Happy Mother's Day!

May 13, 2007
Albertville, AL

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! We had a nice day visiting with Mom, and Geri had a chance to catch up with most of the kids in real-time or electronically, starting with a call from Mike before she even got out of bed!

We rolled into Albertville yesterday afternoon, right on schedule (or as much of a schedule as we keep at this point). We were all parked and set up before dinner. The concrete pad Rick had poured next to his driveway gives us a great place to park. We use a 30' 50 amp extension cord and a 50' water hose extension, and we're all set up. Mom, Rick, Alyson and Erik (and Lady, the Australian Terrier) were all happy to see us. Rick grilled some steaks and we had a nice dinner with Annette's parents, Gerry and Lois.

Today was a work day for me (in a good way). On the way here, the shower head in the coach fell from its holder and broke off, so off to Lowe's I went for a replacement. I had to get Rick's help (still haven't grown that third arm) to drive the broken plastic piece from the shower head shut-off valve, but that was relatively easy. While I was going to the store, Rick suggested that Mom needed a new kitchen faucet, so today turned into plumbing day. The only issues I had was that the old faucet was a little hard to remove and the shut-off valves were leaking. Once the old unit was out, the new one went in with no problems. And this one has the hot and cold water lines connected right ( :-) sorry, Gerry).

I also got most of the outside stuff (chairs, lights, water, sewer) finished up this morning. It was a very nice day, although it's getting a little warm in the afternoons. We were able to take our coffee outside and relax under the awning, and should be able to do that quite a bit as long as the weather holds. The only thing we have to re-acclimate to is bugs, both flying and crawling. We had a few no-see-ems in Texas, but east of the Mississippi, the full complement of flies, wasps, ants, etc. are out. I'm sure the "skeeters" won't be far behind. Good thing I still have some of that "industrial strength" DEET that I got before going to India!

I ordered our mail last week, and it arrived just before we did, so tomorrow will be devoted to sorting through 6 weeks of paper and calling various places to complain and cajole. It's pretty common that there's usually one or two "problems" that need to be addressed with each batch on mail. Nothing's simple, or so it seems. Fortunately, we should be able to resolve any open items tomorrow. It's a Monday, but not the beginning of the month, so we should have some luck getting through the various 800- numbers. All-in-all, there probably won't be much to post tomorrow. :-)

I hope to get to some picture work tomorrow, as well. I keep thinking that each night after dinner, I'll work on a few pictures. Not! I need to allocate a few hours a week if I'm going to make any progress. Maybe the next rainy day...