8 Days!

Oh, please. As if I would partake in such strajava activity! Of course I'm not competing with your tan. Anyway, if I were, it would be like competing with Heidi Klum for leg length.

The Pilot's Wife - yes, just read it not long ago. Took me forever to get into it, read it almost to the end, put it down and couldn't pick it up again for a month. I finally finished it and thought there are other things I'd like much better to have spent so much effort on. Wasn't my favorite. The Time Traveler's Wife, however, was worth all the math I had to do to keep up with the characters moving in and out of different time periods. That one, I loved. Right now I'm kind of on a reading hiatus, as I have several books from which to choose and none are calling to me loudly enough. Also, I'm not a sun reader - I can't read without my cheaters and can't be outside without my sunglasses, so there you have it.

Today was a great day (so far). I got a bunch of stupid little stuff done, including a short run to Costco and a leisurely stroll through Pier One's sale, where I bought nothing. My gardening is done, my house is clean, I even took a little nap while half-watching CSI. No plans for this evening, although if it gets any hotter I may hit up CK (JK's mom) for a dip in the pool later. She had left me a message yesterday asking if I wanted to come over and float around, but I didn't check the phone until after we got home from dinner. I was bummed; we don't spend very much time together at all these days and it's good to get caught up now and then. Plus I have to get the lowdown on the latest breakup from the boyfriend everyone hated.

I am so excited for your visit in a week, I'm already thinking of menu ideas. I bought some half and half today, at Costco, and JJ says,

"Geez, Mom, you don't need that much!"

I responded, "Oh, yes I do. Auntie Barb is coming and you know how much coffee we're going to drink."

He nodded, as if to say, Oh, yeah. Duh. I didn't bother to mention the amount we'll need for various cocktails, figured he could just go with the coffee excuse. I will wait until the weekend to pick up fresher items like mozarella and some veggies; otherwise I'm going to take you to TB (J calls it Trader Joe's on steroids) for grocery shopping when you get here and we've had a chance to plan our food week. You did say you wanted to just come and live my life for awhile, so the grocery store will be about the highlight of your trip. K thought it was funny you said that and wanted to know if you really wanted to come hang out with a foul-mouthed delinquent teenager and go to court a couple of times. Or if you want the edited version of "my life". :-)

I'm just trying not to over-plan your short visit. Like you said about the weekend with W, sometimes it's nice just to be together; since you've already been here and done your white-water rafting adventure, I don't feel I need to expose you to the great Pacific Northwest on that level. Nor do we need to have lunch at the Space Needle. A day in the city would be awesome, since I always love that; we also have a pretty decent Saturday Market locally, so we could check out that too. Anyway, we'll play it all by ear, I suspect.

With any luck, J will not be dispatched to any wild fires this week, but it's not looking good so far. It's highly likely that he will be gone part or all of the time you're here, unfortunately. If he doesn't go far, we could go visit him; we'll see what happens.

Off to catch up on reading my favorite writer...sorry to have been neglectful!

Love,
A