Be Not Idle

I fell off the face of the Earth. But with a long rope,  a powerful winch, and a well-placed pogostick, I returned.

Work is winding down. Other than a couple projects due in August, it looks like I’ll have some free time this summer. Except for the week the sobrinos invade.

Yesterday Brother the Elder came to retrieve furniture and to accept his birthday dinner. He brought along a couple of his minions children. The youngest took one look at my calendar and cackled diabolically because her school gets out this week. She immediately planned a weeklong vacation for herself and two siblings, courtesy of me. 

Brother the Elder had no problem with it, of course. She actually started writing it on the calendar before consulting me! What nerve! I’m so very proud to see that, despite his best efforts, he’s raising a social butterfly just like his dear ol’ Sis.

However, I’ve warned them: Child labor laws mean nothing during their soujourn. I’ve got a shed that needs painting, beds that need weeding, and windows that need scrubbing.  If the weather cooperates, the girls will learn to cook some of my favorite dishes (I already have aprons for them).

And the Young Master has announced that he is allowed to work with wood, provided he doesn’t use powertools without permission. (Insert manly grunt here.) Maybe he can build me a bookshelf or a garden bench from the scrap I have.  

In the meantime, of course, I’ve got to figure out what to feed them and where to store them they’ll sleep at night. The Young Master declared dibs on the inflatable mattress, so my only concern is how to keep the girls from sleeping in my bed. Particularly the youngest, whom I’ve dubbed “Ninja Sleeper” for her accurate strikes on my neck and back.

The whole endeavor reminds me of that old puzzle about moving a wolf, a sheep and a cabbage across the Nile.

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