Let's back up a bit

Time got away from me as did access to the Internet so I did not keep you all up with my visiting news in Manitowoc. Let's see now---where did I leave off? Ah, yes...taking Mom to the dentist! Lori and I both took her because we wanted to see if our family friend, whom we knew as Mary Beth, would be working that day. And she was! Mary was so very excited to see us, just could not believe we were there in the flesh. She took a break and we joined her in the staff dining room so we could visit properly. Mom was busy getting her teeth cleaned while we chatted. Lori and Mary were in the same grade from grade school through MLHS. I had hung out with her younger brother who was three years older than I am. Being kids, it did not seem to matter that he was a boy and me a girl, or the age difference. Alex and I had all kinds of fun playing by the creek, riding our bikes all over the place, basically just hanging out. We did, in fact, get to see Alex on the Sunday of the church picnic as he came upon our gathering on his way to walk by the lake. Such great fun seeing two people from our pasts, from the same family, in a week's time! Thank goodness for Facebook---sure helps us to reconnect via the Internet and in the flesh!

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After getting back from the dentist, with Mom coming out with no cavities and a brilliant smile, Lynn joined Lori and me for a trip to The Oar House where we met Linda J., her sister, Georgia and our shared friend, Joanie. The six of us basically had the place to ourselves until much later when three others came in for lunch. We wonder how they can stay open as there has never been more than six or so people eating there when we've been in the dining room. I am getting a complex over it! They have the most delicious 'treatment' for perch, almost like a shredded wheat coating on the perch plus the most delicious onion rings I have had in a long time. Oh yummy! We had good laughs to go with our good food. A photo was taken which will be posted later so you can put names and faces together.

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Lori's son, Dusty, had broken a bone in his leg, or ankle, attempting to master the skateboard on Monday evening. With Lori over at Mom's already, David had handled it in his own way, taking Dusty to the ER the following morning. Sadly, he felt Dusty was old enough to handle the exam and treatment on his own (David did not get the mother's manual, it seems...) so did not really know which bone was broken nor did he view the x-rays. He did not speak with the doctor regarding the treatment, relying on Dusty to repeat what the doctor had said. What Dusty did report was that he might need to have surgery to repair the break. David had to take Dusty back in to the ER very early Friday morning as Dusty was sure he'd been bitten by a brown recluse spider. His toes were swollen and he thought he could see bite marks on the end of his great toe. It seems it was the same doctor who treated the break who saw Dusty and was NOT happy with the care being given him. Evidently Dusty had been told to keep his foot elevated and packed with ice, which would have helped with the swelling, but he does not remember being told that. It did seem funny to us back home that he'd be out running around with his friends the day after breaking a bone, but that's just us, I guess. So, as you might guess, no spider bite to be found, but he absolutely must keep it elevated and take it somewhat easy.

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The two guys were driving to Manitowoc from Holmen in the afternoon on Friday. Justin had finally arrived mid-afternoon after considerable delay. His plans were somewhat 'altered' by his father's female friend who absolutely insisted that Justin get back from WI in time to celebrate Father' Day. She bought him a new plane ticket (I ate the return portion of his existing flight). She was even going to rent a car for him, which I found simply amazing since he is not 25 years old yet, and even paid down part of his credit card for him to cover the insurance. Well, that didn't work out when it came down to it, but he took it upon himself to get to Manty via the airport shuttle. Friday turned out to be a hot day so Lori, Lynn, Mom, and I sat outside to wait for his shuttle to arrive. Lori was just dying from the heat but I enjoyed it! Justin kept me updated on his status as he got closer to Manitowoc, even reporting seeing my niece's offices in Sheboygan when dropping off another passenger. Sweet! It was great to see him and we had to make the most of our short time together. Fortunately Alayna could join us for dinner which was really great for the cousins and his grandma!

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Mom did not join us for dinner on Friday, saying she just didn't know what to order any more. This time we chose Nikko's Thai American Restaurant, where Mom said they have great stir-fry. I had yet another great perch meal, me ordering from the American-side of the menu. Many of the others had the Thai menu, Justin's being just a smidge too 'powerful' for his taste. He had the option of ordering the strength of his sauce and chose the hottest one. Lesson learned for next time! He feels that if he had something to dilute the sauce with like sour cream or milk, it would have been 'cooler' for him. But, we ran out of time for him to eat the leftovers. My perch was made with a tempura-style coating, very lightly done but I couldn't eat it all. Jill took my remnants home with her leftover chicken cordon bleu.

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Kerry did not arrive at Mom's until early Saturday morning. She was bringing much of the foods to be prepped for the graduation party and upon her arrival, got busy making the sloppy joes. I had cooked my meat the day before so was out of the way for her working. Justin and I went to Copp's for the balance of the taco salad fixings and then went to Kohl's where I bought Justin flipflops and undies. There I ran into my friend Dolly's daughter, Kristin, who is friends with Justin on Facebook. They were born only one day apart! She is soon heading to Korea as part of her education and we wished her safe travels. I know her mommy is concerned about her trip but.......

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Tomorrow I will try to add the photos taken at Alayna's graduation party which can tell the story better than I can. Or in conjunction with me, perhaps! Today I went to buy my new flooring for the bedroom/office. Mike Kelley is picking it up on Thursday and will bring it over to acclimatize for a few days. That buys Justin and me a few extra days to get things moved out of my room and my 'mission control' center set up in the guest room for the time it takes to replace my floor. Can't be without my 'big' computer for very long, as it is newsletter time now and must be able to do my word processing and printing from it. I think I need it, anyway. Might just be me being dependent upon the big one! We shall see...