Catching up on a cloudy Sunday

I've had a cold for the last three days. Nice thing about a cold is I pretty much know what to expect in terms of how I'll feel. I've mostly sat in the recliner and worked on my computer, catching up. I also have a broken toe from having it stepped on this week.

Art's "health scare" is pretty much behind us. On Monday evening we went to the CCR class so we could give hugs to Melissa and Riley, the trainers who taught me the procedure I used. We were asked to tell our story again to the 127 people who showed up for the class. Just that afternoon Art and I had given talks at our "Reimagining God" group about our spiritual journeys. By the time we went to bed we were two tired, elderly rock stars!  

I don't like having nothing to do, but I overdid it in recent weeks. Just this morning I finished off my last online class. At one point I was taking five at the same time, and that was too many. Now I am starting two more: negotiations/conflict resolution and art. They won't be as time consuming.

We got a home exchange offer for this summer from a family in Brittany, France. We usually get half a dozen or so offers and they are often places we've either been to or don't have an interest in. But this one was tempting. I wrote and said we were considering it and would let them know in a week. I checked airfares and even bought a copy of Rick Steves' book on France. But on Wednesday I wrote and told the family we wouldn't be able to do the exchange this year. It's because:

• My sister and her husband are moving from Alaska to Seattle. They'll be living in their motorhome until they know where they will be working. We'd offered them the motorhome space in our back yard starting on July 1. If we'd gone to France they would have had to find a park for a month. I am very big on keeping my commitments. Even though we offered to pay for the park space, I felt bad about going back on my promise.
• We had made plans with one of our grandsons to take him to New York City to celebrate getting Cs or better in all his classes. He's one of those kids who could ace every class if he were interested and willing. He told us NYC was the place in all the world he'd like to go. I talked to him this morning and reminded him that if he gets the grades this quarter we can start planning, and if he gets them next quarter we'll have to plan later. The voice at the other end of the line at the beginning of the conversation was bored and monotone. At the end it sounded excited and cheerful. We had a long string of teenagers, and I know that voice. But if he makes the grades, we need to go to New York City when the Yankees are in town. A baseball game, Ground Zero, and the Statue of Liberty are his must-sees.
• We have sent two of our granddaughters to camp for the last couple of years, and they were promised they could go this year. But they have moved to Spokane with their mom and stepdad, and they're scheduled to spend the summer in Oregon with my son, their dad. So they don't know what camp session they want to attend, or even whether they'd rather have the whole time with their dad. Plus, camp usually involves a few days at our house either beforehand or afterwards. That means we need to stay flexible about the times we'll be home and away. Grandma wants to be very reliable.
• We have already made plans to do our sixth schooner cruise out of Rockland, Maine, in early September, and if we add a week to the front or back of that trip we'll be gone a couple of weeks.  I wonder how much vacation we really need now that we spend our winters in Arizona.
• It's probably a good idea to spend this year in our home country while Art recovers, body and mind, from his "health scare."

We also got an exchange offer from Budapest. That sounded tempting too. But we'll be home instead, tending to our garden and our family.