August 30, 2016 - Tuesday - Today we laid mom to rest. 99% of the time I'm blissfully happy being single. I would never have thought of this, but a wonderful, kind friend asked to spend the day with me so I'd have a hand to hold the whole time and I wouldn't be alone. Yes, I have a big family and Riley there by my side, but it made a world of difference to have her with me.

August 29, 2016 - Monday - Almost 30 years ago my uncle passed. The funeral was in winter and my 10 year old cousin, who had just lost his dad, said he was cold. I gave him my scarf. I didn't remember this. He gave it back to me tonight at mom's visitation hoping it would give me a bit of comfort like it did him. You never know what small gestures mean something to someone.

August 28, 2016 - Sunday - I spent the day collecting photos of mom and the family. It was fun and sad at the same time. Actually I spent a lot of the day still avoiding doing this. I finally got serious late in the day. I put together a slide show for mom's visitation tomorrow.

August 27, 2016 - Friday - I drove out to the country today. Mom and Dad live next door to my brother. My brother was having another big dinner like we've done a million times. In our family before a big meal we all gather, hold hands and usually Dad or my brother will say a prayer. This one was different.

August 26, 2016 - Friday - I was given the task of creating a slide show for mom's services next week. In an attempt to avoid it all I found an app that let's me use my iPad as a second screen for my laptop. I will now be getting a lot more use from my iPad.

August 25, 2016 - Thursday - A long while back I took a photo of flowers like these on my mom's porch. My sister has some now. When we were in high school there would be times you'd pull the shower curtain back and the tub would be full of hanging and potted plants. Mom went from killing fake plants to being able to grow anything.

August 24, 2016 - Wednesday - Mom passed today.

August 23, 2016 - Tuesday - Today was another long, difficult day at the hospital. I almost hate admitting this but tonight I really need this one.

August 22, 2016 - Monday - Today a bunch of the family gathered at the hospital again. We got some disappointing news and the weather was really reflecting all our hearts. Fortunately two of my niece's little girls was there to keep our spirits up. Without even knowing what they were doing they were like sunshine.

August 21, 2016 - Sunday - This is my uncle. When I first started growing out my beard all my cousins said I looked like him. He said he heard the same thing and immediately shaved. He's a bit sarcastic like most everyone else in my family. He used to pick up me and my brothers when we were little and take us to Putt Putt and Pizza Hut all the time.

August 20, 2016 - Saturday - I met another friend who was celebrating their birthday this week too. We even had dessert. It was delicious. Dark chocolate brownie with vanilla bean ice cream, salted caramel, hazelnuts on the side and two spoons because seriously I would eat my own but I shouldn't.

August 19, 2016 - Friday - I went to meet a friend to celebrate her birthday. I left a little early and when I got there the Cowboy game was on. It was a good time. We got a late start but it's been a while since I've stayed out that late. She's clearly not the only getting older.

August 18, 2016 - Thursday - I think I'm going to have to pull Biscuits teeth out or stop letting them sleep in the bed. I really liked these sheets too.

August 17, 2016 - Wednesday - I drove out to meet a friend for dinner. I have some friends and family that are having birthdays today so I will be have a drink or two in their honor too. The weather was bad and there was an accident on the highway. It was quicker to get on the service road and go through the lights.

August 16, 2016 - Tuesday - Today was a long day. I had a very early start today and by the time I got home I didn't feel like cooking. That and I have nothing to eat in the house. I really need to go and do some grocery shopping.

August 15, 2016 - Monday - I bought some drinks and snacks for my trip out to the country to see the meteor shower. Since it didn't happen I snacked on them for dinner tonight.

August 14, 2016 - Sunday - Spent most of the day relaxing at home on my couch watching the Olympics. Today's events included some cleaning, laundry, cooking and a bit of a nap too.

August 13, 2016 - Saturday - This is the view from the window in mom's room. There's been lots of ups and downs over the last couple of weeks, but we're still very optimistic. It's always a good time spending time with family. For some reason there were a lot of us visiting mom all at the same time.

August 12, 2016 - Friday -  I was hoping to go out to the country tonight to try to see the Perseid meteor shower. It started raining early this afternoon and ended late in the afternoon. A friend and I drove up to McKinney in the hopes that the cloud cover would break up. It didn't but we found a place that had a great jazz group playing and a good dessert.

August 11, 2016 - Thursday - I really love this service. I save about $20 a month on dog food and it's all delivered to my door every three weeks. I haven't been to Sam's in several months now.

August 10, 2016 - Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner!!! I only had a handful of tomatoes so I decided to make myself a small frittata. No potatoes this time. Just a bit of ham and cheese and some Ziziki's seasoning. I love breakfast any time of the day. This was so quick and easy I might start making these more often.

August 9, 2016 - Tuesday - I met a friend for dinner after work. I got there a little early and had a bit of time to kill. So here's a photo of my beer. I was sat right under a light and thought this looked interesting.

August 8, 2016 - Monday - The sock on the left I've had for a long while. The sock on the right I bought last week. I like the socks enough to buy some more and these are essentially identical except for this stitching on the bottom. However, I can't bring myself to not pair them correctly or wear them if they don't match even though no one will ever know.

August 7, 2016 - Sunday - I was invited to another 5 year old's birthday party. There were lots of kids and I realized how much fun kid's birthday parties are when you're not responsible for any children. I was teasing the host about starting to crash birthday parties and hitting on the single moms. The cake was really good.

August 6, 2016 - Saturday - I spent most of the day with a friend. We started with a late lunch, then a movie, dessert and then dinner. Dinner was kind of a bad idea. It was delicious but we were both stuffed. This was just as the sun was setting.

August 5, 2016 - Friday - Here's the melon salad I mentioned the other day. It was a success. The people here at work didnt' mind being guinea pigs for me. I'm not a big fan of cantaloupe but this was really good. Fresh basil, black pepper, tomatoes and burrata cheese with a little olive oil. Mmmmm.

August 4, 2016 - Thursday - Riley came into town to have dinner with me. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse in honor of the Rio Olympics. It was a good time visiting and talking about what we want to do in Rome. It seems visiting the catacombs is not gonna happen. I wish I had a glass or two of this the other night with my spaghetti.

August 3, 2016 - Wednesday - Today was a bit of a rough day. Mom had a bit of a scare at the hospital this morning and dad had a rough time dealing with it. I guess we all did. Fortunately it was only a scare and things seemed to be looking up by the end of the day. I came home this is all I had left of my Nyquil. Tomorrow will be better.

August 2, 2016 - Tuesday - I met a friend for dinner after work. Afterward we went back to her place so she could share some of her basil with me. Too bad I didn't have this yesterday, but I do have big plans for this. We made a melon salad at the last cooking class I went to and I'm going experiment on the people at work later this week.

August 1, 2016 - Monday - I came home and made a simple spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner. I put in lots of garlic and made it a little peppery. It was so good I decided I needed to watch The Godfather, Part II. The only downside was that I didn't have any wine in the house.