Ally's birthday. There were chicken wings and potato salad, baked beans, chips, and pepper poppers. There was ice cream cake and ice cream for dessert. 

Finally everybody went home, and the kitchen was cleaned up. I went upstairs and fell asleep, like the dead. Tomorrow would be a rest day. 

And it was. A wonderful rest day, with spring like weather and sunshine. I spent the day creating, in my office. Practicing my new guitar, water coloring and working on some miniature books I am making for a future project with my son in law. 

But don't you know, this morning, the Mr. caught Claire's cold. Sigh.