After fourteen hours in the bed from hell, I feel pretty good. Maybe I was too harsh on the bed before... nah, fourteen hours of sleep on the floor would be wonderful, too. The main problem was that I had missed my supper, and a really nice time out on the town. O'well... worse things have happened to me. I think that it was a good trade.

Mother's day. I did send mom a card, and I called her Thursday night. She seemed to be doing pretty good when I talked to her. I spend a lot of time worrying about her, but she's far enough away that she's not affected by my worrying at all, she just continues living her life and being happy. She has many friends, but she doesn't mind being alone, either. I will be visiting her for a few days on my way to Texas for Tyler's graduation. I'm looking forward to seeing her, it's been about six months or so.

Jeff was up working on the computer when I got up this morning, but Ric reminded him that he was going to make breakfast for his mom (Debbie) so that is what he's doing right now.

Smoking. My last attempt failed (was it only last week?). When I am at non-smoker's homes, I only smoke outside, and Ric and Deb take such good care of their lawn that I field-strip my butts and put them in my pocket. This has the effect of helping me smoke quite a bit less. I should do this at home, and I have tried it several times. I always move back inside, though. Seems like the place that I smoke the most is where I spend the most time... by the computer.

Coffee prices will be going up. I don't think that I'll cut down on the coffee-drinking any, though. That is what I consider a basic necesity, even more so than cigarettes. If I were forced to choose between the two, cigarettes would probably lose. Unfortunately, I am not forced to make that choice.

It is going to be another beautiful Kansas day. Yesterday at the art fair I was doing some people-watching... Wichita has a much greater contingent of Goths and freaks than Topeka does. Or maybe I just don't go to the right places in Topeka to see them? Piercings horrify Karen, but I find them amusing in most cases. I don't think that I would get into that, even if I were younger. Just an ear piercing is enough for me, thanx. I can make my point (?) with that.

I have never figgered out why I got my ear pierced in the first place, but I do like it since I did. There are very few men my age with a pierced ear, whereas probably 30-40% of the younger generation males have pierced ears. It's a strange phenomena...

The crowd at the festival yesterday was predominently twenty-thirty couples with baby carriages. It seemed that everyone was walking around with smiles on their faces, unlike many such gatherings that I have been to. Possibly it was the fact that it was the first really beautiful day of the year here....

Jeff decided to fix Karen breakfast in bed, too, and caught her just as she was finishing getting dressed and ordered her back to bed while he made hasty preparations. He made her some cereal, fruit and half of a bagel that Debbie hadn't eaten. Then he sat on the bed with her while she ate. He was going to pick some more flowers for her, but Debbie "shared" hers, to prevent more damage to the flower beds...

Jeff is a neat kid. Kind, smart, thoughtful, considerate... and he has the power to turn obnoxious just like any other eight-(or nine?) year-old kid.

After everyone had breakfast, all of the adults (including me) went for a long walk. Karen and I lagged behind... the others are all in very good shape, and my hip was killing me after about a half-mile. As we continued on, the outside toes on my left leg went numb, so I can be pretty sure that it's not my hip but my back that is giving me the problem. Anyway, Karen and I dawdled along, smelling the flowers, etc. and got done with the three miles (although it seemed like a lot more) about ten minutes after everyone else got home. Then it was time for some to take their showers and for me to change my shirt. We left for Villa West shortly.

Karen had got my mom and her mom identical sweaters for mother's day. She had the sweater in a sack-like package, and she had asked me to find a place for her blouse that she had forgotten to pack. So, OK, I put it in the sack. It was packed. It was (note the past tense) one of her favorite blouses.

So, when we get to Villa West, Betty has Karen's blouse on! Karen had worn a T-shirt over there, expecting to change, so I made a quick call to Deb (who obviously had not left yet) to bring a shirt for Karen. Meanwhile, Karen had found another blouse in her mom's closet that matched her outfit. All in all, the blouse thing was hilarious. Karen's mom figgered that it was a present (which it inadvertently was!) and so everyone went along with it. Karen said that she remembered the color of Betty's pants when she got it for her, etc. etc. OK, maybe you would've had to been there....

They had Charlie up in a wheelchair when we got there, and he went down to the dining hall with us. The gal that owns the place, Rose, played some dinner music for us on the piano and we all (with the exception of Charlie) had a nice meal. Karen's Mom was in seventh heaven, introducing her family to everyone there. It was fun.

There was going to be a handicapped band (all tone deaf... no no no that's a joke...) playing at 15:00 but we left before that happened. They got Charlie back in bed and we said our goodbyes to him; he seemed disinterested. Chuck stayed to visit with his mom, and the rest of us left. Chuck will be leaving for Phoenix tomorrow. We stopped for gas and went back and packed and left, getting on the road about 15:00. We were home shortly after 17:00, not making but two pit stops.

And when we got home, Karen's kids were planning something, but we didn't know what. The original idea was a barbeque at Andy and Karla's, but that plan got scratched and they wanted to go to applebees. I elected to stay at home, and Lacee got elected to stay with me. So we are having a good time, Lacee's watching Goosebumps and me sitting here writing away.

And... everybody just got home, so I will put this up and enjoy the rest of the evening with my lovely wife Karen.