What a Week!

 So....There I was*...Last Monday early evening,  post is posted, comments are commented, a pre-prandial Rose' in hand,  BBQ is heating, with the exception of all the Bovine Excrement going on in DC, all is right in my World.  Mrs J is down to her last few radiation treatments and both her doctors are very upbeat about the results.  They're not saying she's in the clear, but their voices are lilting when they talk about her progress.  So fast forward to tomorrow, she'll have her last treatment, then six weeks off before surgery to remove the remains of the tumor.

Thank you, Lord!

In any case, it's later last Monday evening and Mrs. J and I are sitting on the front porch watching the grass blow in the breeze in Rancho Juvat's pasture.  Life is good!

I'm taking a sip of wine when Mrs. J announces that MBD (My Beautiful Daughter), MG, my Eldest Granddaughter, and My Grandson, León, will be arriving in the morn. My brain was trying to decide on the order of swallowing the wine or yelling "Yay".  

Unfortunately, in the enthusiasm of the moment, it just said, "Yes"!  I got a short lesson on what drowning might feel like, but I recovered.

Apparently, the Docs had given permission for visitation as long as the visitors showed no signs of colds, flu, barfing, loose poops, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 

MBD and crew passed the test. Given that we hadn't seen that threesome since the episode began, Mrs. J was pretty excited.

As was I.

Arrival was uneventful and I got my first in person view of our Grandson.  He's now 6 months old.  I think he's going to be a pro football linebacker.  I was so enthused about meeting him I carried him around on my hip for the better part of the evening.

 

I wouldn't recommend that.  The following morning getting out of bed was torturous.   But one must persevere.  Rather than lug the big lug around, we introduced him to one of his older cousin's vehicles from when she was his age.

 

Worked like a champ.  He took off with afterburners at full blast, laughing his head off.  Unfortunately, another Fighter Pilot adage took over.

"All velocity, no vector".  Never applied to me, well...not that often.  But, in this case, was completely appropriate.  While my back received no further misuse, the same could not be said of my shins.  And, he's perfected the "Bwah-Hah-Hah" laugh of a pirate and used it with great glee.

We also had another bit of excitement that evening.  LJW and Miss B came over for dinner and to meet their niece/nephew/cousins (depending on generation).  Introductions went quite well.

Then Miss B stunned the crowd.

"Look, Mrs. J (I need to find a Gramma nickname, suggestions welcome) no hands."  She'd made her first no support steps at her therapy session that morning.  This was about 5 times further, AKA 10 steps.  So...Big time and exciting progress.

We settle in for a bit of dinner (Beans, the menu was "Make your own pizza).  MG likes Pepperoni, Grape jelly rolls, cheese cubes and banana's. 

Hey, who am I to criticize?

 At least dinner included wine!

And after ruling over the festivities, León decided he needed a nap (at the table).

 Apparently, my rock hard chest (RRRIIIGGGHHHTTT) is quite comfortable for the little guy.  But did you know that having a Grandchild sleep in your arms is one of the most powerful sedatives known to man?  Yes,  I indulged in a postprandial sleep session also.

The following morning, we get a call from Guests in one of our cabins saying that water for the kitchen sink was only coming through the sprayer, not the faucet.  They said they were headed into town and would we fix it while they're gone.  

Well, crap! I'm not a plumber nor have I played one on TV.  I go down to the cabin, turn the door knob and the door's locked.  WTF?  We live at the end of a 1.5 mile road with only one way out, our property is gated and nobody's around.  You need to lock the door?

Anyhow, I go back up to the house and get the spare key.  Come back down and stick it in the lock.  Doesn't work.  Bad words were spoken.  Meanwhile the cleaning lady arrives, walks up and asks what's up.  I explain the issue to her, she goes back to her vehicle, returns with a playing card and opens the door.

I'm not sure if I'm relieved or scared stiff.  In any case, I enter and take a look at the faucet.  It does, in fact, only work in spray.  I look underneath and am in another "What the heck do I do now?" moment.

The sprayer connections are the top and the bottom.  I try turning them, but only end up turning the sprayer itself.  Nothing seems obvious to me.  Looks like, rather than screw something up badly, it's time to "Call the Plumber".  Before I leave to do that, I figure I'd better check to see that I didn't loosen something enough to cause a leak.  Turn it on, still sprays water.  Start to put it back into the slot, when I remembered a lesson I learned from a Crew Chief on my F-4.  

Sarge knows this one.

"Hit it with a hammer"

Well, I didn't have a hammer, but it's a steel sink with a divider between the two basins.  I give it a brisk rap on the divider and feel a kerchunk in my hand.  Turn on the water and Voila'.

Does this make me a master plumber?  Sure could use the money.

Since this is being written on Sunday and this particular Sunday is referred to as Mother's Day and I had 3 Mother's on the property at the time, I figured my continued life depended on getting that day right.

I took them out for Sunday Brunch with the 3 grandkids at a nice little restaurant called the Hill Country Herb Garden.  Very nice place, nice staff, good food, a little pricey but not horrible.  I can heartily recommend the Steak Filet Egg's Benedict.  

Well...I was the only guy, above the physical age of 6 months (other forms of measure could be in doubt).  Little J was "there" in spirit to keep an eye on things.

Afterwords, Mother's day gifts were presented.

MG did a great job of delivering them.

Speaking of gift delivery.

4 weeks into a planned 3 day job.

C'est enfin terminé ! 

The solution to the glue problem was soak it in paint thinner for about 5 minutes, scrape off as much glue as possible, then use Goof Off glue removal on any remnants. Took quite a while, but it worked. Just an FYI in case any of you are caught in a similar situation.

 Oh, yeah, one more picture. Or not! Thanks Google.

 *It's been a while, but this is the standard opening phraseology of a Fighter Pilot War Story, and the truth of the story is absolute. (In the mind of the Teller.)