Leanne & Kay

In the last year we've had 7.5 months of people living in the house with us, namely international  students, friends and family. So tonight feels weird because there's just us in the house.  I'm not quite sure how I feel, other than exhausted. I'm sad that my cousin Kay left this morning (who I adore) but also a bit stressed that there's a mountain of chores that I've avoided for so long, like:

• 4 ft. thistles all over my garden, so we look like an abandoned yard in The Walking Dead
• Rolling balls of black dog hair all over the house and an out-dated rabies tag (sorry Ben)
• FILTHY bathrooms. FILTHY. 
• An embarrassing lack of nice underwear and clothes in general.  This past weekend I wore boot-cut jeans which I'm fairly sure went out of fashion 2 years ago. 

In the year we had all these visitors we lost two dear friends: Eric &  Darian. September 1st was particularly brutal: Darian's funeral and the 1 year anniversary of Eric's death.   I'm ashamed to say I didn't handle either of those deaths well. There was a lot of emotion and crying. Safe to say my male friend who called on a Saturday night to tell me of Darian's death probably won't ever call me with bad news again for fear of having to deal with a hysterical woman saying No No No and crying inconsolably. I told him that and he said "yep, I won't!"  In my defense, I had a friend with me that night who's going through a really awful thing and we'd been drinking wine (yes, really! Not like me at all!). This year my dad has also had some health stuff going on, and his brother, my Uncle John (Kay's dad) has some stuff too. UGH. Can't deal with that publicly.

But anyway, It's ok. I'm a happy chap so let's forge on.

Back to "normal" now, but I'm not sure what that is. When you've been bonkers for so long can you go back to a quiet life, or is it like travel, where you get the bug and then you can't stop? Time will probably help get things back in balance, hey.

In the meantime, I'm going to post a few pictures that sums up the last few weeks .....

Our 20th Anniversary. Great Dinner at The Riverstone Grill (famous from Man versus Food)

Campsite shenanigans

Such a great moment when they arrived at the airport.  Heartwarming.

The amazing Niagara Falls

Yes, he did it. Yes, he hated it. But he did it, with me!

Brave Souls

The boys idolized Dean

Went on this ride 14 times. So long lack of confidence! 

Big sister had a beardie years ago

First day of 2nd & 5th Grade

Walked to school by big Sis.

Mike O' & Leanne,  proof that it's a small world indeed. 

Each Monday they wear them: Messi Mondays!

Dean, getting his Americana fix

These three!

These four!

A toast to Darian after his funeral.

Our Afghan refugee friends. These boys are so great .
Just looking at this picture makes me happy they are here, and safe. 

Statue in NY. I wish it had been in Columbus.
This picture always makes me laugh. The man-child with teeny hands and orange hair. YUK. 

My cousin Kay:
the globetrotter, cave-diving instructor, typist, mother, daughter, sister, friend,  birder, & environmental scientist.

Mansfield Reformatory (venue of Shawshank) was a unique experience.
She left this morning and my heart is heavy for the loss, but happy we have each other.