Too Much Sleep Last Night

I was sitting here last night either on the computer or working a crossword puzzle, and felt my head nodding.  This was at 7:15!  I thought why should I fight it and went to bed, although one of my sons called and we talked for about 15 minutes.  It's strange to go to bed that early but I didn't fight it.  I got up at my regular time this morning and you'd think I felt rested, but I don't.  I made myself walk at the gym, and then drove to pick up a big package Donald had wrapped for Jeanne's and my shower gift tomorrow, but that's the extent of it.

I found a 3-ring binder of extensive research and info on a trip I made several years ago - the year the Feds shut down the national parks!  When I look at those old records I can't believe how organized I can be, but usually only with subjects that completely interest me and hold my attention.   I went through all the tabbed dividers and removed most of my printouts for paper recycling.  I hate to throw it out but I know I will never go that way again, and if I go anywhere I will want to do the research all over again anyway - the fun part!

The last few trips made have found me staying at motels rather than camping most of the time.  I'd like to camp, although the tent I would use is a Big Agnes 4 person tent (which would be tight with 4 persons).  I bought it thinking Lady and I would forever share the space, but now that she is gone the tent is way too big for me.  It is also not as easy to set up as a backpacking tent, but on the positive side it has room to stand up.  It also holds my big air mattress which is a plus over the smaller backpacking sleeping pads.

I'm determined to go camping somewhere next summer, whether I travel to the east coast or not.  The problem is if there are forest fires which mean smoky air, and I don't want to breathe that stuff, which means that likely any California location is out.  With us barely into fall, I know I'm jumping the gun on next summer!

My wandering girls left Cincinnati for Missouri, where they met Ara's friend.  He changed the oil in her car this morning which makes me feel much better.  I kept preaching to Jeannie before she left that they needed to get an oil change before starting out the trip, but with such relatively little time to cover all the space and see all the people they want to see, I understand why they wouldn't want to sit at a Jiffy Lube for half an hour!  So far they have had a wonderful trip with good weather.  May it continue.

I'm going to buy an art table when it goes on sale at Michael's this weekend, and put it into my spare room.  The lighting is so much better in there than trying to do anything in my living room, and there is an overhead light as well.  I just put new bulbs in the fixture and washed the glass cover in the dishwasher.  It hasn't been this clean for a long time.  I had to get on my 1-step ladder to get the fixture off but think I will wait for one of the boys to put it back on for me.  It isn't easy for me to work overhead.

Can any readers who paint with acrylics tell me if I can paint a coat of white over a painting I'm not happy with, and start all over from scratch?  It's only a 5  x 7 canvas and I'm unhappy with what I've painted - no depth to it for one thing.  I will probably just end up throwing the canvas away, but I hate to waste anything.

Tomorrow we will go back down to the low 70's for a couple of days, and then into some rainy 60's.  I'm hoping we get a decent amount of rain.