11:30 a.m. and I just hauled myself out of bed!!!!  I picked up Stella and Frankie on the way back from Idaho  Saturday, and we went to La Frontera for dinner.  Frankie cries loud when he's told no.  I had to take him out of the restaurant twice.  Neither child would go to sleep until 11:00 p.m.  So when Frankie woke up early I just took him back to Frankco.  But it didn't end there.  Stella does so many things that annoy me:  clear her throat like a lumber jack,  wants to stay by herself in the car while I run in the store, go the the bathroom during the movie two or three times, and get a drink three times, begs for an Icee,  She cleaned out her savings account and bought a doll. It seems like she did more annoying things than that.  She named the doll Stephanie.  Think Ill just eat ice cream all day.

Very bad day yesterday.  Stephanie got fired and her car broke down.  I sent her 1700$.  Michael called with news that Mercedes is miscarrying. 

I'm on vacation for the rest of my life, which means following my whims.  Michaela and I went to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and stayed at the Big Yellow Inn, which is like a museum of interesting old stuff.  We saw two comedies and ate Peruvian food.  And listened to podcasts all the way there and back.  How fun is that? 

We have some renters in Charlie's house.  They seems really sharp and George has rushed them with best friendship.  He loans them everything and has even given them keys to our house, which they used to borrow pillows.  He uses them to watch the cows while he's gone and says they are going to paint our house, which makes me suspicious.  They even said they would wash our windows? Really.  If it's too good to be true..........

Last night Verl and Sondra came by to sit on our back porch.  Verl is old and decrepit and on oxygen which he has to take with him everywhere on a walker. Sondra is his full time caretaker.  So he sits there next to me and says that this is the best time in his life!  I guess he appreciates every moment.  We were talking about suicide and he was just saying that if he had ever died young he would have missed this wonderful time.   That was a perspective changer!  They haven't had an easy life, raising two mentally disabled boys who are now 65, their son died in a car accident, and they are farmers, to top it off.  Verl loves cows.  They come and pick our fruit and she cans it, puts it in bottles.  Wow!  She is a compulsive worker.  I love them.

Ockham's Razor.  I don't think George knows about it.  His good friend once told me that George has a tendency to complicate everything.  It was an aha moment.  You should see his computer setup.  It involves multiple computers and keyboards.  I don't understand it. And this morning he asked me to get his car detailed while I'm in Utah.  He offered to call Al to arrange it.  Al is just a renter in his warehouse.  He's a mechanic but not a car detailer.  George said the detailer is also a renter in his warehouse, but he doesn't have his phone number.  Go figure. 

So once I started a gratitude journal.  Today I am grateful for shaved ice.  It calms me to eat it, keeps me hydrated and I have my suspicions that it is helping keep my weight down.  Maybe I have frozen my tastebuds. Or it just takes a lot of energy for my body to keep up my body heat.

I really love the River House.  It's a mental oasis.  Lots of plants, trees, shrubs, and flowers.  The swimming pool is a great attraction; we've had lots of company this summer.  I appreciate the view of the Snake River out my back windows (which are huge)  I'm composting.  George is working his head off to put a deck around the pool......and house.  It's awesome to be closer to Miriam and her family.    I eat a lot of shaved ice.  It seems to reduce stress.  The house sat empty for five years.  The owners couldn't sell it (for 695.000) and Fannie Mae eventually took it over.  George had considered retiring in Hagerman and had been looking online for houses. The next time we visited Miriam, we spent a few hours driving around looking at them.  We were tired and ready to go home and George said he had one more but we didn't have to go look at it. I said we might as well.  We came to a long gravel driveway with a grove of trees at the end.  The old house was nestled in a grove of mature trees like it was hiding from the world.  It had a circle driveway.  George always wanted a circle driveway.  We couldn't get in so we just walked around.  Surprise (s)!  1.  A swimming pool.  I thought we could fill it with sand  2.  The entire back of the house was floor to ceiling windows with a great view of the river.  The room we could se inside was HHUUGGEE!!!  There was a pond in the living room which emptied under the foundation to a pool outside, both ugly.  George called the realtor who told us it was under contract.  I don't know why we weren't dissapointed.  We just drove away.  OK.  We told each other "It'll fall through"  Never did look online again for two or three months, but one Sunday night I was curious.  It was on the market again!!!!  I told George and he flew into action. Drove up to Idaho the next morning to make an offer, but the realtor said to wait a few days, Fannie Mae takes time.  George knew that was a bunch of bull.  He went to see Gary McCall and we made a full price cash offer.  The realtor had her own buyer on the hook but I guess they couldn't do a cash offer and we got it.  It was fast.  We didn't go inside the house until we had the keys handed over to us.  It is a lifetime project.  We have replaced the wraparound decks.  Made a bedroom and walk-in closet from space from the HUGE living room  It's still huge. put in new garage doors, painted walls and cabinets, built an airplane hangar, bought the two houses next to us., bought cows, built sprinkler systems, got new siding, bought furniture.  And on and on and on.

Guess what I did.  I took my really old mom and two really young grandkids to the River house without losing my sanity.  Mom was so confused she didn't even recognize her own apartment when I took her home.  Stella was well behaved although she got turquoise slime in my white carpet.  Miriam helped out by taking the kids to her house for 24 hours. I've never liked elderly people which is unfortunate since I turned 70 this year.  I keep thinking 80 is max for me.  I care too much what others think of me and I don't want anybody to not enjoy being around me.  So I'm thinking of my options. And what I want to do for the next ten years. What haven't I enjoyed?

The perfect evening:  The perfect temperature water in the pool  The perfect temperature in the air.  Good enough food.  Stella and Yogi and all the Browns. swimming in the pool.  A warm hug from my daughter.

I brought Stella, Yogi and my mother to the River House for Labor Day weekend.  Mom's short term memory is almost nonexistent.  I can't even count the number of times she has asked certain questions.  "Have you sold your other home?"  "How long have you had this house?"  "How am I getting home?"  "Are we taking the little dark boy?"  I need to practice RADICAL ACCEPTANCE. 

Why did Stephanie cut me off?  I'm heartsick today.  Radical acceptance, radical acceptance.