Family, Fun, and Faucets

We're having the family over for the 'Easter get-together: only 16 or so folks, besides our still-at-home kids. Some of the younger nieces and nephews are young adults, mostly on the west coast, setting up their own lives.

It's a good time: I mostly sit back and patch into the conversations.

Ah! #3 daughter's Easter egg hunt has begun. The (younger) kids have roped some of the adults in on the action.

One of my sisters-in-law was handling this event until - last year, I think. I'm glad we could pick it up. She gets to relax (comparatively - but that's another story), and I get the fun of watching the show 'while in the comfort of my own home.'

I'd help with preparations, but decades of married life has taught me that sometimes I serve best by staying out of the way.

A nephew got his first vehicle-related ticket today. We hadn't told the family about the new parking regulations here on Ash Street. Sure, it was just a warning: and for a parking violation, at that. But still: that was his first ticket! He was impressed. And, I think, a little pleased.

One of my sons-in-law is in construction, and my father-in-law rebuilt the basement of his house. I don't mean put in a rec room. It's an old house, and the foundations needed work: so he put in bracing, jacked the house up, dug out more basement & worked on the foundation, then lowered the house back in place.

It's quite a family.

That bunch, and some of the younger generation, clustered around a video showing a new-tech flood fence developed in Norway. It's being used in the Fargo flood - and that's yet another story.

#1 daughter told me that it's fun, watching guys who build things study a video like that. She's right: it is. (And yes: I was watching, too.)

My 'construction' son-in-law noticed that we've got water damage around our kitchen faucet. No surprises there. There'd been a discussion of the plumbing going on - and he was more-or-less confirming something we'd expected.

After a couple decades of quick fixes, saving, and duct tape: we're replacing most of the plumbing fixtures in our house. This year. Unless something unexpected happens.

Which could happen. And has. Often.

Whatever else my life has been: it hasn't been boring.

Back to enjoying being with the folks.