Summer's almost over

Oh yes, summer is ending. The twins went to Picture Day last Monday -- they both dislike their pictures, but I actually like both of them. They aren't BAD, they just aren't how the twins want to look. Teen A looks snarky -- a totally typical expression for him -- and Teen B looks suspicious of the person taking his picture -- very typical for him too. They both say they're going to have them retaken. I just smile and say OK. If they actually go through with it (that is, having them retaken on Retake Day), that's fine, and if they don't, that's fine too. 

They care about their pictures not just because they end up in the yearbook, but because they go on their ID badges, that they have to wear every day. Of course, there's always the time-honored tradition of turning the badges around so their faces are hidden, but still. 

This was sort of an awful week. Last weekend there was a knock on our front door and it turned out to be the neighbor two doors down. He was unhappy because the weeds in the backyard of the house in between our houses (which we own and rent out) were growing so high that he could see them in HIS yard. So I said I'd do something about it. I can't really afford to hire a gardener because our tenant pays a very low rent. So I texted our tenant -- she's supposed to deal with the weeds, it's in her lease -- but she reminded me about her ankle that she broke back in March. So I said I'd come work on them. I worked in her yard all week, except for Wednesday, when I worked cutting the junipers that were blocking the easy path between our two houses.

This picture does not do the yard justice -- I took this on Thursday, after working there Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (you can see a pile of branches that we cut down but hadn't put in bags yet. Teen A and Teen B both helped on Monday, and Teen A also helped on Tuesday and Thursday. The tenant helped on Monday. It was hot. It was horrible. Burs from the weeds stuck to every bit of our clothing. We seemed to make no progress.

All summer, of course, I've been working on OUR yard. I started out very unhappy about how we'd let things fall apart, but after a while it became satisfying and even fun to prune and prune and prune. I've got masses of work left to do, but I've also achieved so much, it's really making me happy. 

But the rental yard did not make me happy, and I don't think it will ever make me happy even if I work there several more weeks and make some progress. The whole thing needs to be rethought and redone, and I don't want to be the one to do it. I'm not a landscaper. If it was up to me, we'd sell the house to some nice family who could fix it up the way they want it. It's not up to me, though I co-own it, because Rocket Boy absolutely refuses to sell. But he won't handle things like this. He's always too busy. Well, OK, he's in St. Louis, it's pretty hard to work on the rental property from St. Louis. That leaves me.

In the midst of my unhappiness about the rental house, here comes our anniversary! And I was reminded, as always, that I really do like my husband very much and I miss him. We sent each other cards, he also sent See's candy, and we talked on the phone. It's OK. Last year we were together on our anniversary (ate at the Teahouse) but he was recovering from surgery, in 2021 we were apart and I was recovering from surgery, in 2020 we were together (ate at Chautauqua), and in 2019 we were together as part of our Four Corners trip and we ate at a Village Inn in Grand Junction. Before 2019 I think we were always together because he hadn't gone to St. Louis yet. Maybe there was a time or two when he was traveling or something. I can't remember.

Maybe by next August 10th he'll be back in Boulder permanently. I can dream.

Let's see, how about a Summer Update.

1. Summer movies: We did not see anything this week! There's just nothing in the theaters that appeals to either Teen B or me. Well, I'd like to see "Oppenheimer," but he doesn't want to. I was kind of interested in "Shortcomings," but I read a review that said the book (a graphic novel) was better. So I requested the book from the library, read it, and didn't like it. It seemed to me that the movie might be better (this is based on a preview I saw of it). So I suggested it to Teen B, but lo and behold, it was already gone from our theater. I'll have to get it from the library sometime.
   
   
2. 
   Ice cream: Teen B and I went to Ben & Jerry's on the mall Friday night, but Teen A didn't want to go. I don't know why -- something seemed to be up with him. So anyway, Teen B and I had a pretty good time. At B&J's you can't see the ice cream, it's hidden behind the counter, so I ordered a small dish of "Marshmallow Sky" without knowing what I was getting. It's blue! It tastes OK, but the color is nauseating. And of course I managed to spill it on my white shirt.
   
   I was very afraid that these blue splotches (the color comes from spirulina) would not come out, but I treated them and they vanished. Still, not ordering THAT flavor again.
   
   
3. Driving: I got more serious about this, realizing that summer is ending. I took both boys out on long drives this week, and Teen B nervously drove me to the Bookworm yesterday. I'm hoping to take Teen A out later this afternoon, but not sure if it's going to happen.
   
   
4. Yard work. Already described (see above).

The other thing that made this week less than fun was some news I got yesterday. An old friend from grad school has early Alzheimer's. Her husband is looking after her. They've sold the beautiful house they raised their three children in and moved to their lakefront vacation home, I assume because it's smaller and easier to take care of. Maybe they'd always planned to retire there, I don't know. Probably not this soon -- their youngest is only 22, just out of college. 

I last saw this old friend 22 years ago, in Michigan, when their youngest was a baby, about 3 months old. I have a picture of my friend with her three kids that I took at the time. I could scan it and post it here, but I won't. I'll preserve her privacy. But oh man. 

What made the news even worse is that I googled her and found her on "rate my professor" (she was a language teacher all these years). The old reviews are very positive -- such a caring teacher, though tough. But from the last few years -- ouch. They say she couldn't form a coherent sentence in either English or [the language she taught]. She couldn't explain concepts clearly. They wondered what on earth she was doing teaching [the language], since she obviously couldn't speak it. I remember how fluent she was back in the day -- another friend who was a native speaker said she sounded like a little old lady from [country where they speak the language], not like an American at all. Oh God. It obviously took them a while to understand what was happening to her. The pandemic probably didn't help. What a horrible situation. I'm glad at least that it's over -- she's no longer teaching, she's in a safe little place with her husband to look after her.

I emailed her husband and we're going to have a phone call probably next week after the twins go back to school. The friend who alerted me to the situation has already had a phone call with them, and she said it's difficult but not impossible -- you just have to give her time to speak. It takes her a long time to gather her thoughts enough to form a sentence. I think I can handle that.

Of course this all makes me feel very young and healthy. And it brings up all those thoughts about how short life is, and how you never know. Her mom had Alzheimer's too, but I thought she was older when they discovered it, maybe in her 70s. I don't know. What I do know is that when I heard about her mom having Alzheimer's, I never thought -- oh, and you're going to get it too, in about 10 years. Never would have thought it. I wonder what's around me right now that I'm ignoring, what signs of the future are lurking?

***

OK, enough of that. Back to my life. We have three more days of summer and then school starts. A lot to do this week, to prepare for the transition. Here we go.