Someone mentioned recently, yesterday maybe, that Pat Morita had died. Not that I ever knew him as much besides Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies and a few bit roles he had here and there, but he always seemed like a nice guy.

When I woke up this morning Andra had cleaned the entire kitchen, which was no small feat. I vacuumed the living room, which was pretty minor, and it was her suggestion besides. She’s such a care-giver. Mom and Amanda and I think Andra too all made a breakfast of eggs, bacon, twice-baked mashed potatoes (which were accidentally made yesterday when some were left in the oven too long, but were a hit) and rolls. While that was going on I was showing Dad how to rip CDs and burn mix CDs on the computer. He got the hang of it pretty quick, and when I called around 5:00 to say we’d gotten home okay, Mom said Dad was still playing on the computer while she was watching TV (like an Amanda and Zach night, she said).

Adam and Renee had left just a little earlier and Mom had told him to take some food. Well, he ended up taking almost all of it! There was some turkey left for the rest of us to split, but other than that and some cucumber salad, it was almost all gone. I didn’t care, but I think some others would have enjoyed having a few more leftovers.

We made a stop or two on the way back and then caught up on some tv. Karen had gotten Amanda these, I don’t know what they’re called- Christmas houses that light up things. They’re collectables, and anyway we set those up too. Amanda accidentally broke a flag putting one into its hole, but the superglue seems to be doing the trick.

I forgot to mention- Andra and Josh brought with them a little white lab mix puppy. They’d gotten him because Josh’s brother had gotten him but couldn’t keep him. Josh called him Sir Barkley, so he was called Barkley, Barks and Baxter over the course of the weekend. Anyway, they were offering him out since they’re not in any great position to have a young puppy right now. Last I heard, David was deciding whether or not he could take him, because he wanted to get another dog (his last one, Yassi, suddenly died about a year ago, and he was pretty upset). Aunt Robbie was also tempted with Barks. Linda was worried that the puppy wouldn’t get along with their dog, Scruffy (not to be confused with the Scruffy at my parents’ house). The puppy had been taken to Pup Pup’s (where AR and Linda were staying) to see if they’d get along.