Tuesday 26 November 2013

The Summer Of fun (Part Two).....

I am really getting slow about adding entries here, aren't I?, sorry everyone, just been real busy and every time I've sat down in front of the screen to start one, something comes up and it's left for later. Not today!, I'm downright determined to offer one up before I do anything else.

The last lines laid here were about our trip to Hawkesbury Ontario and that was at the start of Summer. After a week away we returned home without our children. My Sister and her Husband generously offered to take our Sons on vacation with them. They booked a houseboat for four days and the boys were extremely excited to be joining them. It was a long ride home from Hawkesbury so we stayed overnight at my Sisters before saying goodbye to everyone on Sunday. The two hour trip from there to home was an enjoyable one and we were loving the feel of freedom. I'm sure any of you that are parents, can relate. I was looking forward to a nice long break from being a Mom and having time alone with my Hubby. Well we did get a few days but not many because I was called on to assist my Aunt in Michigan. You see, her and her husband help care for his elderly Aunt and Uncle. They needed someone to cook, clean and stay with them for a few days. I happily accepted the offer and I'm so glad that I did. Though I have spent a good amount of time with the elderly over the years, this was an experience I had never had. The Wife half of this couple was 92 at the time, is almost completely deaf and suffers from severe Dementia. The Husband, a war veteran, is in decent health but has only one leg and is in a wheelchair. Both very pleasant, polite and easy to please people. It was wonderful to see how much love and concern can still be shown after 60+ years of marriage. Also enjoyable was seeing the other side of their relationship. Like when he would try and tell her something, she would ask him over and over to repeat himself but just ended up waving her hands and saying "oh I can't hear you, never mind!". That made me giggle because he would just shake his head and laugh at her. There were many times my blood pumper sunk seeing her distress and frustration with not being able to remember much of anything. She spoke of the same three or four things everyday, for most of the hours that slowly went by. Please don't think I am complaining in any way because I ain't. I'm just trying to describe with detail what the experience was like, in a wordy way. Seeing her cry were some of the saddest moments to sit through. Any of you that know me well can state how hard it is for me to keep the eye leaks behind my lids, at bay. How horrible it must be to have your thoughts slip away and know they were once there. Numerous times she asked me my name and never was able to make it sink in the think tank. He also has struggles but was always smiling while being good and grateful for everything. They don't often watch t.v unless a baseball game was on and there weren't any televised when I was there. This was in July so the weather was warm but not sweltering like some Summers we've had around here. Each afternoon we would sit outside, next to their big pine tree and have ice cream. It didn't matter what you gave this adorable couple, they loved everything and anything given to them. Wish I could bottle that and inject it into certain folks I know, including myself at times. After my last day with them, I left grateful and feeling quite blessed for not only my well health but for my age, forty-two looked a lot lovelier once spent with a few days around couple in their nineties.

Next up in my Summer of fun was a night out with two girls I babysat years ago. They are both grown with babies of their own now and the youngest treated us to food, drinks and a lot of laughter for her Sisters birthday. Both ladies live out in the county and I was asked to spend the night at the birthday girls house. We had a very enjoyable evening that would continue on the next day at their Mother's house. I don't often see my Dear friend and I was delighted to be invited to the gathering for her oldest Daughter. It wasn't a formal feast but it sure was a fine one. As my old friend made her rounds and prepared our BBQ buffet I recalled the years we spent together doing just the same thing when her Daughters were wee ones. Oh the late nights and rainy days we shared laughing and fussing about party favours, decorations or people to invite. The memories flew back and I enjoyed revisiting them. This lady and her Daughters were a huge part of my life as a teen and I always love spending any time I get with them. I'm telling ya, if I drove there would never be a friend or family member I'd miss, they would all get sick of me real quick. Thanks Ma, Kelly and Amy for the wonderful walk down memory lane, I love you ladies, largely!

On to our next vacation, this time at our Aunt and Uncle's, along with my Sis and the branches in her bunch. This would be the first of, not one but TWO weeks of wonderful with them. This one was in July and the second would be at the end of August but I'm getting ahead of myself here. My Husband wouldn't be able to spend the whole week with us as he had to work but he would join us for the next one. We didn't spend our time traveling to here or there, we spent our hours cooking, sharing awesome eats, cleaning up, swimming, and paddle boating. A highlight of the trip was swimming late night with my Godchild, a beautiful, smart, funny teen that has more talent in her little fingernail than I do in all of my large lard load. Another enjoyable time was spent with all our kids at a near by park. Seeing my seventeen year old play on the monkey bars was a sight that still sparks a smile when it whips to mind. Sitting here in the nest with Winters cold hold outside, makes me long for those warm wonderful days of this past Summer. My Sis insists I must learn to embrace every season but I say, "Stay Long Summer, speed off to the rest!". Unfortunately, it's seems to work the opposite of that wish, especially Winter. Okay, that's rather enough griping about what can't be changed, back to the terrific things we did. As always when I am with loved ones, the most enjoyable moments are watching how others interact but sometimes it can be a sad thing to see. This was the case for a day during our stay. My youngest Son and Sister had words and it erupted into anger between the three of us, ended up ruining my whole day but that was my choice, not theirs. I won't go into the ugly of it but I will say that I'm not proud of how my child or I handled our hotheadedness. Hopefully we learned a lesson from it, only time will tell. One of the best things about the whole Summer for me were the nights I slept alone, outside on a patio lounge chair, ahhhhhh heaven to me!. There were no bugs buzzing about and a completely clear sky above, filled with nature's flashlight, the marvelous moon and a slew of stars as far as my eyes could see. Yes indeed, heavenly to me!. Tremendous thanks to our Aunt and Uncle that continue to tolerate our crazy and welcome us back for more!

I think I will end this entry by telling you of a very special vacation my youngest Son and I had. Friends of my Husband and I asked me to watch their house for twelve days in August while they drove across the country to visit her Son. Aidn and I jumped at the chance, they have three dogs, a beautiful house across from Lake Lady Erie, a pool, hot tub, trampoline and fire pit, "yee haw!", said we. During our stay we would have a handful of visitors. A friend I don't often see stopped by for awhile and it was great chatting with her again. Hubby, my Cousin and his two Sons along with our Son's friend, came out for a few sleeps. Man did we have a great time!. I loved the days and nights we spent there. Swimming before the sun was up, biking to town for a few things or just relaxing by the pool was wonderful. I also spent much time cleaning, cooking and tidying up after the dogs but that too was enjoyable. In the twelve days there, only two were filled with rain. The remainder of the days and nights were glorious, warm and saturated with the sun and moon. Two of my most favorite things in life!. Did I mention the few fine nights we had around the fire pit?. Why is seeing little ones struggling with the stickiness of marshmallows so entertaining?. Singing country songs late at night with my Husband and Cousin were also highlights, none of us can stake a claim to Sinatra's silkiness but we sounded sweet as sugar to me!. Probably the most memorable thing of the entire Summer was seeing a live pelican in the Wheatley harbour. I have loved and collected pelican anything for years, what a treat it was witnessing one right in front of my eyes. You see, they are an unheard of sight in these parts of the planet I play on.

I know there are many fine folks and memories made with them that I am forgetting to mention but I must leave somethings for the think tank to sink it's mind into for later, I guess. With that typed, I'll bid you all a fine farewell and will plan on not letting so much time pass between now and my next entry. May the remainder of this day hold you in a happy and healthy way. Thanks for reading what's in the mind grounds, I'll add a few pictures and a song my Cousin and I sang, so late one night.