What a mess...

was my garage. David was a trooper, helping me to destroy and recycle the myriad carboard boxes ("Save the box in case you have to send it back, or to transport it when you next move" was the mantra, and of course the things that came in those boxes are long gone). The recycling truck will be busy -- we filled the recycling bin and two trash cans with cardboard, plus one trash can with trash. Once those are gone, there should be room for the car.

Once the boxes were flattened, we hit Home Depot and bought 24 feet of shelves and installed them. That got a lot of stuff and all my toolboxes off the floor. There are still some boxes to go through, but by and large, I'm done. I may go back and get more shelves for the other side of the garage when spring comes. There were already three shelves that cover the entire width of the garage at the back and they could use some neatening up when it gets warmer. That cold concrete slab just sucks the heat out of your body through the soles of your feet, so doing much in the garage will have to wait -- the space heater we had out there didn't do much good.

The garage door was replaced this afternoon and it looks great. It's a paneled door. One young man did mine and my neighbor's in under three hours in the bitter cold -- all by himself. I spent my time digitizing the three choruses from Schubert's Rosamunde, a much warmer occupation.

Saturday night I went with a fellow chorus member to see a lovely musical, I Love You Because, at Alex's theatre. It was really a great show and got a standing ovation. Good singing, good acting, good musicians, good play. It was funny and sweet and very enjoyable.

Sitting behind us was a couple that used to be in the chorus, and who, in fact, let us all watch their courtship many years ago. Their oldest son is a year older than Alex, and they used to bring him trick or treating at our house when the kids were small. They loved seeing Alex as the mature young woman she has become and we had a great time catching up.

Yesterday David and I went to Dayton for a family get together. His sister April is still here, waiting for all her papers to arrive so that she can go back to the UK to work for the next 8 or 9 months, and she is staying with their mother. We took them out for pizza and met David's two other sisters and one brother-in-law at the restaurant. Such a family -- in your face, opinionated, funny.

David and I and perhaps his recently widowed sister Debbie are planning to go to visit her in April.

We came back here for the night, and David left very early this morning to get home to vocalize. He sang at a funeral this afternoon for the mother of another former chorus member while I waited for the garage door to be installed. He just called a while ago to say that it went well and that he was heading home for a nap before going back to work tonight.

I'm enjoying a peaceful day after the crazy and busy weekend, and I may just take a nap. It's back to work tomorrow.

I hope to be able to walk across the street to the Underground Railroad Freedom Center to watch the inauguration (they're broadcasting on a big screen in their auditorium), but in case there are business things happening, I'm taking a portable TV to the office just in case.

One of my co-workers, Babacar, a naturalized US citizen from Senegal, was given inauguration tickets by our newest Congressman, Steve Driehaus, and flew to D.C. yesterday. He was so excited to be a part of the event. He's promised to wave to every camera he sees -- so if you see a 6'5" black man with glasses with a big grin on his face, it's probably him.

The way he came to know Congressman Driehaus is a great story. About a dozen years ago, Babacar and a Senegalese friend were eating at a restaurant in northern Kentucky, just across the Ohio River. At a nearby table was a man (Steve Driehaus). He was with two women. Babacar's friend made some cute comment to Babacar, in their native language, Wolof, about how lucky that guy was to have two women to eat with.

Driehaus responded to the remark -- in Wolof -- and of course, Babacar and his friend nearly fell off their chairs. It turned out that Driehaus had served in Senegal in the Peace Corps and knew Wolof well. Babacar and (now Congressman) Driehaus have been friends ever since. It really is a small world, after all.