That's What Friends are For

OK, now I know there's been an announcement that I'm back, and that the Monkey can take a well deserved break. And now that I'm back I had three posts? What's that about?

We've had a wonderful family staying at our house while we've been away. As fate would have it, our visit coincided with a breakdown of the air conditioner in their own house. So we gained house sitters, and they got to enjoy a temperature somewhere below 97 degrees. Pretty good trade off, right? Well, they thought so too, but they went the extra mile. Most house guests break and dirty things--they fixed and cleaned things.

I came back to find a sparkly-clean master bath, a fixed light switch, extra snackage and drinkage. . .it was terrific. The only (slight) downside was that their air was not yet repaired. So, there has been one additional day of togetherness, along with yet more bonus chores and food. One more fixed light switch, a new wall jack for the phone. A new wine rack in the family room! And an organized inventory of our DVDs. I should do this more often.

This evening, the air was finally fixed, but before departure, we enjoyed pizza, chicken wings and a TV show. They've gone home, and our cat couldn't be happier. She had to share the house with their dog, you see, and she lacks the hospitality gene. All in all, we got to help them, and they bent over backwards to help us. My profound thanks.

And now, hopefully, there will be time to blog! I have much catching up to do.