Both of my guys are gone to work, scrambled egg skillet washed and away, and I had the privilege of enjoying my second cup of coffee on the porch, silent, watching the rain fall, feeling like one of the luckiest women on this earth.

I’m almost afraid to say this, but I think our phone/alarm/Internet issues may be finally solved. One of the joys of living in a home built in 1966, is dealing with the fact that it was simply not wired with today’s technology in mind. The alarm guy was here all afternoon tracing lines through the attic, crawl space, inside, outside, and in the basement. He left a mess everywhere he went, but fortunately, he seemed to know more about phone jacks and lines than the AT&T guy who ruined our morning last Thursday. For the first time since we moved in here three years ago, everything works. Big knock on wood!

The best tip I received from one of my many doctor’s appointments last week was a website for travel clothing, TravelSmith.com. We received our TravelSmith delivery yesterday and I’m good to go. BF wasn’t quite as lucky with sizes and we had to reorder some stuff for him. Plenty of time. Their claim to fame is that one can wash all of his or her clothing items in the sink, hang it to dry overnight, and it’s wrinkle-free and ready to go the next morning. Buying their clothing allows the experienced traveler to pack for weeks of overseas vacation with only a carry-on. They sell those too. I would be remiss not to share one of the claims from their packaging, “17 countries. 6 weeks. And one pair of underwear.” I’m all about packing light, but If I can’t take at least two sets of underwear, I’m not going.

We met the Dixons 3 (Mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law) for a visit and a fine Mexican dinner last night. In this time period of the blended family, BF married me and was blessed with an extra mother-in-law in the mix. That may not sound like a major asset, but if you knew our bonus mother-in-law, you’d know that it actually is. She’s a sweetie and she loves my BF. We munched on chips and yummy, melted white cheese dip, while reminiscing about last summer’s adventure. At this time a year ago, BF and I were in Italy with our Dixon brother-in-law and his group of Plein Air Painters. We definitely want to take our new TravelSmith underwear back to Italy someday soon. Both pair!