Travel alone, weekend plans, Victoria’s birthday

After some deliberation I think Mama has decided to stay home next week while I go to the panhandle. That decision could change but that is how it stood last night. We really do not have the money for me to support the trip if I have to cover gas for our personal vehicle and meals for Mama through the week. I knew that going in but I would have scraped together what we needed to make it work if she really wanted to go; I still might have to.

Her overriding concern was what to do with the dogs. Rosie is not an issue. She can go all day without being let out. Kira and Allie are not as accommodating with their potty needs. Kira has to go out every hour or two. She does not like having to go potty in the house but she will if there is no other alternative. Allie must be put out several times a day. She does not mind peeing in the house. At times she actually prefers it. She is the kind of dog that will cover a half acre trying to find the right spot to pee. Pooping requires a much larger patch of ground and considerable time.

We will have to figure something out because Mama is going with me next month and I doubt the canine needs will have changed drastically. Mama has suggested taking Allie with us but I am not enamored with that idea because I am not sure what will happen if Allie soils the carpet in a hotel room my company is paying for. Oh, well. Those are the pressing matters of life when married to Mama.

After many years of resting in boxes stored in various states of the contiguous United States, Mama and I are going to unbox, unwrap and hang many of the pictures we have guarded over the many times we have relocated. There is ample wall space in the apartment and I have set aside the time this weekend to begin the process of properly displaying those items.

Many are portraits of the family over the past thirty years but several are thoughtfully purchased paintings or numbered reproductions from Windberg and Kinkade. Many of the Windberg prints are signed by the artist. So not all the framed art we have is purely sentimental; just a whole lot of it.

There are still among the pieces collected about a dozen that have never been properly framed. I will get started on that project this year. I am also hoping to cull the framed pieces so we do not have redundant displays. Over the years with Mama I would guess that I have spent as much on purchasing pictures, prints and portraits as I have on Beanies.

 Those of you who understand Mama’s impressive Beanie collection – even after multiple, huge giveaways of those tiny stuffed toys – realize how much money that represents. Even still the values is still largely personal rather that intrinsic. At any rate, it will be good to see our old friends after all these years.

Victoria’s birthday is today. Mama and I will take her out to eat tomorrow but other than that there are no big plans to celebrate. She is not the party animal she used to be.