Hanging Out With Beth And Our Grandsons

Family

It's an overcast, warm, and humid morning here in Dallas. As usual, I was down at the Hampton Inn's breakfast bar at 7:00. Tuesday mornings feel noticeably quieter than the past four days. We check out this morning, head to Beth's, and late morning I'll return the car to Love Airport. There are five of us — Beth, Tyler, Mitch, Evie, and me. Unfortunately, Mitch returns this evening to LA.

Sunday's Coffee Bar

We took our time getting over to Beth's, arriving around 10:15. The boys were already up, and Milena was showing signs of winding down, as she was flying back to Los Angeles that day, with her husband Mitch following on Wednesday. We're here to support Beth, though it's hard to know exactly how to help — so we settle for being present, and step in when something comes up. Tyler spent most of the morning helping her sort through Social Security and banking questions. Mitch, the handy one, was out cleaning gutters and making a run to Home Depot for hardware to fix a sliding door. Beth only moved in about six weeks ago, and we're already finding a few things that need attention. After yesterday's celebration, it takes a while to adjust to a nearly empty house, a handful of family members, and no guests.

Porching It

Friday Night Libartions

Before I knew it, lunch crept up on us. I'd woken with a stiff back — Advil hadn't done much — so I spent the morning parked on the couch with a heating pad, offering moral support while others did the work, the dogs keeping me company. Lunch was something to look forward to: leftover bacon and biscuit sandwiches from Sunday. Everyone was hungry, and Beth kept pulling out frozen finds from Trader Joe's, mostly Asian. They were so good we wrote the names down — Pork Shu Mai and Steamed Pork and Ginger Soup Dumplings. Worth picking up; they heat up beautifully in the microwave.

Moms, Daughters, Granddaughter, And Niece

Cousins, Not Sibs

The five of us drifted through the afternoon in the best possible way — sprawled around the living room, phones in hand, a nap here and there, SpongeBob reruns on in the background, and the ongoing debate about what to order for dinner. Tyler, Evie, and I never agree. Beth will occasionally weigh in. Mitch doesn't seem to care either way. We finally landed on three pizzas and a quart of margaritas from the highly rated Cane Rosso, passing on Asian and burgers. Tyler picked it up — a hundred bucks, which felt like a rip-off, but this is Texas. The pizzas were decent, nothing to rave about. The margaritas, at least, didn't taste like lemonade. We watched a couple of episodes of Colbert, and by 7:45 Evie and I decided to call it — tired and ready to be home. We lingered a bit longer than planned, both ending up in bed with our devices. I caught the Spurs/Thunder game through the first overtime before finally putting it down. The Spurs won it, 122–115.

Milena, the dog whisperer, Trimming Tin Tin