Last weekend was a three-day, holiday, Juneteenth and Father's Day weekend. I got up Saturday and went to Tyler to see GMH Sr. We had a lovely day. My former b-i-l came over with a friend and we had a small lunch and we visited. I took pies. I hadn't communicated with the folks to let them know I wasn't spending the night. I don't know why I failed to do that. They were disappointed I didn't, but it was lovely to be home in my own bed Saturday night after having had a good day there.

Monday I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and asked my sister and brother-in-law to dinner. I have never had anyone just for a simple dinner at my house. They were thrilled (she especially since she didn't have to cook). I had a pasta salad and some hummus and na'an and fresh tomatoes and roasted corn (I'd been to a farmer's market in Tyler) and ice cream and cookies. It was really nice.

It was really nice that the kitchen was clean for them and for a couple of days afterward. Now it is a mess AGAIN and I must clear it. I brought home some more groceries yesterday and I need to go put them away. And then I need to go get some MORE groceries. I keep forgetting stuff.

Crazy crazy weird thing happened this week and I must record it. I had them for dinner on Monday so I cleaned the kitchen and house well. I put things away and cleared the counters. I distinctly remember putting an onion, a peach, a tomato, and a lemon in front of the microwave and knowing I wouldn't need the microwave that evening (so I wouldn't have to move them). After they left I cleaned the kitchen again and got all the dishes into the dishwasher. On Tuesday I went to the kitchen and had to move the fruits and vegetables to get to the microwave and there was a can opener laying there with them. It was a hard black plastic handled can opener with rust. It was NOT my can opener. When I moved here I bought a brand new pretty big handled red opener. And this black can opener was not the opener I had had previously either! (Now I'm beginning to doubt my own memories.) Even if it had been my opener, I would have moved it along and it wouldn't be out on the counter. If it had belonged to my mother, I wouldn't have brought it home because I had a nice new opener and wouldn't need an older rusty one. It would have been given to charity. I don't know how it got on the counter when the counters had been clean. I can't recall it ever having been in my drawer or needed (I didn't open any cans for dinner). Really kind of weird. I told Mother if she wants to communicate with me from the beyond, I need something nicer and clearer, please.

My friend with the heart troubles has been in the hospital again this week. They had decided she had "broken heart syndrome" where her left ventricle was very weak, but then she was back in the hospital and they recorded a heart attack and decided she's having blood clots breaking off and blocking an artery to the heart and then moving on away and out. So, new meds and she's home resting again. Probably better news than the syndrome thing. I just want her to get well. So strange how this all is affecting her--one of my healthiest friends from hearty Midwestern stock! I was about to say that her parents were very old when they died, but she was adopted. Funny how I forgot. She's not from hearty Midwestern stock, either. Easy to forget.

I bought two lovely turquoise umbrellas for my patio. They arrived last weekend and I got them set up and sweated a lot in the process. I opened them up and they blew over in a few minutes. But that's okay. They don't blow over unless they are opened up. I am going to get a sack of gravel to weigh the base down even more. Probably. Last night it was actually cool and I enjoyed the patio quite a while without the umbrellas. It was 80 or even just below. Today and the rest of the week it will be over 100, but this past week hasn't been that hot on the thermometer, but the humidity has been unreal.

I bought a few plants while I was in Tyler, at a roadside nursery. I ran into my neighbor the other night when I pulled into my driveway. He does landscaping as a side gig and he was working on his own flower beds. I showed him my plants and asked him to plant them. He planted them last night and they look great. There's some little lantanas he is going to plant, too, unless I get to them first.

I have a long list of things to do today. I don't know why I even make lists. It's all wishes and nothing becomes concrete... But that's the way it has always been so I will just try to roll with it. I hope to leave the house soon and go to the ReStore and see what they have and maybe go to Ross or Home Goods and see if there are any cheap rugs or stepping stones or anything else that looks interesting.

And yes, I want to return to this family project. I can't understand WHY it isn't done yet. I need the shoemaker's elves to come finish it for me.

This week I was thinking that June 23 seemed to have some significance, but I couldn't think why and ignored that pestering thought. It just dawned on me that I met Mark 31 years ago yesterday. I am healing! I hadn't thought of that before. Good for me. Good memories, but no need to go back there because of the date on the calendar.

Oh, and for posterity, the biggest news of the world and the week is the submersible (not "submarine," we've learned they are different) Titan that takes really really rich people to the Titanic shipwreck so they can see it in person... vanished. It lost communication last week and they hunted for it all week. They finally determined there had been a "catastrophic implosion" and the water pressure destroyed the vessel and the people inside. That is a relief, really. I couldn't stand thinking of those people down there slowly freezing or smothering without even a comfortable place to lie down. Just the thought of the device gave me claustrophobia. I'm sure this will barely be a blip in history, but it sure was the subject of lots of news articles and speculation all week.