Sunday UPdate

Got the phone lined repaired. The junction box or whatever it is was under water again. Just like always. For years. The phone repair man knows who I am when he calls to confirm the location of the house. "The first house back off the road? You're husband was the lawyer?" "Yep. That's the one." That reminds me, I need to turn the ringer off since I only need it for an internet connection.

The final three chapters of "Heroes" coming up! Yep, I admit that TV is more of my life than it should be. I did spend this afternoon listening to NPR. Does that count for anything? Okay, enough of confessions. Watched the finale of "Amazing Race" tonight. Sure wish Mirna and Shmirna had won, but not too disappointed in how it turned out. Been trying to watch the "Saturday Night Live" special but it's been fading in and out.

Finale of "Survivor" coming up. As a matter of fact, I've looked up the next two weeks of scheduling for the 2 little stations I get and mapped out all the finales of the shows I watch. Then there's the other few I watch online only since I don't get those stations. What will I do when they do away with analog tv? Same thing I do when the reception isn't good; watch it online I guess.

I have been really busy lately. We had work things that kept us on the road. Events in three cities. We made round trips three Thursdays in a row. Then a three-day conference that made for another trip. And Relay was mixed in there, too.

Had visitors from New Mexico. Beth and Dave were in Texas and included me in their itenerary. They had lots of people to see, places to go for a short trip. Was really good to visit with them although the visit seemed way too short. At least they got to enjoy East Texas at its rainy finest. Fine by me. Much cooler that way.

Yesterday, Martha had a tea for her mother-in-law's 86th birthday. It was really nice. Also got to spend some time with Dad while I was there which I always enjoy. JoanE called me while I was enroute. I hadn't talked to her in a while so that was a treat. I hope I get to see photos of Lilly sometime soon.

Spent this afternoon trying to do some cleaning in the kitchen. Tossing out-of-date spices, etc. Washed and got sparkling clean some little bric-a-brac that's been on the window sill before packing it away for a while. Hope to repaint the kitchen before too long so trying to streamline things now to make it easier then.

So did you hear about the recent launch of people's ashes into space last week? One of the more famous on the rocket was Scotty ("But cap'n, I don think she can take any more!") of Star Trek fame. I immediately thought of Gene. He always said that if he had a chance to go into space, he'd jump at it. The earth orbit is around $500. But the deep space launch which of course sounds like what he'd like is going for around $12,000. Soooooo. When the day comes to sprinkle his ashes, he'll probably end up with plain ol' terra firma. And he did have some lovely places picked out that he'd told me about where he wanted his ashes sprinkled someday. I wonder if he'd have opted for some to go into space if that had been an option back when he was telling me that.

Friday was his birthday, but he's forever 49. I was really pleased to hear from some folks who were also remembering his birthday. I like knowing that I'm not the only one remembering him. (By the way, I moved an entry from draft to published status for April 7 if you're interested in reading it.)

You know how you can have a running argument with your spouse in your head about some annoying incident or trait? Hehe. You still can even when they're gone. But for all the times I felt like pinching his head off, we sure did have lots of laughs.

I was cleaning out some stuff the other day and found some letters I'd never mailed. One of them was to Barrie almost a year after Gene had died. I was mentioning to her that I knew Gene was a strange bird and some people just didn't get him and he sure had his faults. But underneath all his bravado, you would be hard pressed to find a more gentle, kind soul.

If he'd been a different person, or I had been the pushy nagging wife, maybe he'd accomplished all sorts of things that people think one should accomplish. But in this letter, I had mentioned some of the negatives and struggles but went on to say it all balanced out. I had written -- "to me, he was that esquisite painting, that complelling novel, the sitrring dance, the poem that stops you in your tracks -- a total package that was an artist in motion with words, music, the way he could observe and 'see' the big picture of how the whole wide world fit together like a big puzzle."

He was a very talented artist. In addition to all the music and writing, did you know he even cartooned? They were pretty funny, too. And he was a big ol' softy, too. And yes, sometimes he just never quit talking. Guess he had a lot to say and a short time to do it, huh?

Oh yeah, last weekend I had the door open for some air circulation and Eienstein, being the proud cat, dragged in a huge, dead (thank goodness) squirrel! Ick! Then he did it again the next day -- twice! I think he's finally figured out that he is a fifteen pound bruiser that can take out small mammals. Should save on the food bills, I guess. He's brought in lizards and skinks and let them go before, but I figure it probably gives him something to do when he's stuck inside for various reasons. But I am drawing the line at mammals!

I've got some photos to add, but think I left my cord at work maybe and couldn't download them. I will add them later so check back.

I'm really dreading work tomorrow. Too much going on. But it's still coming whether I dread it or not so guess I'll go to bed and try to be rested for it. Might read for a while. I'm reading a book about early women mountain climbers in America in late 1880-1890's, early 1900's. Charles gave it to me because he thought one of the women on the front looked like me. Maybe I'll post the picture and you can decide if you think it looks like me, too.

Getting really late and tomorrow will be a long day. Goodnight!