So maybe I HAVE
been in a sort of a funk. Not checking
in. I got all hopped up when Fred got
the “dry run” call. At least he WAS on
their radar! Then. Nothing.
Wait. Wait some more. Nothing.
My sister,
Sheri, aka Sledge (as in Sisters Sledge) had planned on coming out when Fred got the call. But, she has a crazy schedule coming up that
includes our niece Savannah’s graduation, Mother’s Day, and a European
vacation. The “dry run” reaffirmed the
fact that it could be any time and so
she booked a flight to KCMO with the thought “if I build it, they will come.” Well the liver did not come, but Sheri flew
out a week ago Friday and stayed with us until Wednesday. It rained when she got here and her luggage
was soaked. But for us: IT. WAS. GREAT.
She comes bearing gifts
Sheri asked
if we needed her to pick anything up at the house. We couldn’t think of a thing (since the dogs
wouldn’t fit in her suitcase). Well
smarty pants asked, “what about Fred’s Xbox and a few of his games?” Ring-a-ding-ding! Fred had not wanted to bring it when we left,
but two months in this apartment with me working during the days made him
reconsider … and he was all over it.
Our what-it-do,
nephew (Snoop Dog reference), Jake, is a gamer too, only Fred has nothing on
Jake. To Fred’s joy and surprise, Jake
bought Fred one of his favorite games, Skyrim:
The Elder Scrolls V, so Fred could try his hand at it too. He also included a personal note. Nice touch, Jacob! We miss you tons!!!!
But wait.
That’s not all. Sheri brought us
even more hours of entertainment: kits
to make paracord bracelets for the troops, a Mandala coloring book with
pencils, a couple of decks of cards, some games: On the
Dot, Who Am I? Can you Name them All? …
and her secret weapon: a gambling dice
game called Left, Right, Center (which
she used to whoop our arses and raid our pockets). Thank you, and truth be told, we MADE her
play for real money. No fun gambling
without skin in the game. Oh, and I almost forgot: Sheri brought a StikBot kit for Fred to make an animated movie.
Farmer's Market and Provisions
Quality produce has not been easy to
come by. It’s a real drive to Whole
Foods and the trip is hard on the wallet.
Fred and I found a local farmer’s market that just opened a few weeks ago. It is 5 minutes away and is all organic. Sheri came with us on our hunt for provisions
and got a Magic Bullet for smoothies, plus picked up the Trader Joe’s tab.
[Insert another thank you.] When we
got back to the apartment, I was prepping the veggies and shaking them in some
dish towels, a few would go flying out.
Sheri suggested using a pillow case and twirling it outside. Genius.
She caught me doing it on video. (Thanks?) But, I really wish I caught
her flinging it over her head on the patio, saying “look at me, I’m a salad
spinner” and then thwacking herself in
the face with the wet pillow case. (Proving she can’t be a genius all the time!) Ah,
sisters … I nearly peed my pants!
Powell Gardens
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| Island Garden, Powel Gardens: the retaining wall is the largest "living" wall in North America. |
On Sunday, we
had a short break in the rain so we wanted to do something outdoors. Fred had looked up a botanical garden in
Kingsville, MO -- about an hour away. It
was on our to-do list and we decided to go for it. Powell Gardens is absolutely gorgeous and
humongous. It is 915-acre botanical garden with a sizeable pond/lake. It has a 50x50 foot glass conservatory for tropical
plants, a dogwood walk (still some blooms, but mostly spent flowers), an island
garden, a fountain garden, an edible garden that includes a huge vegetable garden and an adjacent vinyard, a wildflower meadow (not in
bloom), a glass and wood chapel, a rock and waterfall garden, perennial garden,
and a nature trail with indigenous trees, shrubs, and wildflowers, and a
stream. We could not get enough of expansive
skies and the beauty around us – and now ask you to indulge in our photos. (It’s all we have, folks.)
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| On the Island Garden where they have a living wall and fountain garden. |
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| Nature Trail |
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| Edible Garden - Vinyard and Vegetable Garden |
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| The Lake at Powell Gardens |
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| Meadow Pavillion |
Two-fer: Union Station and a $5 Matinee!
Monday was
another dismal day – weather wise. I
worked in the morning and then we took off for Union Station. We had seen their Extreme Screen Theatre was
showing The Jungle Book at 12:30pm for only $5.
This worked. We could show Sheri
the iconic building and see a movie we all agreed on, for cheap. Off to
Union Station we went. Ten minutes
later, there we were. Great movie.
I cried. No surprise. Sheri told me she held back the tears because
Fred had turned to her to say I was crying and she didn’t want him to be
surrounded. (Fred tells me she did cry at
the end.)
Low Key - Hanging around Town
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Around town: Jacob Loose Park, JC Nichols Fountain,
Brush Creek, Rose Garden Fountain, and
Birthday Dinner at Seasons 52. |
We had a great afternoon of shopping
where I got to be the stylist and Sheri the perfect mannequin. We had a couple of restaurant outings: Houston’s to split artichokes and veggie
burgers; a nice belated farm-to-table birthday dinner for Sheri at Season’s 52;
and on the last night we had good weather so we took an afternoon stroll to
Zacato, a fine Mexican restaurant, for happy hour chips, salsa, and mushroom
tacos. (Did I mention, Sheri is mostly
vegan, so a perfect dining partner?) The
rest of the time it was games, home cooked meals, and lots of laughs. Every time Fred has spoken to someone on the
phone this week I have overheard him say,
“yeah, Karen’s sister, Sheri was here last week and I was really sorry
to see her go.”
Heartbroken
 |
Tank, Angie, Raj - Miss you!
(Bita & Lawrence, too!) |
It has been bittersweet to see our
dogs are so well taken care of. Our friends sent more pics of them walking the hills with Tank and then going for
Mexican with the little monkey. I am
jealous and happy at the same time. We miss everything about them. The cuddles, their antics. And every time
Fred is in bed and I open the bedroom door in the morning, he says he expects
to look up and see it was opened by one of our pups. I told my friend Penny that I was worried
they will not know us anymore when we come back. She told me to look up videos where soldiers
return to their pets. The pets go
nuts. I need to do that. Quick.
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Graduation Day - Who's missing?.
We know Bret is taking the shot, so it must be us. ;-(
|
The biggest
pang comes today. Our niece, Savannah,
graduated from LMU this morning and we missed it. Fred said he would give his left arm to be
there. (I think he meant something else, but didn’t want to be rude). We are both heartbroken that we could not be
there. Instead, we set up the
computer to watch it stream on our TV.
We were there in heart and spirit.
For those of
you who check in, to see how FRED is doing, he is holding up well. Walking as much as I can push him (sometimes
until his legs hurt – then we back off) and spending many hours with his new
friend, the Xbox. His spirits remain
lifted – thanks in great part to Sledge.
We have more
visitors coming Friday. My Aunt Mary and
Uncle Paul will be visiting from Penn Valley.
They are staying in a hotel nearby.
Looking forward to it.
Signing off
for now.
