Day 23: Fox Lake, WI

Ah, the week is flying by. Such a good chance to kick back and relax with the folks, but we're both starting to get antsy to be done. We're on the brink of being really tired of traveling, and are SO ready to be in the new home and see it again after two months. We're in the home stretch, though. Should be in by late Saturday night if all goes well. We close on Friday, and all the ducks are in a row for that. Insurance, utilities, the works. We even got the green light from Comcast on cable-internet, which was not available when the current owners bought the place almost four years ago. We thought we were going to have to go with satellite internet access, which has a pretty bad rep out there. Never thought I'd be so glad to be a Comcast customer again.

It's been a week of strange sleeping patterns, late-night conversations, boat trips out on the lake, too many cookies, three games of Upwords (I've not been doing well), one night of Rummikub, and a renewed stab at Sheepshead. I baked some more bread, Dad roasted corn and bratwurst, Mom and I got to putter in the kitchen together. And Simon -- he got to run to his heart's content.

Paul took him out to the farm almost daily -- this is the Beyer farm, where Dad grew up. He still owns most of the land, and he and Paul spent a lot of time out there during the week. Simon ran like a maniac, exploring woods, hayfields, farmyard, all of it. It was good practice for him! He flushed turkeys and pheasants, chased a few deer, picked up a few ticks, hopped after field mice, and then slept VERY well each night. Paul and I actually crashed in separate bedrooms this week, which felt pretty strange. I had a bad knot in my shoulder for several days and couldn't get comfortable without tossing every few minutes, keeping him awake, so I moved to the next room and he got to sprawl diagonally in the bed and get some real sleep. It was OK, very practical and all, but I missed him. Will definitely be glad to be back in our own bed after four months.



This afternoon we all trooped down to the basement together, where I proceeded to spend about 3 hours going through boxes that have been in storage there for 20 years or more -- some unopened since we moved to Indonesia in 1982. Kept relatively little of it, but boy was it fun to go through. And with an audience, no less. Found yearbooks and photo albums, favorite books that I didn't think we still had on hand (it was like reconnecting with old friends), boxes of seashells, coin banks, travel souvenirs, old posters, stories I wrote in kindergarten, my old magic hat. What a joy. Even found a few choice things for Eleanor to enjoy. So, I just finished reading The Great Brain, and I think I'll start one of the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series, as soon as I finish up book 6 of the Dresden Files, which by the way keep getting better with each installment. Mike and Terry: keep reading!

Yesterday, Mom and Dad had a bunch of the family over for the afternoon. We got to see aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, children of second cousins, the lot. Paul is inspired to build a lawn washers game (think Horseshoes crossed with Skeeball), and we ate the aforementioned roasted corn and sausage. And many of Aunt Fern's deviled eggs. And lots of fruit salad with wild blackberries picked from over on the farm. And a cookie or two.

Which reminds me, I weighed myself this morning for the first time in oh, a while. Let's say that 14 weeks of sabbatical followed by three weeks of hardcore vacation is taking its toll. I told Paul, "Well, it's a nice even number..."

"230?"

"Gee, how'd you ever guess."

This will have to change.