Yesterday I opened the four boxes that Sandy had said would arrive on Friday (which they did) and was greeted with all sorts of goodies.  There were a couple of my quilts, four sets of placemats and two giraffe bags I made for Mom, all of which she'd enjoyed so of course they are especially special to me.  I was a little concerned when the bookshelf quilt I'd made Dad, using family photos, wasn't in one of the boxes; I was a little worried that box had gotten waylaid on its trip here, but (happily!) it turns out that a couple of quilts just haven't been sent yet since Sandy will need some help getting them down off the wall.  

I haven't yet gone through the box of Mom's earrings (that's on today's To Do List), or the (surprise!) yellow folder which seems to contain all the thank you notes and letters that Lisa and Alex had written over the years.  They could be a hoot to read.  

Another surprise which made me happy was finding Mom's brown cardigan tucked in one box. Marilyn had sent each of us one several years ago, and I loved mine because it was very versatile in both color and weight.  Sadly it had gotten lost at the airport on one of my trips to Maryland, and Lost & Found had been NO help since it was always locked, no one at the airport had the key, and no one ever answered my phone calls to the number listed on the door, or returned any of the messages I left.

When Mary came over to walk Brownie she was in time to chauffeur me up to the library, before they closed at noon, to pick up the three books waiting there for me.  Because we were not the only ones with that thought we had to wait a while for our turn at one of the four pick-up spots, but I now have plenty of reading material because one of the books is especially hefty.  

Brownie enjoyed his walk, but again acted a little disappointed that I wasn't going along with them.  When they returned Mary was also kind enough to water some of the outside plants for me; that hadn't been done in at least 10 days, since some time before I broke my foot, and most were looking pretty thirsty. 

Andy called yesterday with some information, and a request for me to write up Mom's obit.  Not only is that something that can be done from a distance, but of course it's one less thing for him to do at that end, where he and Sandy have been shouldering the full load.

This morning I got started on that and sent him a first draft to see if I'm on the right track.  He says I am!