Rain, Grandparents, and the opera - not necessarily in that order

Yeah - it's still raining. John says that there was a brief period of sunshine today, but since I do not sit anywhere near a window I wouldn't know.

I went to my dietician appointment last night and I was disappointed - only 1.4 more pounds. That makes 8 for those of you who are counting. I don't feel too bad about it though because my clothes are definitely looser and I am getting a LOT of muscle courtesy of my 3x a week trainer torture.

My grandparents (father's side) who have lived in the same house for over 50 years were packed up and moved out last week. They are both in their 90s! My Grandmother is having both physical and mental problems now and it was obvious that they couldn't live on their own any more. My parents (Kansas, not Texas) went to Pocatello, Idaho to do the packing and sorting and then brought them back to Kansas with them. They will be moved into an apartment at a residential care facility next week. It sounds like a great place, most especially because Grandpa will have access to a woodshop for his carving and will be able to live with Grandma who will get the care she needs.

I can't imagine what my dad had to go through in packing up the house where he grew up and trying to decide which things to keep, which to auction off, etc. It must have been pretty tough. It must have been interesting in a way too though - there is no telling what they found. My fondest memories of my Grandparents and their house include:

• camping in the silverstream trailer at the Good Sams Club camping trips
• seeing Grandpa perform as a Shriner clown and having him teach us how to put on clown makeup and blow up balloons (harder than you would think)
• playing with Hambone the cat in the HUGE orchard (which really wasn't that big - I was a kid)
• picking vegetables in the garden with Grandma
• walking on stilts and using the clothesline pole to try and get up on them
• making snickerdoodles for Dad and Grandpa (the cookie monsters)
• earning $.25 for every gopher I caught one summer. I had to prove I caught them by taking them out of the trap and cutting off their tails and putting them into a jar (the tails, not the whole gopher).
• making fruit leather
• making fun off the way my dad ate cereal (with applesauce and milk on it - all mixed together)
• playing with the laundry chute
• learning how to iron with real starch - I can still smell it!
• playing "the baby elephant walk" on the 8-track and wandering like - well - baby elephants around the living room

OK - I had better stop now. Most of that probably means nothing to anyone but me! I have some pictures from a few years ago when we went to Idaho for Christmas and a few from family reunions. I'll try and post a few.

So this weekend is our anniversary - 12 or 13 years - we don't remember and are too lazy to find the paperwork and check. We are going to - the opera. Yes - the opera. Neither one of us has ever been to an opera so it should be an interesting experience. It's opening might of Der Fledermaus on Saturday (in English) and it seemed like an interesting idea. Plus John looks really good in his tux and never wears it.