WHAT IS A SURPRISE?

The three rug-rats. Tao is only 8 months old! A big boy!

I phoned my brother around 9 AM this morning, just checking in to see how he was doing. He didn’t answer, but within a few minutes he returned the call.

“This one-armed bandit thing ain’t for me,” he grumbled. “It took me a whole day to open the cereal, another to get some in the bowl, and it’s gonna take me three more to clean up what I spilled all over the floor.” We both started to laugh. Those close to my brother know better than to show any sign of pity; that’s not his way. Make a joke, and he’ll listen. Any mollycoddling will be abruptly ignored. He’ll walk away from it; if you’re lucky without staring back at you and making a cutting retort. I’m hoping whoever the CLSC send for homecare has a sense of humor. If not, the relationship will be short-lived. Well…she may be tolerated if she has big boobies…LOL!

I did accomplish most of the list on my agenda yesterday, except for scraping all that plaster off the bathroom floor, a slow and tedious job. My ability for housework shines brilliantly in its absence!

My daughter’s new house is cute, a split level with nice wooden floors. It will be weird having her live so far away; she has always resided in the immediate vicinity. She maintains that it is on my way home from the office, so I can make a short detour and stop in for coffee at the end of the day. I reminded her that Grump already spends 10 hours or more shut up in the house, and I am usually rushing to let the poor doggie outside. I expect our daily contact will be by telephone now.

The most delightful part of the day was seeing the boys. When I arrived the two oldest were in the tub, and the youngest, Tao, who had already had his turn, was playing in his crib until bath was over. I picked him up for a cuddle, and we went to watch his brothers being toweled down by mummy, who has become adept at multi-tasking. Nalou, the oldest, assured me that he was doing fine in kindergarten, that he was only missing two “smileys”, then he would be allowed to pick something from the Box of Surprises.

“What are you going to pick?” innocently asked his granny. He looked at me, and “Duh!” was written all over his face. “M’mère,” he explained patiently. “It’s a SURPRISE!!!” Of course.

My visit was only long enough to grab some quick hugs and kisses. I made it back to the house for the start of the HABS’ game (they won!!), but by this time was not feeling too well at all. My throat was sore, and the thermometer confirmed my suspicions; I had a fever. I swallowed a Motrin, then did as SAM444 suggested in our hockey play-by-play emails and washed it down with a beer (LOLOL – not true – she counseled gargling with warm water and salt...but beer is salty...sort of…). I managed to stay awake until the game was over (did I tell you we won?), and even went out with Grump afterwards for a short walk. I had promised, and it was a beautiful night. Believe it or not, I skipped the Jacuzzi ritual and crawled into bed. I woke to sunlight streaming through the window, gorgeous blue skies and a brand new day!

I’m still not feeling A-1, but that damned bathroom needs to be finished, so off I go, pail and mop in hand. Later tonight I’ll be in Blog-it, catching up on some of the posts I’ve missed, and that enjoyable event is sure to bring on a big SMILE! In the meantime, I’ve sent a few to fly around in cyber-space; hope one helps brighten your Sunday!!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec