The Dynamic Duo

Keeping first things first, I feel that I must (plus I really want to) congratulate my oldest and most distant son on his official marriage to that wonderful UltraGirl we are all so in awe of. I think the official celebrating will take place at a future date, so don’t feel left out if you weren’t invited. I’m sure you will be.
I did something today I have been putting off for two weeks; I cleaned my bathrooms and vacuumed the carpet. Okay, now you are either shrinking back in horror or nodding your head in understanding. But by now, if you have been reading these posts with any regularity whatsoever, you know that UltraMom is a bit of…okay a lot of…......a procrastinator and a clutterer as well. Anyway, I got it done; even to moving out the furniture and vacuuming behind. Even putting on the long reachy attachment and getting the little spiders out of the corners of the ceilings.
I actually planned to get all this done last Friday because one of my favorite people, my sister Panther, was coming for the weekend. But at the last moment, plans changed and I went to her place instead. She found out that my youngest and least distant son was going to be at her place for the weekend, and she didn’t want to miss that. The lure of spending time with two out of three of my favorite sons, along with one out of two of my favorite sisters proved too strong. Sister in Law Pat graciously agreed to water my plants and bring supper to the working UltraDad in my absence, so I threw(literally) some stuff in my car, and off I went.
About 1/2 hour out, Panther called on the cell. “I am in Boise. Where are you now? I worry about the reliability of your car,” she said.
“Me too, sometimes,” I confessed, “but it seems to be doing fine right now.”
“How about if I meet you in Twin Falls and we drive back together?” And that is what we did, leaving my car in a shady spot in the Twin Falls mall parking lot.
A hilarious thing had happened the night before when Jim arrived. He came in Aunt Debi’s house and heard someone calling his name: “Jim. Jiiiim!” in a high pitched voice. He looked around, but could find noone. Noone that is, but Fatz, the gigantic Siamese cat. Fatz indeed was the one saying his name in a meowy sort of way. When Debi came in, she found Jim standing still with an odd look on his face. “The cat just talked to me,” he said in wonder, “He called my by my name.” I think Johnny was a little put out; after all, he is Fatz special buddy, and Fatz has never once said, “Johnny.”
We found the boys in the swimming pool, and Johnny related how he had found himself following his Aunt Roz the other day. He honked and waved, but she did not even turn around. This led to the idea of inviting her and her family to a barbecue the next night. And while we were at it, inviting several others as well.
The next day, Saturday, was Farmer’s Market day. Panther and I went to three of them. First, we stopped at the little one in Emmett. They didn’t have a lot of tables or a lot of people, but they had great stuff and great prices. I bought several things, including a rose bush and a juniper bush. In Eagle, there was a lot more going on, and I bought some spices and a few flowers. Panther bought some really neat pies; they were 1/4 blueberry, and the rest a red berry, and the pie crust formed starts on the blue and stripes on the red to resemble an American flag. In Boise, the largest and most crowed market of them all, I bought nothing, but it was fun just looking around. Lots of people had dogs, on leash of course, and lots of kids were playing in the fountains on this very hot day. Panther treated me to lunch at a local Bistro, and we had a yummy club sandwich and some outstanding coq au vin. In fact, that girl treated my to several things, but I let her cause it was for my birthday, coming up soon.

The Flag Pie

The boys went to see the new Superman movie at the IMAX theater, but they sat way too close to get maximum enjoyment. Let that be a lesson for them.
We made a plethora of hamburgers, and nearly a plethora of corn. Also we had watermelon and cherries that Jim and Panther had picked at a local fruit orchard just the day before. Outstanding!
Anyway, only two of the invitees showed up; Stephen and Alica Beverly. Stephen went to school and played basketball with Jim, and roomed with both of the boys while going to college in Boise, so they had a good time. Roz showed up a bit later, in time for pie, but none of her family could make it. She always has some great stories to tell, however. We all ate all we could, but there was still a lot of food left over. The bad thing was that we all forgot about the left over burgers still on the grill until the next day. Johnny said they would have made lunches for him for the next week, but after sitting out all night, it seemed more prudent to dispose of them, in a humane manner, of course.
Murphy had a great time with his cousins, the spoiled adorable little dachsund, Anya, and the sweet black lab, Jazz. He and Anya have a great time competing for bones, toys and treats.
The day before, when the boys had been out and about, they had found an item that UltraDad had been searching, unsuccessfully for, for months. It was a quiver for his new bow. Jim bought it for his Dad’s birthday gift. Later that night, I called UDad to check up on him. I also asked him if we wanted me to pick up anything for him. “Not unless you can find a 2-pc quiver for my bow,” he replied. He was pretty excited when Jim told him the good news.
On Sunday, it was time for me to go home, but first we had lunch in Boise at The Macaroni Grill, a very good, lots of fun, Italian Restaurant. Jim always enjoys drawing on their butcher-paper covered dining tables, so it was a bit startling when they, at first, tried to show us to a table “sans butcher paper.” At our request, however, we got one with, and all had a good time showing off our artistic talents while we awaited our excellent meal. I got to ride in to Boise with Johnny in his very-new-to-him car; a gorgeous “ebony” Taurus. He got a great deal on it, and it should be reliable and spacious enough to get him to Nashville in safety and comfort. Cool Dog and Cool Wheels

Johnny’s Drawing. Don’t ask, cause I don’t know..except that the dog being carried off by the bird is supposed to be (but isn’t) Murphy

Jim: I believe this is Fleetwood Mac driving a Mac Truck along with a lot of other stuff, including the obligatory bird carrying off a Murphy look-alike. Also, Johnny Cash is robbing the Wells Fargo Truck, and Jim and Debi are picking cherries.

Panther is holding Jim’s drawing, and one of her own. The depiction is of a giant slug, an animal she knows I abhor. Thanks, Panthy.

“The Rabbit” This is, naturally, my drawing. Notice the artistry and movement.

Panther then drove me back to Twin Falls, and we did a bit of mall shopping before going our separate homeward ways. I really appreciated being able to go halfway with her, and we never run out of things to talk about.
I got home just in time to have dinner, (supplied by Pat) with John after he got off work. The only thing that would have made the weekend better would have been to have UltraDad there too.
It was a little sad, knowing how limited this time with my sons will be. All too soon, Johnny will be off to law school in Nashville, and Jim will be back in college in northern Idaho, so I am trying to remember to savor each moment, though sometimes I forget.
Anyway, congrats again to the UltraKids In Japan. Now, its off to bed.

UltraBob and UltraGirl the last time I saw them together. THAT was in the fall of 2002! UltraGirl is wearing the winner’s hat, as she and UBob were the winners of the Cranium game.

UltraMom