Golden retriever and Border collie

Got to church in time. The pastor was Shane Stickel from Westminster, who traded with Dave for this week after the synod. He isn't as good as Dave. Philip says he's only been doing this a couple years, being formerly from this congregation, so maybe he'll get better, but his technique needs work. The sermon topic was Psalm 123, focusing on its exposition of certain aspects of prayer. I stayed awake better than I expected, considering the night I'd had, but it didn't benefit the sermon. Philip and I agree that the man has trouble with his analogies, for one thing--one made no sense and another was just wrong.

I had a nice chat with Jenna, and then Mrs. Marble with Mr. Marble in attendance (he listens, mostly), and then Jenna came and hijacked Mrs. Marble, at which point Philip took the opportunity to drag me home. We also have an invitation for next Sunday at Jenna's house for lunch--today, she said, was a bad time because it was leftover soup. It was also a bad time for us, because Chuck and Phil were coming.

They showed up in the middle of lunch, having calling from Monument to say they weren't hungry. We chatted until two, about Walden and, come to think of it, quite a lot of things, and then they went back to the hotel for a nap. Phil's still driving the Escalade. Chuck, behind his back, demonstrated the clear belief that his little brother was insane. I love those two......

Lark and I went out at three, after I caught up with a few things. We met a couple of young men early in the first leg; the main impression I got of their faces was brown hair over sunglasses with light beards below. One seemed to be shading a dark patch on his upper arm, and after giving Lark a few words ignored her. The other petted her a bit, and exchanged greetings with me. Later, in the second leg, we met a youngish woman with a Border collie and a golden. The collie was pretty close to Lark in size, if possibly lighter. The Golden, while on the small side, was not.

It was sunny when we started, but by the time we met the guys I'd taken off my shades and hat, and there was a constant rumbling mutter from the sky behind us as we came up the Heller road. A few fat drops fell as we came up the driveway. It was raining buckets within a minute of getting inside.

Chuck and Phil came back, in the pouring rain, bringing with them a lemon meringue pie. Philip left after  eating, after a good long chat session, for the church meeting to report on the state of the denomination after the synod. I elected to stay. Everybody chatted for awhile longer (which mostly means that Grandma and the boys talk and I--or Philip and I--listen) while I took the dog in and out for ball and brushing, and then Phil noticed the loppers in the greenhouse. Apparently the branches in the driveway had hit the Escalade, which I can well believe, and Phil couldn't resist. He lopped quite a pile, which I dragged out to the curb, with some canine assistance. She actually brought one branch right up to the pile and, upon request, left it there. The rest of the assistance was more questionable, of course, and then when we had finished and were walking around looking at the result, she disappeared. I went behind the house and Phil stayed in front, and we both called until the dratted dog came running down the street to Phil. At which point I shut her in the house. Anyway, I had to get the sap off my hands when we went in (Phil didn't have any) and then it was decided to go get some frozen pizzas. Phil drove, Chuck got us there, and I got us to the frozen foods. We left with three frozen pizzas (one for the freezer), a box of Coke, and a package of Oreos. So for dinner we had pizza with Coke followed by ice cream. Grandma and Chuck had coffee, with one Oreo, but Phil had mint chocolate chip, and crumbled four Oreos over it. Philip and I had more pie. Karen called with an update on their third dog, a pointer-ish mutt younger than Lark who's having a seizure phase. He's Karen's darling, and he's so upset by the seizures that she's pretty upset. So she called after dessert to say she was taking him to the vet, which was supposed to be tomorrow.  All the guys left about nine, with hugs all round. The house is pretty quiet now. Maybe I can get Philip to take me along when he takes them up on their invitations. And they say they aren't stopping by in the morning.....*whimper* Although I must say, it would be nice if the next time I see them it's one at a time. Both of them together is tricky, because of the brotherly teasing that got old about fifty years ago at the latest. You don't want to laugh, but.....you really can't help it, because they've had all that time to come up with jokes that are actually funny. Sigh. Also I haven't heard the stories very many times, and Phil tells stories well.

I want them both back already. Maybe I'm just missing boys around, but.....I don't think that's it. Part, maybe, but not all. Also they're both very huggable. Something about the shape, maybe. Sigh.

Grandma's little brothers

Wriggled out of bed without too much trouble this morning. Looking forward to the uncles coming.

Lark and I went out a bit after nine to find the heat had gotten a good start. x_x There were still more people than usual out--besides the students (the first car went by just after we jumped into the creek bed) there were four guys hiking and a man on a bike who seemed to be trying to map the trails. He was pretty nice--had something of the Brad Pitt facial structure, assisted by a crew cut. I think he said he was a mapping student. I hope he meant cartography. We also went by the dig, where they seem pretty close to finishing up. Lark went and talked to everybody without me. >.> Jogged the last bit home because I'd seen Maryanne's car in the driveway and hoped it might be the Eatons. Sigh.

........I think the telemarketers are spreading the word. As soon as I said I was Mrs. Johnson's granddaughter, he apologized, said he'd call at a more convenient time, and hung up. O.o Anyway, Sid called. Our shopping trip is on for tomorrow after lunch. Whee!

Chuck called during lunch to say they were in Denver. Mode of travel after Denver is unclear, but at least we know they're alive. :p We spent a good long time outside after I brushed the dog, looking out for them, and then it got too hot for us. Shortly after we came inside Chuck called to say they were five minutes out and to get ready for 'em.

They came in the door about four-fifteen, and we heard the story of their odyssey. Apparently the great trouble was Chuck's getting tickets to Dallas to meet Phil, all the flights being booked. From Dallas to Denver was less trouble, and then they couldn't rent a car one-way to Colorado Springs. An Air Force captain managed to get one to Colorado Springs (possibly it wasn't one-way) so they split with her. It was a long story; this is my condensed version. Then Phil told us about his trip to Nepal, with pictures, and then Grandma got out the albums from her trip. We talked a long time--I'd like to think I made a good audience for Phil. ;p

World Disconnect moment: I found out Michael Jackson just died. Where did I learn this? Yahoo? No. The "recent threads" list on MangaUpdates. I'm trying to decide whether I'm proud of it.

Went to dinner at Mimi's with Chuck and Phil. They're fun. :D Probably the only time I'll ever ride in a Cadillac, too: they rented an Escalade. Great big SUV with a video screen for reverse and GPS that doesn't work without the CD. Seriously though, I think I'm getting closer to a decision about what I'm gonna do, just from formulating answers to the questions everybody asks.....

Got home and took the lark for the half-hour walk in the sprinkling rain while Grandma talked to the boys. We didn't meet anyone until the older couple coming down from the gates; then, at the gate, we ran into a policewoman in her car. "Pretty dog," she said. Looking closely, she could have been related to the older woman. Strange.

They left at eight-fifteen. Grandma has some cute little brothers. Chuck's the sweet one, I'd say; and Phil's....hm. A little more reserved: takes at least five minutes to get to know him, as opposed to thirty seconds for Chuck. *huggles them both* I was a little startled to learn that Chuck's the elder, but then, personality has nothing to do with age. I'm sure Chuck would be happy to know, anyway. ;p Incidentally, anyone who directs them to this will die within thirty minutes of so doing from the curse written into the code of this post. Come to think of it, I kinda generally discourage recommendations period. No New Readers Allowed.

Seven pushups/situps just before bed.

The parents are now getting Doug and me up at seven ack-emma.

Mangas to read when they are next updated:

Beauty Pop
Hatsukoi Limited
Karin
La Cordo Doro
Ouran High School Host Club
Thousand Years of Snow
Vampire Knight
Zombie-Loan

We went to B's this evening to take her cake, ice cream, a birthday card, and roses. This entailed going to Wal-mart, where! I found! the latest! issue! of Shojo Beat!!!! It's the Halloween issue, which is a royal pain, as for instance there was only one chapter of VK, and there's a good part in the next chapter. Bah. But there's a poster to make up for it. =D And there's the first chapter of a new manga, since Baby & Me ended in the last issue, and there is no preview of a book. I still haven't read much of it, since Peter and Owen were sent straight to bed and I had to do Pete's dishes. Oh, yeah, and June and John, cousins of B, are staying with her presently. They're nice, and John has common points of discussion with both Dad and Darrel, e.g., guns or cattle. His kids are choring for him while he's gone. I think when we move I'll try to make up a family tree on the Loden side with help from B. That counts as keeping in touch, yes?