Welcome Guests Leave, Unwelcome Guests Linger

I've had to drive to Reno more in the last few months than I have in the entire year before that and we have another trip planned this week for a doctor's appointment. I've actually run out of "things to do for fun since I'm in the big city". There's some sort of gremlin wind in the universe that appears to react every time I try to stay home, blowing me back into the driver's seat.

We drove Elena (DIL Lisa's sister) to Reno to catch a flight home on Friday. Lisa and Joli left on Saturday for a visit and baby shower with her best friend in Redding before driving back to southern California today. Sam came for the weekend and left yesterday and then I drove Joe to Reno for his flight home. William is back home from football camp and he's home, but not a guest. And he's back at work. Hubby is back at work. Just me and Rosie laying around getting not much done this morning before we tackle the aftermath of so much family togetherness - a heap of towels in the laundry, pots in the sink, stray toys and stuffed animals scattered about the house, beds to remake...

I think everyone is a teensy bit happy at the thought of getting back to their regular routines, but I was sad to see everyone go, especially the wee girl who spontaneously broke out into smiles, song, and dance routines a dozen times each hour. Sigh. Well, only a month before we see her again at Faerieworlds. (SO EXCITED!) I guess I can't count hubby as thrilled about the getting back to routine thing - as he got ready for work today I heard him say "Back to work - UGH" Only a few more years before he retires and can become a full time lawn waterer. Well, maybe he won't, but he'd probably be happy to do so.

The unwelcome guests I mentioned who are still here - the heat, the smoke, the fires. It's hard to get anything done when one or more of these punks drag you down, melting your bones and pounding on your head. The news anchors warn that it's best to stay indoors to avoid them. Not possible when you live in a house with no air conditioning. And many people are in the same situation as this isn't a community where you necessarily need A/C to survive.

Today, knock on wood, conditions are a bit better. That's not to say that the fires are out or even contained yet, it just means the wind direction favors us. So I should probably get some tasks done before that changes again. I'll leave you with a few family photos.

I just got a kick out of this photo. Cat was chasing another cat, which set off the chain reaction. Joli is chasing the cat (don't know which one, it's the black streak in the background). Rosie is chasing Joli. And I'm chasing Rosie.

Here are the three boys (plus a tiny girl holding two make up brushes). William is NOT naked. You can't see he's wearing shorts. But just like the other three boys were as teenagers, he's "too sexy for his shirt".

Another shot of the three boys listening to Hubby tell some fascinating story that involves moving your hands at the speed of light (He talks at the speed of light too). We were hiding from the smoke again, this time eating at a Mexican restaurant. We all agreed it was strange, just the original family (although of course Noel and Joshua are absent) as it's been a zillion years, or so it seems, since there hasn't been spouses and partners and grandkids and friends and accessory people of all sorts in the mix. We spent the time around the table remembering family stories, some from the kids I hadn't heard before and am happy that I was blissfully unaware of at the time! My hair is graying fast enough as it is, thank you.

One more photo of me and my boys. I think I did a good job with the handsomeness factor, doncha think?

I might put up some more photos from last week's adventures later this week, but now I'm off to make a new jar or two of iced tea. (This last week with so many people here, a jar of tea was lucky to last a half hour! I bet we went through at least a dozen jars a day.) The quiet in the house feels odd. Nice. But odd.