Return!

I spoke with my sister SK twice yesterday. Once to find out if she had firmed up her travel plans for her return visit and then again when she called to ask a few details about said upcoming visit.

Ayup, that's right. She was here the last week in July for the family beach trip and she'll be returning on August 17 for an extended visit. This is cause for great celebration in our household.

Just how long is an extended visit? Undetermined at this time. Several weeks at least. But she's low maintenance company. Pretty much. And she respects our need for privacy. She understands if we're sitting at our computers or stretched out in bed watching baseball for hours, that's exactly where we need to be. Or where we want to be. And it's just fine with her. Which is different from when, say, our parents visit. Because then I feel the need to entertain and hang out pretty much exclusively with them. I think they want that. Not that I don't like to hang out with my folks. Because I do. And they typically only stay a few days. I think an extended visit from my mother would drive Wendy, me and my mother insane. It's just easy to maintain the thread of our usual lives during visits from my sister while enjoying her being here.

She called to ask two questions. First, where would she have space to set up her painting? She requires a fair amount of space and likes it to be in a living space, so she can paint and interact and watch TV. I told her we'd get busy thinking about it and make sure she had a good spot. Second, was there a cable hookup in her bedroom? Well no. Not at the moment. But we can make it happen. Because doing things for SK is something we like to do.

We will be enlisting her skills for our benefit while she is here. My sister, in addition to being an artist, has been my inspiration and my "oh hell yes, we can do that!" mentor for home improvements for a very long time. Wendy and I purchased a fixer-upper house about a year ago. We've tackled quite a few tough tasks so far. And while we've made significant progress over this past year, we're in a bit of a slump. SK, just by being here, will pull us right out of that slump and get us back on track. She's always impressed me with her patient approach to tasks. She knows a lot about how to fix things. And she's quite a proficient carpenter. We could use a few lessons. Plus decorating. She's got a knack for knowing just what to put where.

SK has three dogs. Yes three. One large, one mid-sized and one small. She jokingly asked a few weeks ago how we'd feel about her bringing all three. Wendy and I love dogs. And up until a few weeks ago had three of our own. But we're down to two. And having three more visit would be way over the top. Which SK understands. But one more would be fine. So she's bringing Nikita, the large. Niki the Noodle has visited with us before and gets along great with the others.

So again, I rejoice.

My sister is coming!
My sister is coming!
Happy dances for everyone!