well, it’s 63degrees and rainy today—a real drop from last week’s humid 90’s.  my absence from the blogs is due to a flurry of fix-it gardening, some power-shopping, and various appointments. 

the master gardeners’  tour de fleur was last week-end;  sister and i had a date saturday morning, but it was pouring rain during most of  our visits.  we took our umbrellas and enjoyed as much as we could, but it was kinda disappointing–especially since it stopped raining soon after we quit.  i had to work at one of the gardens for service hours on sunday, but donna and lennie went out and toured them in the sunshine that day.  there were some very inspiring gardens and i wish i could have taken pictures.   oh, well, here’s a fresh pic of my trellis garden:

now here’s some excitement:  the general manager of ellis park is an old friend from my dr. k days and i had told him about 10 years ago that i thought it would be fun to work at the track.  lo and behold, he called me last thursday and said their long-time nurse was retiring and would i like to work the season this year?  would i!!!  i’ll be working from post-time through the last race at 4:30, 10 weeks of fri-sat-sun, making very decent money, and doing not-much nurse-wise, leaving me time to flirt with the riders and horsemen…i hope!!!    my emotional connection with the track goes way back and was underscored when my ex-husband died over there 6 years ago (you’ll have to go back to the original sonnystone blog to read about that).   i still feel his presence whenever i’m there (though he never gives me any tips, dammit).  but i also think of my great-grandmother and mother, who squired us over there when we were kids;  my mom taking her grandkids out there every summer;  and of course, we celebrate michael’s birthday every year at the track.  i’m so excited to work there (and did i mention the $$ is decent). 

i’m looking for piano players to fill in on saturday evenings up at church for the season—i could/can make it there after the final race, but would rather not.  anybody?

i’m just about ready to pack for the NYC trip.  leaving sunday afternoon, coming back friday evening.  i can hardly wait to get my hands on eliza and my #1 emma.  i do need to get away for a while…