Spring Stuff

Cowboy here. Sar's living in the fast lane again, something she tends to do on a regular basis unless I have a hold of her. I don't know what it is about spring but my wife is energized and all of us are affected.

She's cleaning. Folks-- we have animals in the house - 2 dogs, 2 cats - the other dogs are rarely in the house. Sar cleans some part of the house every day. I bought a robot vacuum for the upstairs. I hired a service to wash the windows and screens. The rugs are professionally cleaned several times a year; she still cleans something every day. Spring cleaning is not necessary.

When I threatened to warm that cute little butt if she didn't slow down, she went from cleaning to cleaning out. All the closets and bureaus have had their inventories cut, reorganized and some sweet smelling thing was added to most of them. I double checked to make sure she didn't put that thing in my things.

I have lost old and favorite shirts, sweats, socks as well as a few belts. I have lost favorite running shoes, ties and sweaters. I have put a double lock - electronic dead bolts - on my office door in case she gets some crazy idea about the old pistols and shotguns in my collection. I have posted *don't touch* signs on my tool chests.

My wife has brass. You knew that. After all was packed for the giveaway - her things included - she told me to drop everything off at a family shelter. I didn't want to lose those things; now I have to deliver them too. I sorted through the boxes, pulled a few things out that I don't plan to donate at this time. When Sar saw what I did, she stood on a chair - to be taller than me - and lectured. Did a decent impression of one of my old drill instructors too.

Yeah, I laughed. Applied a few swats. Hugged the stuffin out of her. Then put those things back where they belonged - in my closet etc.

Cleaning the house gave way to cooking and baking again. There's various soups, her famous apple cakes, a variety of cookies, brownies, tarts, several Italian dishes - braciole, lasagna, osa buca, pastas. Unfortunately peach cobbler isn't on the menu yet.

The dogs are getting nervous. The yard and kennels are next.

She's had long days at the university, teaching seminars on the textile arts. I know she enjoys these but a lot of energy is expended doing this and they wear her out. I won't let her drive there any more - I chauffeur her back and forth because Sar is generally asleep on the way home.

Today she is reorganizing her studio; there are vast quantities of materials - fabrics, fibers, threads - in the upstairs hallway, on the landing, and in the guestroom. The cats are happy about this, inspecting everything and napping in various places. The dogs have sniffed, sneezed and claimed several piles as their own. At one point I couldn't find Sar, then spotted her asleep in the middle of the chaos. Was tempted to lay down beside her and let nature take its course but knew I couldn't get rid of the curious dogs if I did that.

For those who have emailed to ask about new stories, Sar is writing a bit. She writes when she can. When she reads it over a lot of it is deleted or edited down to a few sentences. It will probably be another month or so - when the world has been Lysol-ed, polished, and reorganized before she can concentrate on new characters and plots. I may have to tie her to the bed to make her slow down. (Bed tying is another subject I won't get into at this time.)

Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) is coming up. When we lived in Miami it was a city-wide celebration - festivals, parades and good eating. Sar loves holidays and holiday food and invited a bunch of folks for Spanish bean soup, aroz con pollo (chicken & yellow rice,) paella (yellow rice, chicken, shrimp, clams,) media noche (Cuban sandwiches,) moros (black beans & rice) and platinos (fried plaintains.) All delicious foods that will be spread over a 3-day weekend. Spanish style desserts are also on the menu. I forgot to mention May 1 is *dance around the May pole day* which is also "blini day" in our house - blintzes + strawberries and cream. Dancing + eating = a very excited imp.

The downside to the preparations is that Sar is a little more tired than usual. But, in addition to the good food and holiday company, the upside is that Sar sleeps better. For someone who has chronic insomnia, this is good. I'm known as Mr. Worry Wart which is part of my job. I take that job seriously. So against her wishes, I'll take my wife in for a thorough checkup in a few weeks. Having been there, done that on several occasions, I plan to stay in the exam room to make sure Sar gets the necessary tests and that the medics don't get too many cuts and bruises. It's a duck shoot no matter how you look at it.

We're fostering a Neapolitan Mastiff pup. The animal's about the size of a Shetland pony and gaining weight every day. It eats anything and everything. It's starting to obey Sar, ignores everyone else. Does that remind you of someone? It drools on the cats so it's not all bad.

Cowboy