A good Saturday

My sister Mary Ellen and I made plans for her to come here for a cookout this evening. That was just the motivation I needed to give my house a good cleaning today, even the deck and porch furniture.

In my favorite fashion, I listed every cleaning chore, room by room, etc, and gave myself a time limit for each. I started doing that many years ago when I was in charge of my younger sisters and the Saturday cleaning. I also did it that way with my kids, especially Lisa. And now when I want Destiny to do chores for me, she says, "Write me a list first."

I had a nice time catching up with Mary Ellen this evening. She brought a delicious rhubarb dessert she had made. Dick grilled some scrumptious hamburgers. She and I reminisced over her lovely wedding album. Today would have been her 11th wedding anniversary. That was such a tremendously happy day for our family, a dream come true, we thought. Unfortunately, Mary Ellen has had to walk through the bitter valley of heart break and divorce. But she's a survivor, and has moved on to become a tremendous blessing to so many, especially our family. She goes to great lengths to keep our family connected to each other. We love you, Mary Ellen!

Tomorrow morning we will head out early for State College. There will be a baby dedication for Austin at church and then a cookout at Anthony and Lori's afterward.