Last supper

Today is our last day here this visit. We have no idea when or where the next one will be.  Our son-in-law's assignment appears to be in jeopardy, and perhaps his career along with it.  But if things go as we thought when we left Ohio, our next visit will be in Hawaii.  This is so hard.  But at least we can now communicate via Skype.  It's no substitute, but it's better than not seeing them at all.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

It's amazing how dynamic a relationship can be. We spent a lot of time yesterday morning cuddling, basically patching up from a rough Saturday. Later in the morning, my response to a complaint about a result obtained when something was done the wrong way - seriously: the cheesecake comes out of the pan way easier if you take the springform side off  first - undermined our progress.

I've got to admit that I'm impatient lately over little things.  There isn't one particular issue; my biggest overall concern is over the direction of your life, in two areas.

I'm glad that you can volunteer, and that you can be such a great support to your (our) friends, but I don't think you have a very good balance right now.  I know there also needs to be balance in our responsibilities. The thing is, I'm not willing (yes, there it is) to pick up so much slack just so you can do what you want. Maybe it's more accurate to say I'm not going to do so much extra when I disagree with the priorities you've set for your time.  But we both know that I do plenty of that when there's a real need.

I wish you would notice things more, though. One example: dust bunnies happen because we don't clean on a schedule. We should. Sweeping is not just a "when you notice," "when company is coming," or even a once-a-week chore. But when we haven't done it, I'm going to notice and will usually grab the broom and take care of it.  And no matter how much I try to remind myself not to, I'm just not able to keep from resenting it just a little when I do.

The second thing is that so much of your leisure time is spent on programming that I'm not interested in, a significant amount of which really bothers me. It detracts from us getting time together, which we really need to grow. 

Skating

So skating was evidently not such a good idea.  Hannah seemed enthusiastic enough at first, and Nic came along after adjusting to the noise and lights.  But eventually Hannah wanted just to dance - which was fine - but balked at the idea of untying her own skate laces - which we'd just tied a moment before when she said she wanted to skate. A little while later, after Nic and grandpa had another go around the rink, he replied that he wasn't having a good time, and since his sister wasn't recovering from her pique, it was clear that everyone was done.   Oh well.

A potential setback avoided

We nearly had a very rough moment this afternoon when I received a text from her phone in response to telling her that I didn't have much to do to be ready for us to go skating.  The response read: "You are on my last nerv (sic) now."  I thought the misspelling was odd, and it was just enough to keep me out of trouble.

It turns out that she didn't send it. Our granddaughter was texting her aunt - for whom the message was also inappropriate - but sent it to me by mistake. Oops. Fortunately I didn't respond in a way that would have made things worse, and we were able to have a nice chuckle over it!

More of the visit

I slept fairly well last night on the inflatable. Was awake at 4 a.m., though that was only a few hours after I went to bed. Fell asleep in front of the television for a little while before that, but not very long or deeply. The sun rises early here, so it's hard to sleep in. I'm hoping for the nap today that I didn't get yesterday.  At least I got  in a short bike ride for about a half hour.  Maybe there will be another today, though it sounds as if skating may be on the agenda.

Well, I finally got a halfway decent night's sleep. I had to sleep on the sofa to do it, though.  Funny, too, how our standards change.  Two weeks ago I don't think I'd have described any night that way if I was awake three times during the night.  I'm still feeling wiped, so hopefully there will be a ride and a nap this afternoon.

I should make a cheesecake today for my son-in-law's 29th (yeah, right) birthday.

The joy of grandchildren

There's no joy quite like that from the squeal of delight from a grandchild who isn't aware you're coming from out of town until she sees you getting off the school bus.