"Its' so nice to have a man around the house"

Andy, my former husband, is staying at my house for a few days. He came up from Hampton, VA to attend the memorial service for our friend Linda. The service was today. It was not an emotional service and there was very little crying. There was a lovely rendition of 'Amazing Grace' by a young flute player. (I used to play flute, so am partial to that instrument.) A close friend of Linda and Rob read his own and Rob's memories of Linda. I think the two readings touched on most aspects of Linda's life. The stories told made me think, "Oh, yes, that's just like Linda". After the service, there was a reception with finger food. Many friends from my former church were there, some whom I had not seen since the funeral of another friend, two years ago. It's sad to think that I only see some of these folks when someone we know dies. We stayed until nearly everyone had left and then went out to wander around Annapolis for a while. Lots of new stores since we last shopped there. A big football game was scheduled for mid-afternoon at the Naval Academy and the streets were full of Midshipmen in their whites. Andy and I enjoyed the art galleries and shops, but didn't buy anything. After an hour or so, we headed for home.

When Andy said he'd like to stay here for the weekend, I warned him that I had a few home repair items that I wanted him to help me with. When we got home, he had a cigarette (I do wish he didn't smoke.) and a cup of coffee and started in. The first thing was for him to instruct me in replacing some electrical outlets. When I moved in, almost all the outlets needed to be replaced because the plugs were loose in them and would fall part way out. Andy replaced about a dozen outlets, however, there were a couple that I wasn't using, so didn't replace. Since then, I've started using those outlets, so they needed to be replaced. Andy told me what to do and I did the work on the first outlet. On the second one, I told him not to say anything unless I did something wrong. He had a lot of trouble with that, as I am slower than he and he kept wanting to help. However, I did both outlets and they now work as they should.

Next, he took a look at a problem with one of the sliding screen doors in the basement. This door has been damaged for some time. (My son-in-law ran into it, not realizing there was a screen. In England, they don't use screens in the doors or windows because there aren't many insects trying to get in.) For about a year now, I have been unable to move the screen at all. It was out of the track, and I could not get it back on or do anything else with it. Andy tinkered around with it and managed to get it back onto the track. It is still a bit bent, but it does open and shut now, which is all that is important. You will note that I did not suggest that he should tell me what to do and just let me do the work on this!

The last thing he did was to sand and scrape the edge of the door to the powder room., Since I painted the door the other day, it has been sticking if closed all the way. Unfortunately, Andy had to remove several layers of paint before the door would close easily. Now, I will have to repaint the door and the frame. Hopefully, when I do this, the door will still close! I certainly could have sanded and scraped the paint off the door myself. However, Andy wanted to do something for me, so I let him! Too bad I don't have a whole bunch of projects for him to do. He'll be here all day tomorrow. We'll have to find something to do to keep him busy, so that I don't have to chat with him all the time. He is VERY DEAF now, and I am shouting in order to have him hear me. As a result I am losing my voice.

I think we are going out to dinner soon, so I will end this. I'm thinking maybe Chinese tonight.