I am currently watching NASCAR while my mother and step-father sleep, having just enjoyed a text conversation with my dear friend D. Boy, does she know how to say just the most outrageous comment to bring a smile when tears are at the ready!

Six hours today were spent working on Mother's website, adding three profiles to her recent project gallery. Part of the time I was able to listen to Sugarland, but mostly it was a tense push-and-pull session of getting her to make decisions and draft text and approve photos (some of which needed judicious editing). I am glad the task is completed and do not resent doing so because the skill is a talent of mine that I like to be able to share with others...even family.

Our second ugly moment came when she abruptly asked, while pointing to the antique mirror in my living area, "Do you want me to take that home and send you my bulletin board?"

Many moments passed before my MS-burdened brain caught her meaning, and I firmly declined her offer. I explained that they were notes B hid around the house to let me know that I was loved and I left them on the mirror because it has been a tough time lately and the visual reminder bolsters me in the low moments.

She responded that it was tacky and she was only offering professional advice.

I rejoined that there is a difference between professional advice and judgmental criticism. Her question had nothing to do with offering interior design advice on my home and everything to do with being cruel.

In spite of my worries, dinner with Pastor D and his family was fairly pleasant. For all they did not want to go, my parents treated them to dinner, which was a great gift to Pastor D. His eldest two children are smart young things, whom I enjoyed talking with while crossing my fingers that the conversation at the other end of the table was acceptable. Part of this avoidance process involved shoving copious amounts of french fry wedges into my mouth--something my innards are regretting quite vigorously right now.

We stopped by Lowe's to purchase items for further yard work: sand to reset those blasted steps again, new gloves since mine were not in good enough condition for her hands, new pruning shears for the same reason (she paid for these), bug spray for humans, bug spray for the plants, rose food (Mother pruned mine down to 12 inches for me on Friday), and plant food for everything else. I also purchased a night light for the guest bathroom since the one in there was insufficient to her needs, new light bulbs for the one in the guest bathroom she broke, and and a second board to put behind the couch to keep it from hitting the wall and blocking the air-conditioning vent since the first one she advised I purchase (six inches wide) was too small. I treated myself to one plant that was on sale ($1.27) for my empty pot to assuage the tension of the clash between what I would like done in my yard verses Mother's plans regardless of my wishes.

Aiming for something positive in my life each day while on my vacation days, I backed up my computer and then installed the Service Pack 3 for XP. I also washed, dried, and folded 2 loads of laundry, sorted and filed a month's worth of paperwork, and hung the new shower curtain liner I purchased for my own bathroom.

Early tomorrow morning, they are going to the new Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. While I would like to go with them, I need to sleep and I know--especially after Thursday--I just cannot walk around for hours on end.

Today's negative exchange was better than yesterday's, but I pray that it is the last for this visit.

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NOTE: I slept with a Thermacare heat wrap around my neck and one on my back last night to help mitigate the pain from the excessive physical activity I have done over the past three days. My gratitude goes out to whoever discovered how to package warmth in such a handy fashion!

NOTE 2: I would be remiss should I not point out that my mother is an extremely gifted interior designer, who holds several post-degree certifications as well as a minor in architecture. I often say in all seriousness that she can move something one inch and change a whole room. She is also trained and skilled in universal design, working in accessible living space long before it was popular to do so. Finally, while mechanics are not her forte, Mother is a rather talented writer. Were we to ever truly work together, we would have been a formidable team, especially in a creative task such as marketing.

NOTE 3: Not 5 minutes after my step-father admonished me that I should not let Mother have her way in my yard, he ended up taking a quick shower ten minutes before we were to leave, although he had previously announced that he was not going to do so. What happened in those 5 minutes? My mother had come upstairs after getting ready and discovered that he was still in the clothes he wore while walking about the Smithsonian museums all day while we worked on her website.