Some weekend

We just got a call from our daughter in law that Max had been attacked by her step sister’s Rottweiler. They were all over at her father’s house when this happened. Max was trying to get away from the dog and it locked its jaws on his shorts and tore them off. Fortunately, he didn’t break the skin. They left the house immediately and headed home. The owner simply said, “Bad dog.” I say dead dog. How do you keep a dog that would do something like that? Max is used to our old dog that is very gentle and just leaves the room if Max bugs him. These people treat their dog like it was their child and haven’t done anything to train him.

Saturday evening we learned that Kathy’s sister’s mother in law passed away. The sister and her husband stopped over at the mother’s house in the morning and found her dead in bed. Now they are catching grief from the woman’s daughter who is complaining that her brother hadn’t called her to say that their mother had been in the hospital earlier in the month. Now mind you, this daughter has not seen or spoken to her mother in over a year. Where does she get off saying anything to the people who took her mother to all her doctors’ appointments, sat with her in the ER countless times, and always checked in on her at home? The viewing is tomorrow, with the funeral Mass and burial on Tuesday. We are both staying home from work to be with Kathy’s sister and her family.

That same night I found out that a member of our Social Justice group at church, Rudy, had died late last week. No services yet. They are waiting for relatives to gather from around the country. Rudy died of prostate cancer. He was probably in his seventies, but very good with tools and such, and was always looking for ways to help us. He made things out of wood or metal, like clothes racks and sign posts and was always trying to build a better mouse trap. He was really a good guy.

We really did have a nice day on Saturday, until all this news started pouring in. For instance, the electrician came back and finished the job he started a year ago. Now, after four hundred dollars, I can once again flip a switch and have a light come on in the garage. A year ago he dug a trench and laid conduit from the house to the garage, and the wires just laid there all winter. The next step is to get a garage door opener, a life long dream of mine. Hey—dream big, I always say.

The RN who is Kathy’s supervisor at the doctor’s office gave us a kid sized recliner for Max. His long legs stick out over the edge of the thing , but it still fits him pretty well. He immediately wanted to put it next to mine so we could watch movies together. He slept over here this weekend, and popped in on Kathy when she was getting dressed. She had just sprayed her deodorant, and he remarked, “Nana, you smell just like daisies” which I guess is the point after all. Shane took him to the Childrens Museum and a Cleveland fire truck pulled up and the fire fighters started to talk to the kids about fire prevention, and they got a call on their radios, so they suited up and jumped on the truck and took off. It was all very exciting. Shane said if it wasn’t part of the show, it should have been. The crew came back a short time later, since the call was a false alarm, and continued talking to the kids. Max came away with “Don’t play with matches” so he was listening. Yesterday evening we brought out the sprinkler so Max could cool off. I put my suit on and joined him. It was a great idea. Since it was in the 90’s again today, we were out there splashing around again. See the photo above for more details.