Another lovely week

In fact, there were aspects of this week that were not lovely, mainly a lot of fighting on the part of two 15-year-old boys who live with me. But the weather's been great, a mixture of rain and sun, and everything's so green, and my flowers are blooming... Somehow it's easy to let go of the fights and focus on the beauty.

Fights are so boring, anyway. So pointless. I understand that the kids are working things out, that it's part of being a teenager and a brother. It's hard on me, but it's harder on them (words of wisdom from the family counselor we saw for a while). It will be interesting to see what happens (with the fighting) when Rocket Boy is here. 

Because yes, he is on his way! Stayed in Junction City, Kansas last night -- we stayed there when we drove back from St. Louis last summer. That means he has 493 miles to drive today. And on Tuesday, we are going to drive 492 miles to get to Cody, Wyoming. Ha!

In a few minutes I'm going to stop writing and go do 15 minutes of weeding, in preparation for Rocket Boy's arrival. Teen A and I have been so focused on pruning junipers that we've kind of skipped weeding. Thus, our side yard looks like this, and RB will notice. He'll see it when he drives up and parks in the driveway. So I thought I'd spend some time on the weeds today. Teen A and I don't prune on the weekend, but I think a little weeding is OK.

OK, I'm back. I didn't take an after picture (yet), but it already looks a lot better. You can pull a lot of weeds in 15 minutes. You can also get very tired, when it's hot. It's only about 75 degrees right now, but the sun is fierce. The humidity is also higher than normal, about 39% according to weather.gov. And supposedly it's an Ozone Action Day, but I just checked AirNow.gov and our air quality is 48, which is in the "Good" range, so I don't know what they're talking about. 

I'd drive with the kids today (despite the air quality alert, since it seems to be wrong), but it's Teen A's turn and he's gone off somewhere, possibly with friends. He didn't tell me that, just grabbed his bus pass and said he was "going to Safeway," but that probably means friends. If so, that'll be the first time he's seen any friends since school got out a month ago. I'm glad he's seeing friends, but I will never understand why he feels the need to be so mysterious about it.

Driving is going pretty well, if slowly (too many Ozone Action Days). I've now driven twice with each boy, and it's amazing how much better they already are. However, we haven't gone on an actual street yet, just around parking lots. Friday evening I took Teen B to the NCAR parking lot, but there were a lot of people there -- hikers, I think, who were leaving their cars and setting off on the various trails. Still, we drove around a little, and he did OK. Then we went back to their elementary school parking lot and he drove a lot more, clearly getting more and more confident as he went. So I think the next step is to venture out on some quiet streets -- probably OUR street, actually. Hmm.

They are going to go out with an actual driving instructor in July (the 11th for Teen A and the 12th for Teen B), so I don't have to do a LOT with them before then. But we should go on some streets. I'll try to get them both out at least two more times before they go out with the instructor. (Or Rocket Boy can take them. Now there's a good idea.)

But first we're going to go on our trip to Yellowstone. I'm not terribly excited about it, but I think it'll be fun. We'll drive to Cody on Tuesday and stay overnight in a hotel. Then we'll spend Wednesday in the park, exiting at the north entrance where we'll spend the night in a hotel in Gardiner, Montana. Then back into the park for the day on Thursday, exiting at the south entrance where we'll stay at a hotel in Dubois, Wyoming. Friday is up in the air -- I'd like to stay one more day, so that we can go to Grand Teton National Park. But I suspect the twins will want to come home. I didn't make a reservation for Friday night, but I'm sure we could find a room in Rawlins, for example, since it's right on I-80, or even Lander, not drive that far. Well, we'll see.

The kitties have no idea that this is happening, yet, but I'm sure once Rocket Boy arrives and the suitcases start appearing, they'll get worried. The cat-sitters are stopping by this evening, so that'll be the main signal. Poor kitties, all alone for four or five days, except for twice daily visits. What on earth will they do with themselves? (Sleep, wash, run up and down the hallway, wash, sleep.)

I think they look very pretty against the A's blanket that I currently use as a cat protector (protector from cats, that is).

OK, I'm trying to gear myself up to go out and do some more weeding. It's only gone up to 77 degrees, air quality is 50, and they've cancelled the air quality alert. The perfect time to weed. OK, let's do this.

And we're back. I swear, weeding is really hard work. I feel as though I'm going to vomit. Maybe should have waited longer after eating lunch, huh? (Note: after writing this, I lay down and took a short nap. Now I feel better.)

But anyway, if you compare this to the photo above, I think you can see a lot of progress. I got the majority of tall, prickly things pulled up or cut down, although there are still low-to-the-ground things, and of course the mint in the back. 

And now it's later still and Teen A has come home and mowed the lawn and I pulled a bunch MORE weeds, and the compost bin is about 3/4 full, just of weeds and lawn clippings. Also, the cat sitters have come and gone (and gotten the key), exciting Baby Kitty and scaring Sillers. So the cats now know something's up.

We're still waiting for Rocket Boy. It's 8 pm and I think he should be here by 8:30, but it depends on how many times he has to stop, what traffic is like, etc. He texted us from the border -- that was at 5:45 and he was at a rest area that had an exhibit about rattlesnakes. Since then, nothing. He's going to be so tired when he gets here, and I haven't even made any dinner. I feel like I need to lie down again. My tummy objects to all the bending over I do when I pull weeds.

I'll leave you with the photo of this week's compost pick-up. Fourteen bags! plus the compost bin and three bundles of long branches. I watched as the garbageman got out of his truck, put on his gloves and then one by one, hoisted the bags and the branches into the carrier thing in front of his truck. They just barely fit! Then he got back in the truck and pushed buttons to make the carrier thing lift up and dump everything into the main compartment of the truck. Then he gave me a thumbs-up and drove on. So now I know, 14 bags is about the maximum that I should put out. Teen A will be glad we don't have to do any more than that.