“Drake the Dryer” drama has not been the only activity in the Garden this week; Chris has returned home, Sam has made it out of the pool onto the ladder, & our new family member is arriving tomorrow. Currently, Drake is residing in the back room of the store where he was purchased, awaiting arrival of parts to complete his repairs; the store manager was at our house within an hour of the last phone call, to escort Drake to his temporary quarters. Since the pressure is off of me & monetary compensation is in the works, I’m willing to let them repair him- but if there is the least little hiccup, watch out Frigidaire.
My better half returned Wednesday afternoon; he spent the past two weeks, living & working, on a motor home lot… next a freeway… in Florida. To say he is glad to be home, even with all the aggravation of the Dryer Saga, would be a gross understatement. The first thing he did when he walked in the house was to swing his arms around randomly & observe that nothing fell over. He then went upstairs, laid down on the bed (yes, the one he missed noticing for 10 days after the last trip) & repeated a reverent mantra, “Mybedmybedmybed…” After a half-hearted peck on my cheek, he admitted he had a raging migraine, so I prescribed a long shower, a couple ibuprofens & sleep; when he awoke the following morning, he was feeling more human & decided to walk with Sam to school. He is off work until Monday, but unfortunately, doesn’t have my capacity for true laziness- since yesterday, he has mowed both lawns, pulled weeds, done the laundry, vacuumed both floors, & cleaned the bathroom- all in addition to dealing with the dryer problem. He has called me twice this morning- first time to ask if I had any errands needing to be done, the second to see if I was coming home for lunch- he has already read the paper, washed the dishes, & taken a walk, so I suggested visiting his mortician friend or taking a sleeping pill. The man needs to learn how to relax.
I’ve referred to the fact that, while he is on the tennis team in school, Sam is a beginning player, just learning the game. Therefore, his position on the team is “member of the JV pool”- a grand title for a benchwarmer. The seven members of the “Pool” are only used when a ranked player is unable to play; the only way to get out of the “Pool” is to earn a ranking by winning matches against other teammates. So the sum total of Sam’s three weeks or so on the team has been going to practice, doing conditioning, & playing games within the team. He practices every chance he gets- last Saturday, instead of heading to the mall, he was out on the courts for five hours, playing challenge matches with his “Pool” mates. It seems to be paying off, because last night, after taking team pictures & having their regular practice, coach told him he is now 4th ranked on the JV ladder & gets to play in the two-day JV tournament in Oakley. Man, that kid was stoked! I met him at the school right after practice, while taking my walk yesterday, & all the way home (about 1 ¼ miles) he smiling, talking, & jumping up around. The tourney is all day today & tomorrow, so Sam was up early packing a lunch & snacks to take & was at the school by 7:10 to meet the bus. He left a message on my voicemail at work that they would be playing longer then originally planned & won’t be back in town until 5:00 pm- I guess that means he & his partner haven’t been eliminated yet. Chris & I are planning on following the bus up to Oakley in the morning, so we can (hopefully) watch him play a little & get some pictures for the grandparents, before our new student arrives in the afternoon.
I think we have nearly everything ready for Kenta. When Yuki was here last summer, Sam had bunk beds in his room; now he has just a platform bed. We have a queen-sized raised Aerobed we use when company comes, so Sam & I got out the graph paper & tape measures (we are math geeks, after all), plotted, planned, & rearranged his room several times last week, trying to make it work, but it’s too big to fit comfortably. So I bought a twin-sized regular Aerobed that Sam will use (which will come in handy later, when Sam has friends over) & Chris is fashioning a temporary platform so he doesn’t have to drop from 3 foot above the mattress to lie down. Towels are washed, a couple of drawers are emptied, & a case of Top Ramen is stashed in the garage (Yuki & the other students loved that stuff!) This is going to be a whirlwind visit- I doubt they will have enough time to recover from jet lag before they are heading back. I think we’re going to keep it pretty low key- no great adventures, just hanging around the house, wander around the mall, maybe dinner out one night. The good thing about the short length of the stay is no one will have time to get too attached, so hopefully, the going away party won’t be the “Cry Fest” it was last summer.
Well, I’m going to head home early today- I find I’m in need of a little nap while the house is reasonably quiet & devoid of teenaged bodies; I wonder where Chris has wandered off…
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