Doctor Grandma

quick synopsis of our day:

Wonderful day, rained for 3/4 of it. I went in for jury duty just long enough to get to 3rd floor, report in, and get sent home. Hooray! Fine with me, I don’t like leaving the boys alone even though they have 2 phone #s they can call and neighbors all around (including cops on either side of us). On the way home I bought myself a new swim suit, which is light years improvement over the one I had, & bought a few other things on clearance. Also bought some nails.

Today I cleaned, getting ready for daughter & family to join us late Wed. night for a couple days. Straightened, cleaned bathrooms, cleaned microwave, coffee pot, washed down counter tops, washed clothes. Used nails to hang more pictures throughout the house! Something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Caspian played a long time w/ neighbor kids which helped a lot.

Made Caspian take a shower, then took him + 3 friends for a late swim after it cleared off & the sun came out. It was cool but very relaxing. Sun started descending as we finished at 7pm. Came in, made some food, ate, AL got up, he played Raven their 3rd game of chess which AL won again, Caspian & I returned 2 movies to the library, & then I made banana bread which finished cooking at midnight! I am so happy I can sleep in tomorrow, as jurors were told we did not have to return Wed. I still may be called in Thurs. or Fri. though. Hope not.

Tonight I am way, way tired so just writing a bit to let parents know what their kids did today if they are anyone else are interested, & going to bed.

I was picked to serve as a juror today. Literally made it through all the hoops and was sitting in a room with 11 other jurors and one alternate. Had to leave Raven in charge of Caspian, had him come downstairs so he was right in the middle of everything on main floor & close to Caspian, who stayed on my computer all morning & was fine. AL is home by 1:15pm. To make a long story short, no problem, I gave him ph # of a neighbor who said she’d be home all morning in case of any needs or emergency, + they had AL’s phone #. So there I was sitting in a room with 11 jurors getting ready to go back into the courtroom, trying to figure out, “How the heck did I end up here?” Then we were called into the courtroom. I could feel the additional tension and angst from when we left it a half hour or so before. Then the judge announced that there were a number of complex “legal issues” that they had to take care of which may or may not be resolved that day, and we were excused to go home. And so it goes in the legal system.

I have to return tomorrow morning and go through the entire process again, from what I understand, so I may or may not be on a jury again. Meanwhile, our 2nd daughter & her family are due to come this Wed. night & I have had no time or energy to clean our house.

Took Caspian & his friend Nick to the pool from 5:30-7. Raven came along, they made up a game and threw soccer balls back & forth & just enjoyed the awesome sun and gorgeous weather. I sat poolside and just relaxed.

Picked chicken off the bone of one that had cooked a  whole day in the crock pot. For those of you who have never had this treat, there is no more moist, delicious chicken EVER ANYWHERE! Went to the store and got a chicken noodle soup mix, added it to the broth with another cup of water & a can of cream of chicken soup & we had a delicious soup for supper, with white rice from the rice cooker, which the boys like. Add peaches & pears for dessert. And they have leftovers for tomorrow.

Caspian spends hours on my laptop but we watch what he is playing. Mostly it is Small Worlds, a virtual world where you create houses, decorate them, and meet “virtual” friends who are really some real kids & they know each other in real life but meet in the game. Interesting. I have no idea how technology will eventually change relationships and interaction in the future.

He is also reading a chapter book I got him at the library, a story about a dog. If I tell him to go read & take away the laptop, then he reads at night.

Tomorrow I will see them before leaving again for jury selection because I am not due in until 9:45am.

A neighbor moved a woodpile next door tonight & uncovered a Cottonmouth Rattler poisonous snake & killed it! DANG. He also had to exterminate some black widow spiders underneath his porch deck he built! Sometimes things happen to remind us we really live out in the sticks. It is prudent to be cautious and aware.

Sunday. We had no plans for today until 6:00 this evening when we went together to our monthly devotional Baha’i Faith meeting, which is called a “feast”. However, it is a feast of the spirit, not of food. Bahai’s tend to make it both, however, & this one was a dinner. It was so nice to have the boys with us for our friends to meet them. Friends from our past could not imagine us without kids around us. At this feast, there were 6 young girls and one little boy age 5, plus our 2 grandsons. Our friends here never see our family because they now live in 4 different states, with us in a 5th. We raised our kids to be world citizens. They have somehow each traveled to foreign lands. Our 2nd daughter is married to a person born & raised in another country of the world. He is now a US citizen. This is an international, intercultural, interracial marriage. Our grandsons from Indiana are from our first daughter, from her 1st marriage.

We have four wonderful grandchildren & hope to have them all together later this week! Two from Indiana, two now from North Carolina. The other pair, a boy and a girl, are from our 2nd daughter in NC. What can one say about the connection to grandchildren? That is a post for another time.

Sunday afternoon was spent again at the pool for a little over an hour & 1/2. In the US, many people pay to go to a public pool. When you do that, you stay for the afternoon, for a length of time, because you won’t be able to swim again until you again pay money. Sad, isn’t it? But here, our neighborhood association manages a pool open to all in the complex. We do not pay to get in. So we tend to go whenever we want, stay for an hour, & leave. That is what we did yesterday.

Raven played AL their 2nd chess game of this vacation, last night. Grandpa again won. Grandpa wins everything, all the time, and never cuts anyone any slack. He is the man to beat in games. Raven beat him once, a few years ago.

Two festivals to go to today, with games for kids, music, films, all kinds of stuff going on. The only problem is, everyone slept in until now 11am. I woke up at 8:30, so I had 2 hours to myself. It will be a busy day. Maybe a late afternoon or evening swim later to relax. Such is my life in summer. 🙂

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Returned from the festivals, both of which had music, food, drink, vendors, poets, & the first one had films. Very nice relaxing day, beautiful weather. Took Caspian’s friend Nick with us so that was my gift. There was more to do at first one, 2nd was was a neighborhood gathering. Sheem got to sing one song, then they cut it short, unfortunately. Gospel choir took over. 🙂  Nick had a good time break dancing & Caspian was showing some acrobatics. Raven rode back w/ Grandpa in his truck.

Caspian spent 2 hrs. at Nick’s house, then went swimming w/ his whole family for another hour, came home at 9:30pm and ate supper . . . did Small Worlds for another hour, & is now creating foam puppets when I thought he was asleep. Raven & I watched Wedding Crashers, he went to friend Seth’s in the neighborhood for an hour + & AL & I watched a couple crime shows…….. our exciting LIFE!

WOW, it’s June. I can’t believe it. Today I took the boys to the SC Statehouse where we enjoyed the luscious grounds chock full of centuries-old trees that flow down and go on forever and ever, and magnolia trees. The grass is gorgeously long and it is one of the most peaceful spots I know. Went inside where they saw where the state legislature meets; the plaque dedicated to the 4 signers of the original US Constitution, and another plaque dedicated to when they seceded from the Union with numerous signatures at the bottom. Let’s face it, this state is confused about their identity. There’s the US flag & the SC flag flying on top, and due to political pressure, the Confederate flag flying separately out in front of the building, dead center. Always amazes me. Makes me laugh, actually. Being from the North, that is one thing I will never understand. As Raven said, “If they want to show southern pride, why don’t they just fly the South Carolina flag?” R. refused to have his picture taken with the Confederate flag. It is hard to explain, but up north, we just don’t think about the Civil War every day, and it is understood in our core being, that the Confederate flag = slavery. Down here, it’s in your face 24/7 and we’re supposed to believe the flag means “Southern pride”. Except to Black folk, who don’t speak up about it either. There is this new monument to Black history outside the statehouse, which is pretty darn amazing. 

Then we met AL after he got off work & had lunch at Cafe Streudel, one of our favorite places. AL Raven & I had the famous Hangover Hashbrowns with sweet peppers, tomato, onion & cheese. Caspian got bacon & egg. Then we went for a streudel fried on the grill or a baklava. This cafe has art on the wall for purchase, 4 flavors of coffee on tap, & a unique atmosphere.

This afternoon we napped, watched tv, Raven went out w/2 friends for awhile, and Caspian & I had a 5:30-6:45 swim. Awesome neighborhood, I must say. I live in luxury heaven & still can’t get over it. The day was absolute perfect weather, not too hot but mostly sunny, hit close to 90, breeze included. Usually clouds up with a short shower in late afternoon, which is actually why Caspian & I left the swim. We heard thunder.

AL slept, then we all had spaghetti & watched “Batteries Not Included” which I rented free from the library, after which Caspian, at 11:30pm, took a shower, using a bar of soap we made yesterday. It was bright red, colored with red food coloring and he wanted to see if it turned his skin red. It did briefly, then washed right off. 🙂

A new gander SWAN, grey and white, has adopted our pond, floats around all day & squawks for a mate to come join him, so far to no avail.

Since the boys have been here, I abandoned my 3-mi. walk which I dearly need to restart. Today I managed to do my exercises. Boy do I need to keep it up.

AL is outside sitting on the back porch, telling Raven the stories of his life and all his best advice.