Thank you lord...

...All visitors have departed. No more company scheduled for the immediate future. We should be able to get back to "normal" this week.

By the time "old friend Ray" left, I was ready to kill him. Now, I promise I didn't show how I felt, I was very civil the whole time.

But I'm not used to anyone (including my hub) bossing me around. If you're interested, here's another story about Ray...

A few days before he left, I was out doing some errands and when I got back, I heard him call me from the living room...in a very demanding voice..."Where have you been???…you said you would be back a little later and it's been 4 hours!"

Well, the errands took me longer than I expected. (I wanted to say...Excuse me, who do you think you are talking to, old man?)

Then immediately…"Where is your dog???"

I don't know Ray, I just walked in the door. He's probably outside. (He was.)

But, here's the next thing Ray said (yelled really)

"The doctor just called and (your husband) has cancer!!!"

WTF???? What do you mean, Ray?

"Well, I probably shouldn't have said anything, you need to ask (your husband) about it."

Of course, I am panicked. I have visions of chemo and radiation therapy and losing my best friend. I race to find my hub, who is sitting outside talking to a neighbor. I come up and they continue chatting. And chatting. I finally can't stand it...I interrupt and ask "Do you have cancer??? Ray just told me the doctor says you have cancer!"

Hub looks at me like I'm crazy. Then it dawns on him what Ray was talking about…a week ago when he was getting a check up, the doctor took off a small skin spot…that turned out to be "CANCER"…basal cell cancer. The doctor called to tell him and Ray was in the room when hub and the doctor discussed it on the phone.

Basal cell carcinoma. The most common skin cancer. Hub has had a few other of these little spots removed over the past 10 years.

BFD.

Take it off and live for another 40 years. Die of something else.

Hub said..."Dear, if I had cancer, you would be the third person to know, after the doctor and myself. It certainly wouldn't be Ray, and he had no business saying anything like that to you."

Along with being very relieved, it was at that moment that I wanted to KILL RAY. I don't care how old and frail he is, he was becoming a menace to my mental health.

But killing him was against the law. So I didn't. But I was PISSED. After that, I just avoided him as much as possible, without it being too obvious, until he left a few days later.

Anyway, that was just one typical fun-filled day with Ray, there were many other similar happy moments...thank the lord, he finally went home last Friday.

Then enter hub's best friend from San Francisco and his daughter "L"…these are the friends I do really love. I wrote about these friends in December. "L" is the one I hiked the crater with on the Big Island.

She and I took 2 really long hikes this weekend...then we all spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the sunshine (wearing hats and sunscreen, of course), drinking adult beverages, and eating good food. It was a wonderful weekend and made up a lot for the stressful week with Ray.

But all good things must end, and our friends went home this morning on a 6 a.m. flight…I had to take them to the airport at 4:30, and then go straight to work, so I'm pretty tired right now. I think I'm going to bed.