Herding cats

Lots of pictures, but this is part of my wonderful family.

I've just spent twenty-four hours with my two sons and their families. Colin and all drove up from Houston to see Jamie's new house in Frisco, and good friends Elizabeth and Weldon drove me to Frisco (gave my little car a much-needed road trip) and stayed for several hours to visit. My sons are men I'm proud of and their families are wonderful--wives are busy career women, terrific moms, fun to be with, and the children are all happy, enthusiastic,  well-mannered and, above all, loving.
Last night we were headed out for dinner at six. It was seven before we got everyone together and out the door. Herding cats! We went to a sushi restaurant in The Shops at Legacy (Plano, TX), a place I'd heard about but never been. Charming restaurant/shopping area. But the sushi place was crowded by 7:30 on a Saturday night--an hour and a half wait to eat inside, half an hour outside. We opted for outside but waited inside where the noise level was deafening. When we finally were seated, there was a bit of a breeze and it wasn't bad at all. Hard to converse with nine at a long table, but  I had Jamie and Mel on either side of me and we talked some. Salmon sashimi was good, and I had a great salad with a soy/ginger vinaigrette.
This morning Mel announced she was going to take the kids to the park while it was cool--this was about nine. I declined to go. By the time they left, with a cooler full of water bottles, it was almost eleven--herding cats again. Jamie came in from his run and also declined to go, so he and I had a good visit. But he began to worry that he hadn't heard from Mel--turns out Maddie (thirteen) had heat exhuastion. Mel took her to the ER clinic while Colin brought everyone else home. The patient is fine--had an IV and was ordered to stay out of the heat and sun for at least 24 hours. No basketball, no swimming, nada. But a bit scary for us.
Colin intended to leave at 1:00--we left at 2:15. Herding cats again. But the Houston Alters were so good to bring me home on their way to Houston--way out of the way, but otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to spend the night there and see them.
Got home to a peaceful, quiet house. Moksha, who looks after my animals, had the dogs in their beds so they'd be out of the afternoon heat. Scoob got really excited by the children but settled down. I realized that even a one-night respite from caring for him was great. I slept nine hours last night. Woke at 7:45 without hearing a dog snort and lick and whine. I'll always take good care of him--but the vacation was nice.
Even nicer was being with my family. Such a blessing.

What haven't you done?

I've lost three friends lately, although only one of them was close--a woman a bit older than me who has befriended me for years. I liked and admired her and looked forward to our visits--she was always upbeat and fun to be with. We cared about each other's families and compared notes, shared memories of the good old days. Then there was the husband of my high school best friend--I knew him of course. We'd had good visits, most recently when they were here two or three years ago for a weekend. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather, active in his community and his church, devout. We differed politically but that's minor, and I was fond of him--above all because my friend loved him and he made her happy. Then there's a man who I may not have seen even in passing in ten years but when our children were little, his then-family and my then-family were close--makes me think how people and family situations change. This man was exactly my age. So each of these losses hit me in a different way but each had its impact. I said sort of idly last night that it's hard when your contemporaries die, and my neighbor looked at me and asked,
"If you didn't wake up tomorrow, what would you have not done that you want to do?" He went on to point out that I've raised beautiful children, I have wonderful grandchildren, I've had a good career, I've finally written the mystery that I wanted to--I could have added and I've been to Scotland. That was a biggie for me.
Those of you who read this blog frequently know that I often end a post with "Life is sweet." I told Jay last night that's why I want to wake up in the morning. Religious theory about the afterlife aside, I'm probably happier with my life now than I ever have been. I want to eat right, exercise, do all those things so I can keep enjoying this good life.
No, there's not much in my life that I really wanted to do and haven't yet done--but that doesn't feel like an ending. It feels like a beginning, because I always find new things I want to do, accomplish, new plans to make, family visits to anticipate, a new book to write. No regrets but I'm sure not ready to get off the merryground.
How about you? Is there something  you'd regret not having done?
Thunder is rolling outside, and Jacob claims he can't sleep because there's a tornado outside his window. He's in my bed now, but still bright-eyed. I have given up the idea of constructive writing for the night. Even so, life is sweet--just extra busy this week.