Catching Up

Long time, no blog. You would think that with no children left at home I would have more free time than ever. That is partly true; there is less chaos now. But I can't get at the computer because Mom is busy sorting and cataloging her many, many photos. Right now there are over 7,700 photos on our computer, so this may take some time. I may have to set up a schedule to make sure I get some time online once in awhile.

Last weekend was our annual youth temple trip and service project in Nauvoo. This year we had marvelous weather and only one-semi serious injury during a football game. Most of the young men and young women slept out under the stars. I didn't want to take the chance of being eaten alive by mosquitos, so slept in our tent and was joined by Bishop Helton. I took the seats out of the back of the van and made a bed for Mom with two air mattresses. She still was in a great deal of pain when she awoke the next morning and had trouble getting up and around until her medication took effect.

While we spread wood chips along a trail and pulled weeds (our service project), Mom went shopping in Nauvoo. She wouldn't tell me what she bought, so either she spent too much money or she got a surprise for me. We looked into mailing some fudge to our kids, but the price was prohibitive. So we did eat some fudge (maple nut and chocolate walnut) in their behalf!

Since we are down to one van now, I am biking to work in good weather. Sometimes biking means pedaling my Goodwill bicycle ($15.99) and sometimes -- when I am feeling lazy -- biking means riding Mom's scooter. It is a good thing that Iowa drivers are so courteous. I don't know if I could survive riding a slow (around 30 mph) moped in most places. But I sure am saving money on gasoline.

I have gone to several movies with Mom recently. Unfortunately, most of them were duds, including Pirates 3, Spiderman 3, and Next. Oceans 13 was tolerable. The only real good movie we've seen recently was one from the library, Love Comes Gently, which I highly recommend. So I am about ready to swear off movies again. About the only reason to go to a movie now is 50-cent popcorn on Tuesday night.

We have also gone to see the I-Cubs play twice. As you might expect, we have to wear our matching hats and t-shirts (oh, for cute!). We ran into our previous bishop last time we were there and he commented on our garb. Now that the weather is turning really hot games will probably be too uncomfortable for Mom. We will have to wait for some cooler temperatures before returning to see the I-Cubs play again.

We have also been visiting Gray's Lake and the Blank Park Zoo. We purchased a membership at the zoo, so can go back for no entrance fee. A new exhibit, two bald eagles, just opened at the zoo so we went back today for a short visit. And a walk around Gray's Lake is always a favorite for us when the weather permits.

In a future posting I will see if I can include a few photos of some of these activities from Mom's growing collection.