The Tuesday We Become Humans Again

Today the new renter moves in.  Yesterday she came with her checkbook to walk through 1508, marking flaws on the sheet we have for that, signed and initialed page after page, then handed over 6 months rent + security.  Six months, people!  Six!  Plus another one for Security Deposit.  Yah-freakin'-hoo!  I do believe that between March 13 and today was the longest 3 weeks of our lives; they were certainly some of the most expensive.  The new, not-avocado, all-burners-working stove arrived yesterday in all its white glory (did you know they don't come with broiler pans anymore?  cheapskates.) and the old (vintage 1978) one was hauled away.  After I got home from work I scrubbed the "what is that?" swath of filth off the basement floor around the drain (I'm happy to report that it was just dirt) and that was that.  We ate our delicious sesame chicken with egg noodles and fresh broccoli in calm-i-tude, and shared a postprandial orange with quiet appreciation, neither of us distracted by a mental to-do list to tackle after supper.  I knitted, Durwood dozed, it was a lovely evening.  Ahh.  Today at work I'll go through all the bills, receipts, and bank statements in the Mom file, making a list of expenditures and deposits, making a copy for TW and AJ, and closing out those books.  I also plan to zoom through our personal 2011 receipts and check registers so I can drop the whole tax bomb off to our tax attorney tomorrow morning.  Don't want to be ready too early, you know. (Durwood was working diligently on it when the old renters moved out, leaving us with a total mess, and he got understandably distracted.)  Next year should be a banner one for deductions.

April 2--Auguste Renoir, Madame Georges Charpentier and her Children, Georgette-Berthe and Paul-Emile Charles.

A Girl's Best Friend

Her beloved Tattou
makes a good seat
for a little girl.
Georgette presses her hand
to his furry side,
feels the life
of her living chair.
The rise and fall
of doggy breath
soothes her like a rocking chair,
a warm and comforting
support for reading
and naps.
~~~~~

That's a little better, more in the poetry groove.  By the end of the month I should be really cooking, building pictures with just the right words.  Hey, it's primary day in Wisconsin.  Make sure you go vote or you're letting those who do vote run your life.  You don't want that, do you?  Plus I always say, "if you don't vote, you can't complain," and we all know how vital complaining is to my life.  I won't talk about who I vote for and don't want to know who you vote for, I just want to make sure that you do vote.  Besides there are people, women, all over the world willing to lay down their lives for the opportunity to cast their ballot; the least we can do as Americans is exercise that right.  Use it or lose it.  Don't be complacent, it could happen.  Big kiss.
--Barbara