Grandma goes to the party

 

It was my foster grandson's 8th birthday.  We gathered at their house (just family) for gift-opening first, before going to the party venue.

Carl played host.  The Mythical Son, or Coach Dad as he is sometimes called, supervised the opening of presents.  It was like Christmas day, this birthday bash.

When asked what this one was, Coach Dad replied, "An ill-advised gift".  It is a nerf-grenade, and all those little yellow balls "explode" (i.e. fall out) when you toss it.  They demonstrated it.  A housekeeping nightmare!  I saw it and thought, "A model of a covid virus molecule?"  Whatever, the man who pronounced it ill-advised was the man who bought it, so, there's that.

We repaired to a placed called Knockerball where FGC's friends had been invited for the main event.  

The huge plastic balls allowed the kiddos and parents to play human bumper cars, essentially.

Before the kids (and a few of the adults) actually climbed into the big plastic bubble-wrap... the kids and dads (mostly) organized a brief game of soccer-ball, with a soft-squishy soccer sized ball that didn't hurt when you got hit by it.  The guy who runs the place put down cones for the bases and almost before I knew it, I was playing first base.  It was adults versus kids, and I fluffed the first two opportunities to get a kiddo "out".

Once we got the three outs, we were up "to bat"... yowza!  I was out at first, first time up.  Out at second, the next time, but my daughter in law made it safely to first when they threw me out.  The third inning, I made it all the way around, in appropriate stages:  safe at first, safe at second, and then ran on to score on the third adult kick.  I crossed the plate, cheered on by those who recognize I'm a grandma!  No, nobody took a picture, but it's the kiddo's birthday, no matter that the little, tiny bit of running made me feel like a winner!

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!  Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!

Little things and check lists

What is the downstream effect of heading back to "the new Spark"?  It seems as though the AI Sparkcoach has given a non-human encouragement layer to the goal setting and achievement scene that always was at the root of SparkPeople.  But the friendships we gained were all part of encouraging one another in the context of weight loss, health, and fitness.  We're all in the same human boat!

I don't want to knock what's going on over on SparkPeople, it's very useful, and it's bringing back a lot of memories of the original structure that worked so well for me, personally.  

But what makes me tick?  This became the real question as I started learning to navigate the new site.

• Helping others
• Encouraging others
• Sharing ones own experiences

Those are the reasons to blog on a platform like SparkPeople.  Cronometer was missing those.  MyFitnessPal was missing those.  Any other pure tracking tool, from the automated step counters to the sleep measuring watches are missing these.  They are wonderful tools, but they are not integrated with the community in the way that works best for me:  the written word, the personal experiences.  That's why, when Spark shut down five years ago, I shopped for a blogging site. I landed here.

Over the intervening five years, most of the original group of bloggers has fallen away.  A handful of us are left, and our blogs have evolved, mostly into daily or weekly updates on "life" and how it's going.  We don't have the access to newbies, or the need to share a bunch of motivational material.  We still share encouragement, and good wishes, and prayers (if we're so inclined), but many are in maintenance or have moved on.  We know what to do, and we go about the business of doing it.  We share what's working and what's not.

What are we missing?  Immigrants!  Seriously, folks new to the process who may need a little hand-holding and personal encouragement!

So, here I am, writing not just a Spark Blog over on the new Spark2, but continuing to blog here, and trying to figure out what's going on in my own head... because that's where all the motivation really happens!

In real life:

I made an appointment at the vet for Friday to have them look at Ember's teeth and help determine whether it's time to start down the path of dental cleanings.  I have never brushed her teeth.  When she was a puppy those razor sharp puppy teeth were giving me too much trouble with bitey behavior.  I only started conditioning her to allow me to brush her coat regularly about six months ago.  

Last week I got one of the doggy toothbrushes out and started the process of conditioning her to let me do things with her now adult teeth.  The vet is running a hundred dollars off an annual cleaning this month, so... tomorrow we'll find out if it is appropriate!

Across town, got notification that my son has signed up to be a head coach for FGC's soccer team!  Wow!  You know, I never would have thought I would raise the kind of kid who would do this.  Blame the army.  I tried doing things of this sort when I was younger (as in 20's) and discovered it way outspends my own social energy budget!  He's good at this stuff, mind you.  I'm not.  I do my best encouragement behind a keyboard!  LOL!

Anyway, life continues to be good.  Keep on Sparkin', on or off the platform so named!

Fair Day!

 Saturday morning, August 1st, dawned amazingly cool.  As in 61℉.  Ember and I took a nice long leash walk, 1.76 miles.  We were both pretty happy.  The only blotch on the walk was a spot where some truck must have hit a bump and a large collection of manure clods fell into the middle of the street.  This was just too much for Ember... so tempting!  I had to direct traffic while trying to convince her to take me back to a sidewalk... I did not care about which side.  Two very kind drivers stopped and waited for this to happen.

After the furry one went down for her morning nap, I changed into shorts as the day was warming up and drove myself to meet the family group who were going to the County Fair.  Oh, my, it was a classic fair outing.  We found FGC's drawing entry.

We played bingo for cash... The Mythical Son won one game.  I split the pot on another.

We moved on to a bungy jumping ride:  100 jumps for 20 bucks.  DIL picked up the tab for FGC to have a go!  Adult audience, watching kiddo on the bungy jumping thingy.

Then we played with the Kawasaki models of offroad vehicles for a while (don't worry, not enabled for actual driving, and the Mythical Son was riding watch on the kiddo).

Next kiddo was ready for food, he thought, but the vendors were not open yet on the midway.  We settled for donuts and lemonade in the building.  Then went and found the animal exhibits.  The avian fans found one cage of bantams labeled with the name "the Three Bobs".  Which of course merited a photo by the Bob in our group!  I visited the sheep and goats; we even checked out the hogs.  Cattle were in the ring being shown.

Out to the midway as soon as it opened, and it was funnel cakes for Bob, Corn Dogs for the rest of us.  Believe it or not, this was my first ever corn dog.  I never thought that corn meal batter was the appropriate sheath for a hot dog, but turns out, it does actually go together OK.  There was another sour cold drink for kiddo.  And I should explain the kiddo's corn dog was covered in Taki crumbs and cheese.  Spicy!

Next up, the rides.  On the way down the midway, I saw someone I thought I recognized!  My niece and her fiancé!  Of course, there's the off chance it's not them, and I had not met the fiancé in person before, but I took my courage in hand and touched my niece on the shoulder.  It was them!  We chatted for a bit then I had to go find son, DIL and FGC, so we parted ways.

DIL got a big giggle out of FGC on the rides.  He would pick the big scary rides.  Then when they got on them, he would say, "I changed my mind", when they got to the top of the ride!  I'm only sharing one of the ride photos, but there were I think four of them that involved spinning and/or up in the air.  I did not go on any of the rides.  DIL went on most of them with him.  The Mythical Son went on one.  And ONE of them he went on solo (it was the kind that had at one point in both my lifetime and in my DIL's lifetime had made us throw up, so we chose to opt out of that one.)

I ducked out early to come home to Ember, who had been left in her crate.  I had lasted three hours, though.  My toes were feeling cramped. I took off my shoes and socks, which led to a game of chase inside the house, and some extra toe licking.  I think she's only seen me barefoot a handful of times.  I gave her an extra chew stick as a treat for being such a good girl (and giving me back my socks).

I got a message from my DIL that they had found my niece, too, after the rides!  Yay for small worlds!

Oh, and those of you who were predicting Kiddo might get sick from all that fried food followed by that kind of rides?  You were right... after they got home, he got sick, threw up, and pronounced he felt a lot better!  Guess some lessons are learned by experience, eh?

I have not yet heard from Lynda (LEANJEAN6) and I'm hoping she's OK.  I have seen a lot of comments on her most recent blog (with no photos, asking for help with the blog), but she has not called me back.  If her daughter was there, or maybe one of her sons can help.  I think I have an email for her somewhere, and I am a Facebook friend, but I have not seen any new Facebook content since the 24th of July, either.  Prayers, folks!

Life is good!  Keep on Sparking!

Independence Day and Mother Nature

 

Happy 4th of July

It may be Independence Day here, but it's July 4th all over!  I can wish the whole world a happy 4th of July!

Ember and I went walking early on the 3rd, and the neighborhood fireworks fanatics were already starting up.  She did not seem to be bothered by them, most of them were "in the distance".  The booms and pops continued throughout the day.  A few of them were loud enough or close enough to merit a head whip, but the recovery time was short.  My scared puppy has become a confident adult.

We had a big storm blow through Friday evening the 3rd.  This was when the big community fireworks display was scheduled, with the "Uncle Sam Jam" festivities located in our minor league baseball venue.  They ended up cancelling it because of the lightning danger, but intended to go ahead and set off the fireworks at 10 p.m.  I'm assuming they did, as I heard big booms and woke briefly between ten and midnight, but I had already gone to bed, since it was pouring rain and rumbling thunder at 8 p.m. when I would normally be taking Ember outside for "last call."  

In any case, I woke to the rain on the roof and found a wet deck with a kitty sitting on the rail.  He had done a vanish on me, outside, while the booms were going off early in the evening.  I was glad to have the kitty ready to come inside as it was time for his every couple of months flea and tick medication.  

The forecast did not predict rain until noon, but it was actively raining in the 7 a.m. hour, so we went to the coffee drive-thru, instead of on a walk.

It finally quit dripping about 11 a.m., and Ember and I set out to review the neighborhood.  There were pops and bangs going off, but they did not seem to bother her much.  We got home around noon and had a quiet afternoon.  I left her outside the crate while I went upstairs to take a shower, and she handled it well.  When I came downstairs all freshened up, she was laying on the cool tile at the foot of the stairs.

I put the fruit for the party together, and after Ember's supper at 4 p.m., I headed over to "the kids".  The birdie that I wrote about before, that had gone to the vet last week, unfortunately passed away on Thursday.  Blessedly, in his final hour, he was being held by my daughter in law.  This sweet bird (Scout, named after the character in To Kill a Mockingbird) had been in her care for 21 years, half her lifetime!  FGC was quite heart-broken and the whole family had to adjust to this loss.

They decided they to have a funeral pyre for the little guy.  In a cardboard box on which we all wrote messages and prayers and wishes, his body was burnt in the chiminea.  We all shared memories.  FGC couldn't watch it all and went to help set up fireworks watching chairs on the front side of the house.  

His ashes will be spread on the garden, but a small amount added to the bird cremains urn the family has collected over the years.  

The party moved to the front of the house, where a few daylight fireworks were set off before the grill was fired up.  The fruit I brought, burgers, hot dogs, chips and buns comprised the holiday meal.  Dessert came in the form of cake pops, baked by DIL's mom.  She is such a great baker, desserts being her specialty.  These were moist and flavorful.  Banana flavored as requested by FGC, and vanilla for those who were not banana flavor fans.

Then it was back to the fireworks.  Carl, their dog, was on his calming meds.  The remaining cockatiel, Kiwi, was not only grieving the loss of his roommate, but also bothered by the booms and pops and smoky air.  DIL took him to his room and covered his cage to help him calm down.  

There were smoke ones.  Seemed like some inventive marketer rebranded a gender reveal firework pack for July 4th.  In the two pack, one was pink, the other blue.

The Millenium Falcon put in an appearance, shooting sparks.

Then dissolving into sparking pops!

About the time several "screech owl" style fireworks went off; I decided I'd best get home to Ember.

It wasn't yet full dark when I navigated through the five parties on the streets that intersect where my house sits.  Ember was quite happy to be let out of her crate, but not happy with what was going on outside.

Ember decided she would remain "on alert". She did not want to return to the crate for the night, so we just chilled on the couch, watching out the window.  

Ember stood guard while I went upstairs and got ready for bedtime.  About 10 p.m. I gave up and sacked out on the couch while she stayed on alert.

She woke me with a cold nose on the back of my knee about midnight.  The bangs and pops were dying down, and she was ready to take a crate entry bribe.  

Sunday, July 5th

I awoke feeling every day of my over seventy years.  Fed the cat, greeting Ember, and took her out in the backyard.  Doesn't seem like any of the debris from the night's activities made their way into my yard.  Ember took care of business, and a little while (and a mug of coffee) later we went out on leash to survey the neighborhood.

What a difference two years makes in the lifetime of a puppy!  I well remember the first time I took her for a walk after a fireworks night, when she was about 5 months old.  She wanted to eat everything (or at least mouth it, discover it).  This year?  Most of the time, a quick sniff meant "move on".  Toward the end of the walk, where the debris field hadn't been stacked up yet, she was more curious.  We made it through our rounds and through the coffee drive-thru for our mommy-and-me day ritual.

In short, Life is Good.  Spark on!

Are we there yet?

 

Full privacy fence... I'm enclosed now.  Only gate is on the far side of the house!

Problem #1:  A gap, about 8 or nine inches wide between the railing and the privacy fence.  A small child could wriggle through and fall to the patio (concrete).  They have promised to fix it.

Problem #2:  There is supposed to be a drink rail on the long side.  Foreman Brian said they didn't have the brackets to attach it.  Calvin promises it will get fixed on Friday.

Problem #3:  They left all the leftover construction materials on the patio, not out where the lumber company truck can come and retrieve them easily.

Calvin promised they will shift those "leftovers" to the north side of my driveway on Friday so I won't have them on the patio.

Until that patio is cleared of hazards, I can't use my sliding door to release Ember into the yard, which means I can't take down the x-pen temporary fence, either.

Consequently, I have called up the day care and slotted Ember in for Friday, Saturday, and Monday.  Friday and Monday I will have workmen here, finishing up on Friday and hauling off the trash on Monday.

I only booked her Saturday, not Sunday, over the weekend, because I figure she'll need a "down day" with "mommy and me" at least one weekend day.  

On the plus side?  The supporting columns are much bigger/sturdier than the old ones.  The flooring and steps are composite, not wood, so don't need as much maintenance.

Friday June 19 - Happy Juneteenth

I'm a bit frustrated.  The workers did not come back Friday morning, so even though I took Ember to day care and removed the center of the X-pen barrier.  I called the head guy to express my worry about the 8 80-pound bags of concrete mix, two of which had the bag broken open, that were sitting on my river rock bed.

Naturally, there was rain in the forecast and the crew that was supposed to move all that stuff... did not show up.  I called the boss who said he would call the crew chief and get back to me.  He never called back.  As the drops began to fall, I tried an emergency shelter made from Ember's doggy pool.

I weighed it down with a couple of cinder blocks from the back yard.  I am not hopeful that the bags will stay dry and I will not pay these dudes the remainder of their fee until they get the trash and leftovers out of my yard, and the gap fixed and the drink rail installed.  If those bags get wet, they will be solid concrete and impossible for me to shift!

About 2 p.m. my son called to check up on me, and we chatted for quite some time, "solving (not) the problems of the world", and generally having a vent (guys don't call it bitch) session.  That pulled me back from the anxious worrying and second guessing.

Saturday, June 20th

This was the day that our local Community Center held the celebration for Juneteenth.  I had never been to such a celebration before, but I knew that my son and DIL intended to attend.  Despite the forecast of rain, I thought I should go.  If nothing else to get myself educated about a holiday that growing up in one of the whitest states in the nation, I had been unaware of until the pandemic years. 

It was packed.  I found the group and was pleased at the sheer joy of the attendees.  

There was live music, emcees, lots of organizations had booths to promote their services, food was served in a buffet line (hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and water, nothing fancy, but very holiday fare).

There is a water park pad, so the kiddos were able to enjoy water even before it started coming from the sky.

I have turned into that old lady that stays and hour or an hour and a half and ducks out early.  Given I had to park about half a mile away, it was a good thing.  By then it was raining steadily.

Ember was in Saturday day care.  They open an hour later on Saturday, so we had time for about a mile of neighborhood leash walking before we went.

When I went to pick her up, she was wet from playing outside in the rain, too.  I love a summertime rain when the temperatures are mild.  I had taken down the x-pen panels in case the deck guys were to come to clear off, but with the rain, I held out little hope.  I put them back up in the rain before I went to get Ember.

Sunday, June 21

Happy Father's Day.  Rain continued.  I went grocery shopping during Ember's morning nap.  When I got home, I let her out of her crate and together we went on a neighborhood walk.  Then Dexter (the car) took us for a ride to recycle some cardboard.  

I was pleasantly surprised when about 12:30 p.m., Ember decided to crate herself for another nap.  Perfect timing.  I went upstairs to pay a bill, then snuck out of the house about 1:30 to go to FGC's baseball game.  As usual, no photos due to foster program rules.

It was a really good game.  He seemed most excited when he got to play first base (he made an out), and later in the game when he was tapped as pitcher (he caught a fly ball that would have been foul).  He did well at bat, too.  This year the league is "coach pitch" but if the kiddo can't get a hit after four pitches, they put up a tee for them to whack it.  FGC managed to get on base off coach pitches twice, and his third (and final) at bat he had to use the tee... and whacked it so well he got a double!  With the rules this year, the inning ends with either the batting team getting five runs, or the fielding team gets three outs, whichever happens first.  FGC managed to get across home plate on all three turns.

I have no clue what kind of score there was at the end of the game (nobody really counts it), but I was very pleased to see how much these kids (all of them, not just FGC) have learned over the past two seasons.  I'm also impressed with the volunteers who coach and umpire!  We are very lucky in this town to have so many folks involved.

I ducked out right after the game and came home to my pup.  It was about supper time and getting fed no doubt helped a lot to establish a good mood!

Monday, June 22nd - we are there!

I dropped Ember at day care and came home to find... workmen!

They installed my drink rail (read "cat superhighway").  

Fix for problem #1:  The gap has been filled with a solid post, matching other support posts on that side. 

Fix for Problem #2:  the crew installed the deck rail, also known around here as The Prisoner's personal highway.  You can see it in the final photo.

Fix for problem #3:  Calvin showed up and took away the trash from the patio and swept up.  

He took away the concrete mix bags that I had sheltered with the baby pool.  He hosed it down so that the river rock was in good shape, no damage from my anxious weekend!

The leftover building materials got moved to the driveway, so that Ember doesn't have to be kept on leash until the lumber truck comes to pick them up on Tuesday.

After I wrote him a check and he left, I took down the x-pen panels, moved the chairs back onto the deck, and hosed down the patio, an extra layer of cleaning because... Ember will be free to run loose in the back yard again!

All's well that ends well, and I can return to normal living for a while!

Life is good.  Spark on!

Watching the day get light

Watching and listening.  Feeling and smelling.  Tasting the beginning of a day.  I admit it.  I am a morning person.  Sitting on my deck at 5:30 a.m., mug of coffee at my elbow, dog by my feet, listening to birdsong ... ahhh!

The dog, too, is using all his senses.  He starts to emit a soft growl, so I tell him it's too early to bark and we have to go back inside.  Thus begins Carl's last day with Grandma.

Back up a day.  On Monday, after the last posted blog, in the evening, Carl actually got fairly close to The Prisoner.  Closest I've ever seen the two of them since he was a small pup!

This lasted for a little bit.  Prisoner was acting like he does with Ember, until Carl opened his bass-voiced barking mouth!  At this point, The Prisoner fled, as he generally does when Carl comes to visit.

This encounter was at Ember's "last call".  A bit more excitement than she is used to at bedtime!

Everything stacks up, right?  Ember was quite sensitive to the fact that Carl had been allowed upstairs (where she is gated because of puppyhood behavior destroying carpet).  She was sensitive to Carl being allowed to roam the house, sleep on the big bed and wander downstairs whenever the spirit moved him overnight, during her crate times.  

She staged a small doggie rebellion, refusing to go into her crate after last call.  Mommy stayed up with both dogs to see if she would decide to "go to bed" a little later.  The two dogs played tug in the parlor, destroying the octopus and continuing to deconstruct the crinkly owl.

When they started a game of bitey-mouth on Mommy's lap, I took them outside in the dark to play glow in the dark fetch (Ember plays this one, Carl does not) and tried to wear them out.  

They outlasted the hu-mom!  At about midnight, I left them stretched out on the couch, turned out all the lights and retired to my own bed.  I was up again before 4:30 a.m.

The Prisoner remained scarce on Tuesday but eventually emerged to eat kibble outside of the deck fence.  I left the dogs in the backyard with the sliding door closed.  I walked around and by stages moved The Prisoner back inside to his safe zone in the laundry room.  He stayed there for the remainder of Carl's visit!

Tuesday evening, I didn't even try.  Ember did not even go into her crate for her pre-last-call nap.  Instead, I left them downstairs loose and went up for my own shower.  I came down for a "last call" (which is when I go down to put in my evening eye drops).  I gave her the chance to kennel up.  She declined, and I came up to bed a little after 9.  

Carl decided something was bark-worthy at 1 a.m.  I came down to make sure all was well.  It was.  I did not let either of them out.  No sense disturbing the neighbors!

3:39 a.m., he was barking again.  That was the end of my night's sleep.  That led into the beginning of this blog, waiting for the day to get light.

We spent most of Wednesday napping.  Dogs and human alike. Toward the end, after I fed them supper at 4:15 p.m. both dogs were starting a high-energy playtime.  Outside for that, you two.  The day was quite warm, so there was a lot of opening and closing of the door to the backyard.  They wore each other out a bit, then back to napping.

While the dogs and I were "surviving" that last day of the visit, Carl's people were making the long drive back from Denver.  They planned a late lunch stop at Taste of India, a restaurant that grew up from a truck stop in Overton, Nebraska.  I think it's been featured on 60 Minutes or something, but it's famous.   

The kids got here about 6 p.m. to collect Carl.  Whew!  He was happy to see his humans.  We shuffled the dogs around without having any human/dog tackling.  

When I let Ember back in from the yard after they drove off, she went to the front door, as if to say, "Where did he go?"

Immediately after that, she collapsed on the cool tile floor.  We decompressed for a bit, then Ember decided we were enough back to normal that her pre-last-call nap could be in crate.  She also slept in her crate.  Fairness criteria and routine restored!

Mom slept well and did not wake until the alarm at 5 a.m.

Thursday, I had a day care spot reserved for Ember, but she was so low energy in the morning that I called them and said she's not coming.  Instead, we went on a gentle walk through the neighborhood.

Ember was extremely well-behaved.  At the far corner of our walk, we discovered another tree that had sustained damage over the past few days (besides the neighbor's).

We did some sniffing there, for sure.  Came home and did our usual "mommy and me" things.  Coffee drive-thru, chew-stick, nap.

Four days to decompress before the next craziness.  The deck replacement project is scheduled to being Monday at 6:30 a.m.

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking, but pace yourself, right?

Unofficial Start to Summer

 

Carl's words to get in the kennel are "go to your room".  I used this to check on The Prisoner on Saturday.  I offered The Prisoner safe passage to go outside.

The Prisoner was having none of that and stayed in his "safe zone" until Monday evening, at which point he assented to being let out the front door.  We'll see if I can get him back inside before Carl goes home Wednesday evening!

Ember surprised me Saturday night and went into her crate for sleep time.  Carl came up and snoozed on the big bed with me.  I did not sleep very well Saturday night but napped a bit during the day Sunday to play "catch up".

On Sunday we practiced walking two dogs on two leashes in the back yard, then put both dogs into the car for the coffee run.

We repeated "two dogs in the car" for a quick grocery run before it got too hot Sunday.  Then again for Monday's coffee run, and Monday afternoon when it got good and hot we went to Dairy Queen where we split a small vanilla cone three ways.  Yes, I am spoiling them while I've got them.

Monday morning Carl and Ember had enticed me to get up, with Ember whimpering in the crate downstairs.  So up before 5, downstairs and the dogs out at 5 a.m.  It was very pleasant and I sat out on the deck with my coffee.  Ember sat in the other deck chair, while Carl was "on patrol".  Carl was nice enough not to bark at the squirrels... until 6 a.m., that is.  Then I brought them back inside.

A little later when we went for the coffee car ride we discovered that the neighbor's big tree had lost a branch overnight, and it fell on another neighbor's car.  Yikes!  It had not been stormy, although I'm sure the wind played a part.

At this point I decided we would not do leash walk in the neighborhood on Monday.  It was so warm, I broke out the puppy pool and filled it on the patio for them to splash through.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, the latest family photographer debuted this candid shot of his foster parents!  Sweet.  He grinned and told them to kiss.

This would have been Saturday evening at a little Italian joint called Tony P's... I am not going to overload the blog with photos of the food but it looked scrumptious.  "A piece of old school Denver" per the waiter.

Sunday they spent four hours exploring Meow Wolf.  Even the photos they post speak of sensory overload to me.  I would have been exhausted!

Monday they visited the Red Rocks, which brought back childhood memories for me, not just of visiting them, but of my parents, showing slides from their honeymoon. I wonder what happened to them, especially the one of 19-year-old bride someday to be mom of five, feeding the ground squirrels.  I'm pretty sure my older sister has custody of the slides.

When FGC had enough of the Red Rocks, the little family headed to Denver's Children's Museum, which was also amazing, and took up the rest of their day, with a break for luncheon.  

They are taking full advantage of swimming and hot tub, and FGC, typical 7 year old that he is, intones "Open Sesame" every time they approach the automatic doors at their hotel.  Clearly, they are having a blast kicking off Summer vacation.

Life is full, and good.  Spark on!

Ten days later...

 

Going backwards through time, here.  This photo is from the Mothers' Day outing on Saturday.  FGC was with, but as usual, he's being left out of photographic evidence for program reasons.

Said FGC was behind the camera, taking the photo of foster mom and foster grandmas (both of us).

One of the appetizers that we shared around was called Tot-chos, a tater tots version of nachos.  It was really pretty good.  Other offerings were flatbread pizzas and chicken and shrimp on sticks.  Nonalcoholic "fancy drinks" work for both FGC and for me.  One was a strawberry concoction, and we both had that.  There was also one called something like misty dew.  Son was avoiding alcohol for his own reasons that evening and he said it tasted rather like lemon meringue pie.

This has been our mothers' day outing for two years now, with a child involved, so it's kind of locked in as tradition.  The bar has outdoor seating on a balcony on the 6th floor and you can see a whole lot of the University campus from that roof spot.

Saturday morning Ember and I met a former co-worker of mine and her dog Zoe to have the two canines meet and try a parallel leash walk at a nearby park (neutral ground for both dogs).  It went pretty well, for a first meeting between dogs that don't know each other.  As is generally the case, they take their cues from their humans and once they both figured the two humans were OK with each other, they would be OK with the other dog, too.  We will try it again next Saturday, weather permitting.

Back up a day from that and we have Friday May 8th.  Ember and I started off as usual, with our morning rituals, down to poo patrol and the coffee run.  

Then a message popped up from DIL.  My son was headed for the ER.  Didn't matter that it was probably a small thing, just needed attention sooner, rather than later, mom genes kick in.  I spent a couple of hours keeping him company while he languished in triage.  The good thing about boring ER visits is it means the big scary things have been ruled out.  DIL showed up shortly after I did.  She could not concentrate on work.  In the end, they discharged him, sent DIL off to the pharmacy, and the day continued for me in a more normal fashion.

Ember and I went on a longer than usual walk when I got home, then she was ready to collapse in a puddle of warm puppy.  

Backing up to the middle of the week, and we have the setting of a start date for the deck work.  First week in June is the plan.  The contractor would have been OK with starting on the 18th of May, but since I will be getting Carl for a two-dog weekend plus on the 23rd, I did not want to risk something going wrong (bad weather, delivery delay, or any number of things that can happen with house projects) and not having access to my back yard by a simple opening of the door to the deck during my two-dog time!

Also mid-week:  a new fitness watch arrived, and I got it all set up.  I had been wearing the new "cheaper" smart watch for about a month. I have decided the integration of systems does mean something to me. I traded in my Google watch for the new Google 4 version.  The trade-in process was pretty smooth.  They sent packaging, and as is normal these days, there are YouTube videos showing step by step what to do.

Now we get to the "just for fun" photos:

Lap Kitty.

Google Assistant fail.  It got activated accidentally.  It volunteered to "take a selfie".  I spotted the countdown on the screen, 4... 3.. 2, and started to say "Nooooo!"

I thought it was a funny shot, so did not erase it at once, and now it's your giggle for the day!

It would not be an Emberville post without a glamor shot of the star.

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!