I saved the life of a juvenile hawk. Turns out he’d been electrocuted through a power line or a lightning strike but should be okay. Little guy has already been adopted by the rehab center’s foster hawk.
FYI if you need to transport a terrified and in pain hawk across county lines to a rehab center they are just like other birds - cover the container and they go to sleep. I must admit I was a little nervous at the prospect of being attacked along the way.
S just let us know he’s flying in tomorrow from DC to be at the dinner for my mom. My D also flew in so they’re both attending. Yay!
I love being in Texas. Everyone is so friendly.
On a whim, I rang the doorbell of the house where I lived from ages 3 to 10. Before I even introduced myself, the homeowner had a smile on his face. Geez, if it had been in New England, the owner would have glared at me, wondering why I was intruding on his space.
He and his wife were very happy to show me all over the house, and even insisted I walk through the backyard to the creek. My parents sold the house in 1973 to the person who sold these folks the house in 1981. They’ve changed everything so much I couldn’t recognize much, but it still brought back memories. I don’t know who was happier about the interaction, the homeowners or I! Just a very nice experience, and a reminder of what makes Austin special.
Due to my (lack of concerning) history, I just had my final Pap Smear!
Husband got a local position (New England) after working and living in the DC area for two and a half years. He returned our apartment keys this morning and is on the road home now.
That’s fabulous news, @HouseChatte !!
My son has an amazing case manager who figured out a way to get him rides through the Medicaid-reimbursed ride service up here. So he won’t have to use up his pay to get to work two hours, two days a week! 
@MaineLonghorn That is wonderful.
My youngest is going to be here for the 4th of July. First time since she left for college freshman year 7 years ago.
I started a birthday fundraiser on Facebook for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Maine yesterday afternoon. I’m not usually into doing that kind of thing, but the organization is excellent and desperate for cash (grants typically have to go towards a particular program, so it’s hard to pay for salaries and other overhead costs). I’ve already raised almost $340! That makes me happy.
Have a nice new Bosch dishwasher coming tomorrow. I can’t believe I’m excited about an appliance but I am.
My S (ShawSon) and his GF and my D (ShawD) and her BF are going to join us for my 65th birthday hiking in the Canadian Rockies, which has always been one of my favorite parts of the world (and where we used to come in the summers to hike and the winters to ski when the kids were at home).
ShawSon lives in the Bay area and ShawD is moving there with her BF this fall. ShawSon found an apartment that he, ShawD and BF, and two of his friends from business school will live in together in SF. Nice that our kids like each other so much that they choose to live together.
Last Saturday my dad was released from the cardiac care unit, shuffling slowly to the car and then into his recliner. The meds they prescribed have his a fib under control and his heart rate steady for a week, his appetite and color are back, and today we walked to the corner and back at a fairly brisk pace. He wanted to go farther but let me persuade him to do that tomorrow. Not bad for 89 3/4!
I was sad that I couldn’t nail down an emcee for my upcoming 13th annual event. I always feel I’m herding cats!
I happened to meet one of my board members at the shopping mall and mentioned it and she graciously agreed to be my emcee (she’s very poised and has been emcee for other events as well). I’m just delighted and can now finalize my program and get it to the printers and proceed! Yippee! This has been weighing on me for some weeks — trying to finalize speakers and emcee!
My coworker had her grad school grant unexpectedly cut by the ivy league school she plans to attend this fall. The response she received when she asked about it was not acceptable. I helped her draft an email, and her grant was restored. It felt really good to help her (to the tune of more than $8,000/year).
Really happy—am having a big event in two months and was trying to figure out how to get enough water for the attendees. I got a generous sponsor to agree to purchase and deliver 400 bottles of water and 200 bags for the conference info! Yay! Two big things I don’t have to purchase and wrangle!
to beat the 100+ degree heat, I invited my 78 yr old parents to join me at the small, mild neighborhood pool this evening. My dad showed up wearing a sweatshirt and wool socks; but both swam some laps. My mom looks really cute for being her age- hope I age that gracefully. I’m thankful for this evening with them.
New favorite seasoning - tajin, from Mexico. It’s zesty, but not really firey.
We first had it at a restaurant near the northern end of the High Line in NYC. It was put on half a lime in a big clump and then they squeezed the tajin topped lime over some fresh veggies. Delicous! It’s a blend of chiles, salt, dehydrated lime, etc.
I finally found it at a local chain of markets called Ideal Market. It was not with the spices, but in a different aisle that had small bottles of pepper sauce like Tabasco. They also had chile blends that are meant to sprinkle on fruit. Yum!
We took the folks to get their hearing aids cleaned and adjusted at Costco. We had a very pleasant dinner and evening together. It was so nice that they were wearing their cleaned, charged hearing aids and could participate in the conversation. It was the happiest meal we’ve shared in some time, with the most shared conversation.
We have a bunch of land in the Maine mountains that we bought very cheaply in 1990, instead of purchasing a new car. We just had it logged for the second time, and the tree yield was much greater than anticipated. It will be enough to pay for DS’s last semester of college!! And besides the area we asked them to clear thoroughly to improve our view of the lake, they left so many trees you can’t even tell they logged. Nice to have something good happen, finally.
I found out that my reading assignment was shorter than expected last night!