It's all about napping!

Napping in the bathroom.

I have no idea what that bottle of Merlot is doing there!

Napping in the kitchen sink.

(Yes, it is a LARGE sink!)

Napping by the front door.

It is hard to know where to begin since it has been a while since I have blogged. Mommy has been on vacation and has been busy working in the vineyard and using her trimmer-mower along the road. That is 300' of tall weeds and rough terrain. It is done, but not without cost. Mommy has her second worse case of poison ivy ever. She doesn't expect to have to go to the doctor, but she has been very uncomfortable, and one of her eye lids was all puffy this morning.

Mommy has tomorrow off and I think she will work mostly indoors. Maybe she will even read, nap or watch a movie! That would be a novelty for her. Tuesday it will be back to work and Wednesday is sleepover day. This month, in addition to a few scallops, Mommy is taking a couple of small fillet mignons to Grandma's house. She is going to make a wine reduction sauce with Cabernet Sauvignon and shallots, and she thinks she will ask Grandma to do baked potato with sour cream and chives and a tossed salad this month instead of fries and slaw. The Cab will also be the wine that will accompany the meal. For dessert Mommy is taking some peach-raspberry pie she picked up at Kroger a few weeks ago. She said it was very good and she froze two pieces for the sleepover. It will be served a la mode, of course. The movie will be Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino.

Mommy is currently reading Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders and she likes it very much. That woman can't write a bad book. This was Brooks' first novel.

Mommy was saddened to receive a phone call from KJ on her first day of vacation telling her that Sherry's father, Allen, had passed away. It was the same day that KJ left on his first solo haul for Hiner.

Mommy had known Allen for more than 20 years and liked him. He was 63, only two years older than Mommy. So Mommy went to the funeral service in North Manchester and cried the whole time. She got to visit briefly with Sherry; KJ; Derek; Allison; Sherry's sister, Billie; Sherry's mother, Mary; and the husband of Mommy's youth, Ken, who looked very well and very happy, which, of course, made Mommy very happy. Allen was one of 12 children, so the service was very well attended. Mommy said it is sad to think that she will never see Allen again at another event for the grandchildren.

Mommy Bonnie went to a wedding on the same day as Allen's service (the 4th of July), and Denny and Barbara went to a birthday party for their daughter, Shelly, who was born on the 4th of July. Their son, Keith, and his finance joined them. Mommies got to meet Keith and thought he was a younger version of Denny, who, by the way, has a brand new 2010 Toyota Tundra!

It was an overcast 4th and there was a light rain for hours, causing the postponement until Sunday of fireworks for most cities. The fireworks over Timber Lake began after 10. Marquette was already living with Mommies in Fort Wayne last 4th of July, but I hadn't been adopted yet, and I remember the fireworks. I was on my own by then, and the noise scared me.

KJ stopped by today and Mommy followed him to Hiner to look at his tractor. He is very excited to be driving on his own. Last week he went to Wyalusing PA, and today he left for Maryland. Mommy says his tractor was very nice. He has a small fridge, a microwave, the TV Mommy Bonnie gave him, a CB radio, a Tom Tom GPS, and soon Mommies will give him one of their laptops. What more could he possibly need? His tractor is maroon and has over 300,000 miles on it! They don't give rookies new tractors.

Mommies worked a couple of days getting the villa in The Fort ready to show. They moved all the furniture off of the carpet and into the garage or the 4-seasons room. Then carpet cleaners came. After that, Mommies did some cleaning. Today they had to put some large pieces of furniture at the curb, so back into Fort Wayne they went. Not much of a vacation for Mommy, but then she isn't one to just sit around. We hope she will take a nap with us tomorrow, but she will probably find something to do.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~