Keanna is in the house!

Good evening
Yes her highness has come to visit and everything changes. Nikki brought her about 6 after I got home later than expected due to traffic. She worked on her dinner and I made pasta to add to the mix. I had brown rice and cottage cheese, a little tomato and some juice. Then we hooked up the dogs and headed to the park. She enjoyed playing at the park for a few minutes, she would still be there if I had allowed it. After we got home she took a bath in her grammys big tub and I grabbed a couple minutes of the history channel to be near but to allow her to do her thing. Then she came out in a towel, her hair already dried some with the towel and we started the process of going to bed. It is never easy, the room was too warm, spiders might be walking, the light was too dim, she needed a drink but I think she is finally settled in now that its 9 pm and Nikki had asked for a bedtime of 8.
I've enjoyed a pleasant day. For those of you who live in other places just know today was the warmest day yet this year by far. I have the AC on right now to try to cool down her room a bit so she can sleep better.
This morning I took the dogs to the park. We have this lovely little park about a block from our house with a circular concrete walkway around a huge grassy field where they play soccor, softball or just train dogs. there are two play areas for kids, two sets of poorly maintained bathrooms and what seems like acres of green grass. It is a perfect place to walk the dogs, they love it dearly and when I get up if I say nothing they stay calm but if I say lets take a walk, those magic words really made the difference. They begin to dance, jump, bark and they don't stop until we are on our way to the park. I get a lot of joy from those two, one pug and one scottish terrier.
I first drove to Benicia today which is about 50 minutes from home. Traffic was light and the GPS took me to the door. The home is older but 100 remodeled. Set in an older neighborhood is has charm and appeal, good quality materials, new paint, good landscaping. The lady of the house was one of those young mothers with her feet on the ground, committed to her kids, her husband and being a good solid person. Makes you feel good about American when you come across this kind of home.
I next had to do a bit of fixing, like a child who steals something from the hardware store and has to go back to return it under a parents watchful eye, well the last time I was in Benicia I had lunch at the 1st Street Cafe. It is a charming place with excellent food and good service. Only after I was home that evening and entering spending slips into the computer did I realize that I had not included any tip at all, just was in a rush, signed the tag and left. It has bugged me ever since. You know reward excellent service with a snub. So I went back today, found out who the server was, he was not working today and they put my 3 bucks in the lockbox for him next time he works. Then I decided that since I was there I'd stay and eat. I struck up a conversation with the lady sitting next to me at the bar and found out she eats there 3 days a week. I also watched the teamwork between the waiters and waitresses, wow they made the best of a very small working area and just cranked the food out, bread comes from Berkeley each morning, lettuce is fresh each day, ice tea has a floral taste to it like Hawaii. What a find.
Whoops, now I was almost late for my Castro Valley appraisal. I drove at the upper end of the safe range, took back roads and got there quickly. I found Brian to be a real character. This is a guy who is 85 years old, has cancer and is in current chemo, has a wife who is suffering from dementia but has a pleasant version, not a mean one. She was lying in the sun on a chaise lounge outside and he told her who I was, said I was a thief. He regaled me with stories, humor, battle reports from UC Davis where he is treated. Lets see if I can remember the story he told me as I left. A man is holding up a bank, he turns to the man behind him in line and says did you see what I just did, the guy says yes, you robbed the bank so he shot him, then he turned to the next person in line and asked the same question, did you see what I did? The man replied, no but my wife saw you. His humor was like that, very funny guy. The broker warmed me I would probably like him and I sure did, the inspection ended up taking more than an hour due to his outstanding personality. What a joy to meet a human being like that.
Then it was time to head home and traffic was first very good and then very bad but I finally made it. I finally found something I could do for someone else. You many of you know Nan and I have been on the receiving end of a lot of love and help over the past year and 1/2. I keep asking the Lord what I can do for someone else to sort of get this scale back toward a balanced place. At the meeting last night I found out what kind of dog food Bear eats. He is the big dog who lives with the lady on my street who lost her husband of many years a year ago to cancer. That is one thing but she also cares for her daughter's 5 children, until recently it was 8 children but the daughter left and took the three little ones with her. Last night my neighbor reported how the county in their wisdom had cut back on food stamps to $100 from a prior $400 or so because they thought her $1,300 social security check made her too rich. She was pretty depressed. Well this afternoon on my way home I knew I had to get food for my dogs and cats as both were complaining about empty dishes. I found the biggest sack of the dog food Bear eats and added it to the basket. I'll take it down tomorrow, not much really but I think it will help and it felt pretty good.
One issue I am facing is to find a new home for the stair chair. I am aware that the day might come when I need it and often I look longingly at it now when I climb the stairs but I need the exercise. That stair chair enhanced Nan's life so much, it let her sleep in her own sleep by number bed for a couple more years, that meant everything to her and we only had to give up on helping her up and down the stairs the last few weeks. It has been a huge blessing to us and was provided by David and Sharon. Now I'd like to sell it and use the money to get her car ready to sell, it has some dents that need to be fixed. We thought there was someone who was in need of it but then they backed off. So if you know of anyone who needs to move up and down a straight stairs I have the answer. A new one can cost nearly $4,000 but I'd sell this one for less than 1/2 that amount.
I'm hoping you have a blessed weekend with ample time for family, for relationships, for yard work, for building your life.
With love from my heart to yours,

Tim