Saturday November 19th

I am at Jim and Stephanie’s, sitting on the couch, watching a cooking show, waiting for the show Curb Appeal to start. I can figure out what time it is, if you give me long enough. You see the clock on the wall says 10:30, but I know that is wrong, as the laptop tells me it is 9;30pm – the clock here in the house has not been changed since we switched back from daylight savings. I haven’t quite figure out why they don’t change it.
Tonight I am not really Mimi, as Adelaide was asleep when I arrived at 8:30 so that Jim and Stephanie could have a few hours together and see one of Steph’s favorite movie series – Harry Potter. I admit it, I have tip toed into Adelaide’s room several times, and just watched her, kissed her on the forehead and made sure all was well.
This morning we left the house at 8, picked up Jeff’s brother Mark along with his tile saw and drove to Sandra’s house. Our tasks for the day were for the boys to tile the fireplace, and the girls were to complete several things on Sandra’s ‘to do list’ (of course she has one). We woke up to the sound of rain and so uncharastic (I gotta leave it like this-spell check can’t correct it for me) for California it rained All day long. At the end of the day, the fireplace looks amazing. The ‘to do list’ was reduced by the chores of: putting bulbs and glass things in the stairwell chandelier, hanging a 70 pound mirror in the upstairs bathroom –much more complicated than it should have been, touching up paint throughout the house and doing some unexpected decorating in the living room. Sandra and I had to only run to the hardware store once for supplies for the tile job. While we counted the tiles and looked around it struck me again, my little girl is all grown up, doing very adult things with her life. While walking out of the store, someone else had the most beautiful wreath sticking out of their shopping cart, Sandra and I had to take a detour out down the Christmas decorting isle. While I enjoy Every moment with my children, I find that most often it is times doing simple everyday things that I love the most.
We left the house at 3, home at 3:30. Jeff went inside to do bills and his church work, while I ran to Target to pick up his pills, of course an outfit for Adelaide and a few odds and ends. I pulled into the drive way at 4:15 which left me 45 minutes to get ready for our dinner date with Debbie and Dan. It was cold so I dressed warm for the night and was ready at 5. Our dining for the evening was at Northwoods Inn which looks like a rustic cabin. It was perfect as it was decorated for Christmas, with lights and garland everywhere. I decided that it was the perfect place to start our holiday season. After dinner, Jeff went inside and to bed while I ran to Albertsons to get a few of essentials that were needing restocking in the house, like milk, bread and fruit. As soon as I had unpacked to groceries, I drove over to Steph’s with her 2 gallons of milk. I made it here at 8:20
I am sad that I didn’t get to see Adelaide tonight, but I know that I will see her tomorrow at church and then for Sunday dinner.
It was a busy day, but I feel so blessed to be able to help the girls in their lives.
Life is better than good.