I had a lovely Mother's Day visit with my mom. I was only there for 24 hours, but she says it's just the kind of Mother's Day present she loves. I'm very glad I went. Got back last night very tired but it was well worth it.

And then I got to spend Mother's Day evening with MY kids and some of the grandkids. How blessed I am to have so many of them here!

On the car trip I listened to all of Into Thin Air and then started one that John Caleb has been after me to read: The Westing Game. This title, a Newbery winner, has been a favorite of several of my children, one that some of them have read half a dozen times. So I downloaded it from Audible.com and I'm about halfway through it.

Speaking of books, John got me two for Mother's Day: The Strangeness of Beauty, and Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. On my stack they go! Oh, I need to read SO much faster...

This morning was my first physical therapy appointment after the March surgery. The goal will be to strengthen my quad muscles and reverse the atrophy so we can determine whether my pain is muscular or whether it's related directly to the bone graft. And that will probably take about six weeks of 2-3 visits a week.

We woke this morning to news of yet another natural disaster--a 7.8 earthquake in China that was felt in several different countries and has reportedly killed thousands and trapped many people alive. And this as the magnitude of the cyclone in Myanmar is still not even understood yet. And the photos of the destruction caused by tornadoes right here in the U.S. reminds us that no one is immune. I realize that there's a tremendous amount suffering in this world even on a "good" day...but these tragedies bring truth right to our faces and give perspective to our petty dissatisfactions with our lives...

Nathan is home from school! It's remarkable what a semester away can do for a young man, and this is no exception. I'm very glad to have him home for the summer, but it's clear that college has been good for him.

This will be our next-to-last week of school! We can all smell summer and I'm no exception. I'm making my list of all those little projects I'd like to get accomplished. Well, okay, all the BIG projects I'd like to get accomplished. The summer months never seem to last as long as I need them to!

Did you see the clip of SNL doing Hillary this weekend? Oh my goodness, I'd say the tide has really turned...especially since a couple of months ago SNL was doing skits that helped her! Anyway, here it is if you didn't see it elsewhere:



(More and more the "sore loser" theme is coming through in editorials, blogs, and from the TV talking heads. I feel kind of sorry for Lanny Davis, out there limping along with the Clinton talking points, knowing deep in his heart that it's over.)

This week I'm going to go and buy several shrubs to grow in containers on the deck. I've done some research to see which ones should survive the scorching summer and found some I really like. I cannot, will not succumb to cactus. Nope, I'd rather have a naked deck.


I've also just bought one of these...an Electrolux Pronto cordless stick vacuum. Knowing my horrible luck with all kinds of vacuums I don't know how successful this will be, but I'll let you know. If it works as it should, it will be particularly helpful for stairs and other hard-to-access areas, and I love the fact that it has a built-in "dustbuster" type tool.

Hope all of you have a nice spring week!

Labels: Books, Health, Homeschooling, Kids, News, Political Humor, Political Observation, Sundays