Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax...

...and whether fish have wings.  --Alice in Wonderland.

The whole thing goes:

"The time has come, the Walrus said/ To speak of many things/ Of shoes and ships and sealing wax/ And why the sea is boiling hot/ And whether fish have wings."  And most people interpret that as announcing a conversation with many disjointed topics.  Hence this one!

I went to school yesterday and spent six freebie hours trying to bring my classroom to closure, but it ain't done yet!  Nothing critical is left to do, so I stayed home today in hopes of putting the house in order before the grandchildren came home this afternoon...also to no avail.  I did several loads of laundry and food shopping at Aldi's and Wal-Mart.  Before long, the g-kids were at the door, and the rest is history.  They had been with their father since Friday, and we really missed the little turkeys!

A year or so ago, I gave the children a turtle sandbox in Muncie.  (Every kid needs a sandbox!)  Grandpa Phil helped me get it there in his "big brue truck".  Well...since Meg and Nate have split, Nate sent the sandbox here...thinking, I guess, that it is a pain.  (It is.  Sandboxes always kill the grass, etc...)  I spent a lot of time thinking about that sandbox, and finally came up with the idea of putting a tarp under it so the children had someplace to kneel...and we would have some way of sweeping up the overflow, and would only need to flip up the ends of the tarp to mow around it.  The portion of the back yard where I put it is mostly broadleaf weeds, so I am not at all concerned about what the tarp/sandbox will do to the lawn. 

The children spied the sandbox very soon after returning today, and launched into play.  There was the expected result--sand all over both of them--but they played nicely for a little while.  We'll see how long that lasts!

I have spent a lot of time working in the back yard and the patio.  That is my little retreat back there...the nicest part of spring/summer for me...but it is supposed to be over 90 degrees tomorrow...so we will probably do the sprinkler thing with the children.  Meantime, I planted some flowers in planter boxes that I had given Meg/Nate a few years ago...but they apparently don't have holes in the bottom.  After yesterday's rain, I noticed that the boxes were afloat in water and the plants were drowning.  Will get holes drilled in them tomorrow!

My friend Ryan is coming over tomorrow to help with some household repairs.  (Little things that sure add up fast with four people in the place!)  Sometimes I don't know what I would do without my ham friends...  God bless them all!

Another non-ham friend and I are planning a walking schedule for the summer.  Phyllis is a fellow teacher and bud who has been around the block with me since the beginning of my life in Indiana--just pre-and mostly post-divorce.  I love her to pieces!  I look forward to our walk-and-gab fests.

Nathan has a job!  He starts on the 18th as a Schwan man.  I wish him luck.  The product is pricey but good.  Hope he can find a market in Muncie.

Enough of this.  My bedmate isn't asleep yet.  This could be a long night!