Time Flies When You're ...

hmmm...  Having fun?  I guess you could say that.  I've had my dad here visiting this week, and that combined with the normal chaos of life around these parts means that I've had nary a moment to brush my teeth, much less write a little bit.  I actually have this post that I've been meaning and wanting to write for a while now, about time management, but I seriously have not had time to write it!  But when I do, I know you're going to agree with me.  

My dad is 70, and he's had Parkinson's Disease for about 30 years.  He gets around really well, considering that, but he can't be by himself at home, so when my mom goes somewhere, he usually comes here.  The only place my mom ever goes without him, actually, is to take her sister - who is mentally disabled - on a trip every summer.  This year they are in Charleston, SC, so they dropped my dad off on the way.  Having my dad around is a bit like having an extra child around, except I find him to be less predictable than the children I live with all the time.  Maybe it's that, despite his advanced Parkinson's related problems, he is still very smart and can be cagey when he wants to do something he knows I won't like.  He has actually behaved very well on this trip, and Ruby has taken a real shine to him, so that's been fun for both of them.  He has also been giddy with delight at the fact that our giant, giant fig tree is covered in figs, so he's been spending a good part of each day out there picking figs.  My dad is totally compulsive about fruit in general, but figs in particular, and he cannot stand to see the birds get them, so he stays out there working despite extreme heat or bodily injury.  Today he had fallen into some figs that were mashed on the ground, and they were all over his legs, but he didn't see the need to come in and clean up at that point.  He didn't come in until he started feeling something stinging him, and realized that it was wasps eating the fruit right off of him and then going on to his legs for dessert.  We canned them this afternoon and, I have to admit, they are really good. 

Anyway, we have been having fun, and then he'll go back tomorrow, so maybe sometime soon I can sit down and explain my theory of how everything can function perfectly no matter how many children you have if you just use my simple system.  If only.