Frolics, Larks, and Capers

Family news

LARK -- Our son Isaac arrived home this week from his study-abroad trip to Germany. I drove to Cincinnati on Tuesday and picked him up at the airport Tuesday night. Except for the visit to the airfield maintenance section of the airport, it was an uneventful trip. (I followed my Google directions, and that's where they took me!)

Isaac's trip was a little more exciting than mine. His group missed the last plane of their long journey, so he didn't get to Cincinnati until 9:30 pm. It was about 26 hours from the time he woke up in Berlin to the time he finally went to bed in Cincinnati! He did get a few hours of airplane sleep along the way, but he was happy to take a shower and fall into bed at the hotel. While we were sleeping, his missing suitcase arrived at the airport, and the missing-luggage people delivered it to our hotel.

Since arriving home, Isaac has been getting over a bad cold and catching up on things he missed while he was gone (such as having ice in his drinks, hanging out with his friends, playing video games, and sleeping in his own bed). He's glad to be home, though he enjoyed getting acquainted with the city where he was born. His classes (Hitler and Nazi Germany, History of Berlin) were hard, but he thinks he did well in them. He has a few more days off, and then he goes back to his job until school starts again in mid-August. I will post some photos from his trip later.

CAPER -- In other family news, we learned last week that Keely has to move. Her landlords have new plans for the corner where her house sits, and they have asked for the house to be vacated by the first of September. She hasn't found another place yet, but she is seriously looking.

We already had planned to have a garage sale at Keely's house this summer, so she is setting aside garage-sale items as she packs for the move. I've also been finding, pricing, and boxing up my contributions to the sale. I hope her next house is as good a location for garage sales as the current house is!

FROLIC -- Keely and Taurus are getting married this fall -- a season of the year that is rapidly approaching, I note! Keely is making brooch bouquets for herself and her maid of honor. I had never heard of these before she started talking about them, but they're pretty (and also eco-chic when made with used jewelry). Brooch bouquets can be used instead of flowers, or fresh or silk flowers can be included in the bouquet with the brooches.

The first step is to acquire the brooches, so I've been busy on eBay this week. The photo at right shows what I have so far. I hope she can use most of these, somewhere. I also found a couple of flower brooches in my jewelry box, and Keely has been collecting too. (If anyone would like to contribute a brooch, please let me know.)

ANOTHER CAPER -- I've been working faithfully in my little vegetable garden and plugging away at many long-neglected yard chores. I'm also trying to do some deep house cleaning. We'll probably have several visitors around the time of the wedding, some of whom have never been here before. I'd like to delude them that we live in a "Better Homes and Gardens" world -- hahaha! (The laughter is not hysterical yet, but just wait!)

MORE LARKS -- We're hoping to go to Mammoth Cave to celebrate Keely's birthday in August and to the Nashville Zoo to celebrate my birthday in September. I've also consented to take a ride in a hot-air balloon, on my elderly neighbor's birthday in August. The balloon ride is a birthday gift from her daughter. It should be interesting!

At times in the next few months, I'm going to be very busy with the things I've described above, with stuff I haven't mentioned, and with other things that I don't even know about yet. I may be absent from my blogs for extended periods of time. Please be patient! Life should settle down briefly after the wedding and before the holiday season. :)