Camptown Ladies Sing This Song....

...Doo Dah, Doo Dah!

Yesterday Denny, Darb, Net and I attended the annual Doo Dah Parade in Columbus, Ohio. The Doo Dah Parade is free to the public, free to participate in and undoubtedly free of restraint. Part gay pride, part political, part pure goofiness, the Doo Dah parade provided just the right distraction from all of the stress of the estate stuff Denny and I are going through. The staging area was near the beautiful Goodale Park, the day was overcast but pleasant and the company wonderful. It was a very different but very enjoyable 4th of July.

The Tiki Car

Uncle Sam in a gyro-thingy mobile.

This lady was part of a swine flu float--and it's a fake butt.

A king dressed entirely in Crown Royal whiskey decanter covers.

Not sure who or what this was supposed to be but he was with several characters from the Mario Brothers games.

Daughters of Net's co-worker. Just too cute.

A working dragon made of Budweiser beer cans.

The obligatory tourist shot in front of Schmidt's Restaurant in German Village in Columbus. A great restaurant with cream puffs the size of two fists.

We too participated in the silliness.

Callie, our granddog, who had to stay home.

Too Much Whine

Ah me; apparently I have been whining too much--people are concerned. Yes, Denny is extremely tired of working on the house as he has the brunt of it while I put "stuff" on eBay. My brother is out of state for a funeral, but I've finally told my sister she HAS to come over to wash and wax the kitchen cabinets as I don't have the time. She might still be doing it whenever we put the house up for sale but hey, I've delegated.

It will all get done and Denny and I will be okay. I promise. But thanks for caring--virtual hugs are almost as good as real ones. Heh.

On the Downhill Side

It's 6AM and it is still dark outside. How strange, when just last week Summer arrived with the longest daylight hours of the year and it was light at 5:30AM. The year is flying by and although Denny and I are getting a lot accomplished, we feel that life is passing us by somewhat since we're grounded here in Ohio.

Denny says he never wants to paint another wall again and we still have the living room, dining room, hallway, kitchen and bathroom to do. Since my mother smoked heavily with all the windows in the house closed, we have to wash all the walls and ceilings, then put at least one coat of stain blocker on before we (or more accurately, Denny) paint. So there is a lot of painting to be done. I have started putting items on eBay and am putting off the daunting task of photographing, cataloging and researching Mom's large collection of antique Christmas ornaments. It's the elephant in the room for me.

The two of us are making an effort to come back to the trailer by 3PM each day to get a breather. Denny finished the new cabinet front for our too-big-for the cabinet flat screen TV and I finally have a TV to watch after two weeks. I truly only wanted to see "So You Think You Can Dance" as that is escapism for me. Music and dance and the human capability of expressing oneself through movement takes me far away for two hours and that's a good thing.

But it's dark outside because we're on the downhill side of the year and we're still here in Ohio. It's not where I thought I'd be.....

Culture Clash

In the midst of all the preparations for the estate sale last week, I took a break for a baby shower for an acquaintance. Julie (I can't begin to spell her Tibetan name) fled Tibet years ago when she was studying with the Dalai Lama, spending several years in India before arriving in the U.S. Although she has lived with an American family for a couple of years, the difference in cultures was made evident at the baby shower given in her honor. Julie works at the Chinese restaurant run by a friend of ours and the staff hosted the baby shower for her there. Because everyone was officially on duty at the restaurant at the time, no presents were wrapped (except mine and those of her American host family) and the spread of food was distinctly Oriental (and yummy!). When shown the baby shower cake we had to explain why there was a picture of a stork and baby on it and what that represented, which was a bit of a hoot. We also had to explain several of the gifts, including receiving blankets, "onesies" and pacifiers. I don't know if all that was a cultural thing or just a young lady who has never been around children and doesn't have a clue. Either way, it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at her house after the baby is born, watching her trying to figure out what goes where and why with all her gifts.

And it certainly was an entertaining break for me--I haven't laughed that much in a long time. Friends and laughter--it doesn't get any better than that.