In the Midst

 With the warming, the last two weeks brought a steady stream of friends and family in and out.  We hosted a get-together on Memorial Day, my sister Debbie swooped in for a weekend, brother Joel was here for two solid weeks (yeah!), and Luke and Jae-Ryong visited.  We had picnics, attended a wedding shower, and enjoyed a windy wedding next to a picturesque lake with faraway folks we don't see often enough.  My cool aunt-- the one who lived in this house for 15 years before us-- favored us with a visit before heading back to West Virginia, and she was gracious enough to ignore the crunchy kitchen floor and not raise her eyebrows at the searing paint shades on the walls. Someday, when I'm old and the only grubby hands in the house are mine, then we'll have wide walls of white with bright pops of color.  For now, though, it's walls of electric hue with small spots of white where Luci has misused the hammer (truth).

I should get back on track.  So where are the snapshots of all these things?  They don't exist.  I guess I offended Fancy Camera by complaining about too many redundant pictures on this blog, because I haven't seen it much lately, and it slinks around the house like a piqued cat.
 
We're still wrapping up hlearning in fits and starts, like an engine with too little fuel in the tank.  We're also in the thick of required Iowa testing, while the garden sits unsown, the flower beds flourish, weeds and all, and to-dos a mile long gather dust on the desk. I won't bore you with the litany because my blog's not a to-do list, plus, part of my avoidance coping strategy lies in not thinking about unpleasantness.  In a month, though, Lord willing, the garden will be in, the flower beds will be lovely, formal hlearning will be done, some of the pesky to-dos will be to-done, and this current craze of busyness will slide into a blessed lull.

For now, here's all I've got-- a few snapshots the cat dragged in.