Almost autumn

It is not quite autumn but it really felt like the season last week. Brrrr – it was downright chilly when we attended the annual CIS family/faculty picnic Friday night. But, with the chill came some much needed rain so I’m not complaining too loudly. And, today, the sun is out and it is a perfect 70 degrees. I got a repairman (Ricky Remus) here working on the toilet in the half-bath off the master bedroom. It leaked and we just shut the water off to it and have been using the other bathroom for about three weeks. A nuisance. So, he fixed the leak and, while he was here, I had him put in a new sink faucet. Our bathroom will be almost like new after today!

The chilly, damp weather persisted into Saturday so Steve got a reprieve from lawn-mowing. Instead, he got to play grandpa with Noah. Emily had late-afternoon engagement photos east of Columbia at some stables on Glendale road (out where we used to live). Noah had a birthday party in Lake St. Louis earlier in the day and, rather than drive him all the way back into town to the house, she just took him to Columbia and Steve watched him. He got a horse ride at the stable and then played at Two-Mile Prairie. Em and Noah came to the house for dinner before driving back to St. Louis that night. I was not in the picture because I was playing in two back-to-back weddings that afternoon/evening. The first one was at First Baptist Church in Columbia and then we zoomed to Hermann where the second one was in a lovely – but cold – outdoor setting on a lake. I got home just as dinner was being fixed so I got my grandma fix for a little while. Even Steven and Tamara came over to say “hi”.

Alfred went to the vet last week for his yearly check-up. That cat is now up to 18 ½ pounds!!! And still the vet says he does not need to lose weight.

I watched two documentaries on Netflix (soon to be called Qwikster! Did you hear about that???): Babies and The Cove. Babies was fascinating. In the African family, there was no male presence whatsoever. Where were they? Fighting in a rebellion somewhere? After The Cove, I was not too thrilled with Japan. Paula Dean needs to start a cooking show over there and teach them to eat something besides FISH!!! Beckie has moved her flat-screen television into the family room and, with a LOT of help from tech-savvey Brandon, it is now hooked up TiVo and the Wii. So, while Beckie lives here, I will have some lovely video watching experiences.

Time for me to fix some lunch – leftover lemon and herb roasted chicken from yesterday. Mm Mm good.