I'm alive! I'm alive!

Hi!

I haven't written in a while. Yes, I have been remiss. But my mom got into town on Thursday and we have been hanging out and doing stuff until just a half an hour ago when she drove away to head for the airport.

I think she had a good visit. When she got in on Thursday, we ran a few errands (had to make use of the rental car while we could). We went to Tarjay and bought an inflatable mattress (double thickness), a toilet seat (wood), and a pump for the mattress. During the course of the visit, we had to return both the mattress (too big for the room; bought two full-size single thickness ones to stack on each other) and the toilet seat (made with a bolt that didn't have threads, but essentially rings - there was no way to get the nut on the damn thing). Hulk made blackened chicken caesar salad for dinner and we stayed up 'til like 2.

Friday we had a whole day planned in Boulder, all of which was a surprise to my mom. We took her on the Celestial Seasonings tea factory tour (free!) which was cool for us to see again, particularly since we'd never gone on a week day. They don't run the machines in the factory on weekends. After the tour, we had a wonderful lunch at the .Dushanbe Tea House, a donation to Boulder by its sister city in Tajikstan. It was made there, disassembled, then shipped over and reassembled by the Tajik artisans who built it. It's both lovely to see (inside and out) and serves fabulous food and all kinds of teas. Next on our list was shopping along the Pearl Street pedestrian mall; we had to hit our 3 favorite stores (Peppercorn, fancy kitchen/cooking stuff; Art Mart, handmade and artisan crafts from around the world; Into the Wind, kites and toys).

It was really hot in Boulder. Really, really hot. We weren't up for much in the way of movement. My mom had an iced coffee (bleah) and we lazed on a bench. We grabbed some food at a grocery store and took my mom to the last planned event, a performance of Colorado Shakespeare Festival's The Tempest. A good time was had by all.

Saturday was hotter. Our friend Julie is back in town; she came over for brunch and then we drove up to Lookout Mountain to view Buffalo Bill's grave and see the museum and gift shop. We drove up to HulkRentCasa for dinner and my mom got to see Hulk Rents again and meet Hulk Grandma.

Sunday we walked to the farmer's market (baby cukes and dill; Hulk makes good pickles) and showed my mom the new Tattered Cover. Both of these places are in walking distance of our house, but it was so unbearably hot that my mom had a hard time. We retreated to our dark living room with the overhead fan going full blast, and later went to an air conditioned movie theater to see Pirates II Electric Caribaloo. The movie got out at 6:30; it was still unbearably hot. We got beers and dinner at a restaurant on the mall and by the time we left it was dark. Still hot. We showed my mom some Firefly; I fell asleep on the living room floor. I couldn't help myself. I was miserably hot and didn't feel like I could move. And it didn't cool down enough last night.

When we woke up this morning it had dropped to 75F outside and we opened everything up to get some cool air going through the apartment. We ran the rest of our car-necessary errands (third trip to Tarjay in one weekend, etc.), came home and had lunch. And then my mom left.

It was lovely having Mom here for a visit. I know she's limited to summer for visits, being a teacher, but I wish she'd come out more frequently. We go out there at least 3 or 4 times a year. Anyhow, it was nice to have her to myself (not that it isn't nice spending time with my sisters, too, but it's nice to have mom time) for a few days. She got to meet her "grandcats" and only spent 3 of the 4 days teasing me about grandchildren. Her latest theory is that one has a biological clock for grandchildren as well, which of course she shared with HulkRents (and they agreed). I kind of wish my sister would just start procreating already to get my mom off my back.

Today it is a bit cooler (only in the high 90s instead of 105) and I'm waiting in my dark living room for Hulk to get home so we can put up our feet, have a drink, and relax after the 4 days of Parental Entertainment. I love my mom, but since she visits so infrequently I feel like we have to cram so much into the time that she's here. Now we need to go for a run and have some booze and take advantage of having the place to ourselves again. >:)