Sunday, August 9, 2026

Chase and Daddy were having a big golf get-together on Sunday. Their tee time was 10 a.m. at the Columbia Golf Club. Joining them were Elias, Uncle Chris, Uncle Will-Bill, Uncle Chuck, Uncle George, and Uncle Stan. Mama and Nanaw think that Chase was especially happy to play golf with cousin Elias. After church, Nanaw went out to Wentzville to have lunch with her friends Joyce and Betty. Nanaw invited Mama to join them for lunch but she declined because she had a lot of work to do. She has to get the house back in order after the mess of the floor laying. Nanaw has known Joyce and Betty for many years but hasn’t seen them since last October. On Sunday evening, Mama sent Nanaw the photo below of Chase in the kitchen looking like he’s cooking. Nanaw texted Mama to find out exactly what he’s doing, and Mama said they had homemade pizza for dinner. Chase was putting his together. Mama said Daddy and Chase seemed to have fun golfing today. Mama said she was really tired from all the work she did today.

Saturday, August 8, 2026

On Saturday morning, Nanaw discovered that Easter Sam had had an unexpected sleepover at Nanaw’s house so she sent a picture of him to Chase and Mama. Also on Saturday morning, Mama, Daddy and Chase went to Gibault to do some community service. Mr. G. wanted some dirt moved to the patio so people came with shovels, wheelbarrows, and one guy brought a tractor. They were there for three hours in the heat, and Mama said it was really hot. Chase will get three hours of community service toward his Gibault requirement of ten hours. Daddy and Chase went to five o’clock mass because they have a big golf game tomorrow. While they were at church, Mama took Travis the Traverse to the car wash and then came over to Nanaw’s house to pick up Tyler. Nanaw had told her she thought Tyler was depressed, and Mama should bring him home for a while. They still have to have the steps done but the man who does them is on vacation so they don’t know when he’ll be back to do their steps. Tyler will come back to Nanaw’s when the man does the steps. Mama texted Nanaw photos of Chase working at Gibault and of Tyler. Nanaw pointed out to Mama that from the pictures, it looks like their new floor goes well with their fireplace brick. For dinner, Mama went to McDonald’s.

Friday, August 7, 2026

Chase had a workout Friday morning from 10 to 11. He was happy about the fact that his friend Tucker would be in this workout also. Chase is always happy when that happens. On the way home from the workout, Chase told Nanaw that cousin Elias and his dad were coming to Columbia on Sunday to play golf. Chase said their tee time was 11 a.m. Chase sounded really happy about getting to golf with Elias. For lunch he had noodles left over from last night’s dinner at home. They looked kind of dry so Nanaw asked if she could put butter on them, and Chase finally agreed. It didn’t seem like much for lunch so Nanaw also fixed one of the Michaelina’s frozen fettuccine al fredo dinners. Uncle Mike came over in the afternoon to cut the grass. Nanaw gave Uncle Mike the candied orange slices Mama had bought for him. She bought them because last week Uncle Mike was reminiscing about candy from when he was little. One of the candies he talked about was the candied slices that looked like oranges. Mama knew which ones he meant and bought some for him. Uncle Mike shared them with Nanaw and Chase. When Nanaw took Chase home, she got to see the new floor in the hall and living room. It really looks beautiful. The only thing left to do are the steps. Nanaw didn’t get to see Mama because she stopped at Walmart and the library on her way home from work. She texted Nanaw that after she got home they all went to Play It Again in O’Fallon, Illinois and Chase bought a sand wedge golf club, and they had Chik Filet for dinner. Nanaw texted back that Chase was going to be the best equipped golfer ever. 

Thursday, August 6, 2026

Chase had a haircut appointment with Brittany today. They had their usual nice chat and at the end of the appointment, Brittany showed Chase how to style his hair with the Gorilla hairstyling spray. Mama had asked that they ask Brittany to do that. After the appointment, they went to Gibault to pick up Chase’s school schedule. At first, they just stood in the lobby, looking around, not knowing where to go to get the schedule. Then the school secretary came out into the lobby and asked if she could help. They told her they were there to pick up Chase’s school schedule, and she took them into the office and found Chase’s schedule on the counter. Mr. G. came out while they were there and said hello to Nanaw and Chase. The school secretary explained that Chase would find out more about his schedule and how things work during the orientation days next week. She said the two classes are made up of splitting the alphabet in half and that they don’t have any class lists like ICS did. Nanaw asked if her friend that she had worked with at A.G. Edwards still tutored in math there, and the secretary said yes so maybe Nanaw will see her sometime. When Nanaw took Chase home at the end of the day, they saw that the floor was done in the kitchen but nothing had been done in the living room, hall or the steps. So Mama and Daddy aren’t sure if the work will be done tomorrow. So maybe Tyler will have more sleepovers at Nanaw’s house. He certainly does like the baby food that the kitties get as their evening snack.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Mama brought leftovers for Chase’s lunch today: two potato cakes from Arby’s (where they had dinner from on Tuesday night) and mac and cheese from Burger King (where they had dinner from on Monday night). Chase liked his lunch but only had half of the mac and cheese; he’ll have the rest of the mac and cheese on Thursday, plus something else. Chase had a workout in the afternoon. Tucker was there, which made Chase happy. He likes when Tucker is in his workouts. He got to see Tucker again in the evening. Tucker and his family and Chase and his family went to a Grizzlies game. They had dinner there; Nanaw will ask Mama tomorrow what they had. Nanaw wanted Chase to do a Python lesson this afternoon but he said he didn’t feel like it and didn’t want to do it. Nanaw asked if he would promise to do a lesson tomorrow afternoon, and he said he would. Nanaw took the second picture below to show Mama Tyler stretched out on the kitchen floor with Charlie in Tyler’s pet taxi and a red toy on the floor between them. Mama and Daddy’s new floor is still not done so Tyler is still doing his sleepover. The floor guys have been working on the floor for two days and still have none of it laid down. Tomorrow Chase has a haircut appointment with Brittany, and then Chase and Nanaw are going to Gibault to pick up a copy of Chase’s schedule. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

On Tuesday morning, all on his own with no reminder, Chase told Nanaw he would take out the recycling and the trash. Nanaw was very impressed, and she told Mama what the boy had done, and Mama said she was so impressed. For lunch, Chase requested the chicken nugget frozen TV dinner so that’s what Nanaw fixed for him. Mama forwarded another email from Gibault, this one from the principal. Among the things it said were: Students will wear their full uniforms to orientation next Thursday and Friday. They can pick up their school schedules this week on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Chase wants to go pick his up on Thursday after his 12:30 haircut appointment with Brittany. They’re having a New Family Pot Luck next Friday evening, August 14, and Nanaw asked Mama if she could go with them. Mama said she had to ask Chase; Nanaw did, and he said, yes, she could go. In the afternoon, Nanaw asked Chase if he could help her get the suitcases and boxes up on the shelves downstairs, and he did. He also helped her move some tables around. He’s very strong because of the workouts, and Nanaw was grateful for his help and for his strength. When Nanaw took Chase home, Mama talked about ice cream before school starts, and she thinks they can go next Wednesday, August 12, the night before Chase’s first orientation day. The last picture is a basket of cat toys from the little house that Nanaw is giving to Tyler. 

Monday, August 3, 2026

On Monday, Chase had his usual healthy breakfast and snack, with a lot of protein and calcium – including cashews, almonds and sunflower and pumpkin seeds. His Lunchable wasn’t quite as healthy. He had his workout in the afternoon, from 2 to 3. It wasn’t as hot outside as it’s been but he came out very sweaty. On the way home, Chase and Nanaw had a really nice chat/conversation about Gibault and what high school is going to be like. It isn’t often that nice talks happen so Nanaw was very happy about it. They talked about how much bigger ICS is than Gibault. Nanaw looked up the numbers online and found that ICS has an enrollment of between 345 and 393 students, depending on the year, which makes sense because it covers 11 years, from preschool to 8th grade. Gibault has an enrollment of 170 to 192 students, depending on the year. Gibault has a teacher to student ratio of of 12 to 1. Nanaw will share those numbers with Chase. He talked about the day last school year when he shadowed Dante at Gibault, one of the students he knew from ICS. He said he thought the class length was shorter at Gibault than at ICS. He was very firm about not wanting to be in band anymore. He enrolled in a drawing class instead. He also was happy to be done with ICS and was looking forward to Gibault. Mr. G. sent out an email with information about the coming school year that Nanaw posted in the laundry room and gave a copy to Chase to read. They have early dismissal on the first Thursday of every month at 2:20 p.m. to make time for faculty meetings so Nanaw will have to make a lot of reminders so she picks Chase up on time. Nanaw printed out a lunch menu, and Chase looked at and said he thought the food sounded better than ICS. When Nanaw took Chase home, Mama wasn’t there because she was having a birthday dinner with Auntie LaLa. The picture of Chase at the laptop is him playing a golf game that’s on Roblox. The second to last picture is a little bowl that Mama used to eat out of when she was a little girl that Nanaw found downstairs. Mama said she wanted it if Nanaw didn’t want to keep it so Nanaw said she would give it to Mama. 

Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, 2026

Chase told Mama and she told Nanaw that Amelie never responded to Chase’s text. Mama said, oh, well, at least he tried. On Saturday morning, Daddy and Chase were going to go play golf at their regular place but it got flooded so it needs to dry out. They had to go to another golf course – Mama thinks it’s called the Bridges, and it’s off Mule Road, so it’s not too far. Of course, they had a good time. Mama said they said they had fun, even though they got rained on a little. They had Burger King for dinner. Chase is getting more and more interested in golf. It’s a shame that he can’t fit Gibault golf into his schedule this year because of hockey and baseball. On Saturday night, Nanaw went to a concert at her church and took the picture below. It was great and next time, she’ll take Mama and Chase. On Sunday morning, Daddy and Chase went to church. Then in the afternoon, Daddy, Mama and Chase went to a BBQ with the parents and kids from Chase’s new Columbia hockey team. The team is sponsored by Columbia High School but is open to anyone who lives in Columbia. They met the coaches and a lot of the parents. Chase knows a couple of the boys from years ago when they all played on the Khoury League baseball teams. After the BBQ, Mama and Chase brought Tyler over to Nanaw’s house for his sleepover while the new floor gets installed at the house. Nanaw was happy to see him – he’s such a sweet kitty. The last picture is Chase's first semester high school schedule.

Friday, July 31, 2026

Mama and Chase didn’t take the comforters and blankets to Helping Strays on Friday morning because it was pouring down rain. They’ll take them another time. Around noon, it had stopped raining so Mama and Chase picked up Nanaw to go to Bread Company for lunch. Mama and Chase had French onion soup, and Chase got a cookie with M&Ms on it. Nanaw had a half Caesar salad, a cinnamon crunch bagel and an orange scone. She tried to pay for her extravagant lunch but Mama wouldn’t let her. Next, they went to Target to buy high school supplies for Chase. He insisted that they call them high school supplies, not just school supplies. A while ago, Mama set up a debit card for Chase; she now deposits his $10 a week allowance in the debit card account. He stores the actual debit card behind his phone in the phone case. Chase picked out two kinds of plastic golf tees and paid for them with his debit card. It was the first time he’d actually used the debit card so he asked Nanaw to come along with him. He handled everything well, considering what went wrong. First, one of the packages of tees didn’t have a UPC barcode so Chase had to find a Target employee to help him. She was able to look up the tees and type in the barcode number. Then when Chase used the debit card, it asked for a pin number, which he didn’t think he had. The Target employee came over again and showed him what key to press to get the machine to bypass its request for a pin number. Nanaw was very proud that Chase handled all the problems so well. .On the drive home, Mama and Nanaw asked Chase if he’d ever heard anything from Amelie, and he said she texted him that she got a new phone and she sent him her new phone number. They asked if he answered her, and he said he texted okay. Then they told him he should text her something, and he sent a hello text but at first it didn’t go through so he did it again but Mama didn’t know if it went through or if she texted back, and Mama didn’t ask. Mama and Nanaw tried to explain to Chase that he had to talk to girls and people but they don’t think he understood what they were talking about: the importance of communication.

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Nanaw weighed and measured Chase on Thursday, and he weighed 122.5 pounds and was still 5 foot 6 inches tall. He’s gained 3.5 pounds since last month, and Mama said it was muscle weight from all those workouts he’s doing. Uncle Mike came over today and helped Nanaw with her solar fireworks lights that weren’t working. She had put them all on the porch where there’s no sunlight. She didn’t realize that because they’re solar lights, they need to be out in the bright sunlight to get charged. Uncle Mike put them in a circle in the part of the front yard that gets lots of sunlight. And tonight they were shining brightly. Nanaw sent Uncle Mike a picture of them so he could see that the non-shining problem was solved. Chase had a workout at 2 p.m. today, and Uncle Mike was still there when they got back home. He had finished cutting the grass and trimming the grapevines. He found four cucumbers that Nanaw had no idea were there. They were on the back side of the plants where Nanaw never looks so from now on, she’ll have to look there also. When Nanaw took Chase home, Mama told her about what they were doing on Saturday. They’re going to Gibault to help with work around the campus – something to do with dirt. The students who come to help will get three hours of community service credit. Each student has to do ten hours of community service work each year so this will count for that. Mama has the day off tomorrow, and in the morning she and Chase are going to Helping Strays to donate a big pile of blankets and comforters for the dogs. Then they’re going to pick up Nanaw and they’ll all go to Bread Company for lunch. Yum!

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

On Wednesday morning, Chase texted Nanaw asking if she could come pick him up at 9 instead of 10 from the sleepover. He wanted her to bring him back to her house before they went to Gibault for the technical session so that’s what Nanaw did. Nanaw got to see Drew and Brady when she picked Chase up.  Cole had left earlier and Nanaw’s not sure whether Joey was still there or not. Chase said he’d fallen asleep about 2 a.m., which is earlier than usual at a sleepover. He said he wanted to get enough sleep for the technical session. It turned out that Nanaw didn’t have to sit with Chase during the session, so she sat in a room next to where the students were working on their laptops and talked with one of the parents waiting for his son. Joey was there and so was Nick, Evie and Cam. Those were the only ones Nanaw recognized. Chase was one of the first students to get his laptop set up, so Chase and Nanaw got to leave early. While Chase was working on his laptop, Mr. Gregson came by, and Nanaw had a nice chat with him about his granddaughter and his son who’s in the Marines in Japan. Mama and Nanaw are happy that they get to see Mr. Gregson again. It turns out that Mama didn’t realize the school was providing Word so she bought a license for Chase’s computer, and he now has two copies. They don’t know what they’re going to do about it. In the afternoon, Chase fell asleep for a little while, still tired from the sleepover.

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Today was cleaning lady day so after Nanaw finished straightening up the house, she and Chase went over to his house. While Nanaw watched her soap opera and played with Tyler the kitty, Chase watched TV in his room and played on his phone. Nanaw had asked him to do his Python lesson this morning but he forgot to do it. Once again, for his lunch Chase heated up his pizza and bread sticks in the microwave, putting a cup of water in with them to make them soft. Nanaw needs to make a correction as to where the pizza and breadsticks came from. Nanaw thought Mama brought them home from her driveway adventure at Uncle Mike’s. But Chase said that was wrong. It came from Papa John’s and was left over from dinner the other night. When Chase and Nanaw came back home, they worked with Chase’s new laptop in preparation for tomorrow’s tech session at Gibault. Chase is meeting with a tech person to get his laptop set up with the school requirements. Chase and his friends have a sleepover at Drew’s house tonight. Then Nanaw is going to pick him up tomorrow morning at Drew’s to take him to Gibault for the tech session. Chase said Truman was going to sleep with Mama tonight while he was at his sleepover.

Monday, July 27, 2026

Chase did his Python course on Monday morning; he wasn’t sure what number it was but Nanaw thinks it was 16 or 17. Nanaw is ready to start Lesson 14 but doesn’t seem to find the time to do it. So she’ll have to find the time. For lunch, Chase had food Mama brought home from her driveway adventure at Uncle Mike’s house: pizza and breadsticks. There was enough food for two lunches. Chase warmed the food up himself in the microwave, and he did the trick that he learned about on YouTube. To soften up the things you’re microwaving, you put a glass of water in the microwave with the food and that softens it up. Chase said it turned out really good. Chase and Nanaw had to make a trip to his house to get the right shoes for his workout. When he packed his bag this morning, he put in the wrong shoes. On the way, Nanaw drove by the post office and mailed Mrs. Betty’s birthday card. Nanaw is having lunch with Mrs. Betty and Joyce this Sunday out in Wentzville at Stefanina’s. Nanaw thinks they haven’t had lunch since last October so Nanaw is really looking forward to it. Chase had a 4 p.m. workout, and Nanaw took him to it, and Daddy was going to pick him up. On her way home, Nanaw stopped at Chase’s house to leave his clothes bag, the bag of guys and Truman. Mama sent the last picture below of the Tyler, the cute cat. Sometimes Chase pets him and that makes Nanaw happy.

Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26, 2026

As planned, Daddy and Chase went out to Elias’s house in Silex on Saturday. From what Nanaw could tell on Life360, they got there early Saturday morning, and it looks like they spent the whole day at the golf course. Nanaw will check with Chase and Mama to get the details. Nanaw couldn’t tell what they did for lunch and dinner so she’ll have to ask about that also. (They spent six hours at the golf course, and Chase had a hot dog for lunch. They used a golf cart so they didn’t have to walk the course.) Mama went to Uncle Mike’s in the afternoon for the driveway adventure. She and Uncle Mike went to Paul’s market to get something for Daddy to grill on Sunday. Mama said they got two Italian sausages for Nanaw, who is invited to dinner on Sunday. They also bought huge hot dogs and bratwurst. Mama also sent a selfie that Chase took of himself on Saturday for Days of Chase. He was supposed to send it to Nanaw but evidently forgot to do it. Nanaw sent him pictures of Baby Truman on his way to the little house and one of him there but didn’t hear anything back from Chase. Mama got home around 11 Sunday morning from Uncle Mike’s, and Daddy and Chase got home from Silex a little later. Supposedly, they weren’t going to spend the night but evidently they did. Nanaw has so many questions to ask! Some more things Nanaw learned. Uncle Chris is going to get rid of the Knight Owl café. Chase wants to play golf with Elias next weekend but if he can’t do that, he’ll play golf with Daddy. The sleepover at Drew’s house has been moved to Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Chase and Nanaw are going to Gibault for the technical setup of his laptop. 

Friday, July 24, 2026

Chase had a workout session at 10 a.m. on Friday morning. On the drive there, Chase told Nanaw that he’s going to have a sleepover at Drew’s house next Monday night, he thinks with the rest of the guys of the crew. He asked Nanaw if she remembered where Drew’s house was, and then asked if she’d be able to come pick him up on Tuesday morning. Nanaw told him yes, she remembered where Drew lives – you make a right turn at the street where you turn left for the workout. Then she said yes, of course, she’d be able to pick him up on Tuesday morning. Nanaw is so glad he’s getting together with the crew before school starts. She thinks the only one he’s seen this summer is Brady so this will be fun for him. Tonight is the Demo Derby in Waterloo, and usually Chase, Mama and Daddy go with Brady’s family. But they weren‘t going this year because both Mama and Chase said they weren’t feeling it. Also, Chase said he’s golfing with Elias tomorrow, and Nanaw assumes that means he didn’t want to stay out late. He’s really looking forward to seeing Elias. Chase didn’t do his Python course this afternoon but Nanaw will see if she can get him to do it every day next week. She’ll make sure to do her lessons with him when he’s doing his; that will help keep him on track. Nanaw isn’t going out to the little house till Saturday morning. She was tired and didn’t feel like doing the long drive on Friday evening. 

Thursday, July 23, 2026

This morning, Nanaw asked Chase where he and Brady went to play miniature golf last night, and Chase said it was the course by the driving range. Uncle Mike came over today and did lots of chores for Nanaw. He glued some brackets on a chair; straightened out the counter stools that Papaw made for the new house in 1998; put up one of the blinds in the vertical blinds; put together the sparkly lawn decorations Nanaw got from Amazon; and stored a lot of boxes in the basement up on the shelves. Nanaw was very grateful for all that he did. For lunch, Chase had the Ramen Noodle soup thing. Uncle Mike said he eats them too, and likes them. In the afternoon, Chase did his Python programming course just like he promised yesterday that he would. He’s doing well with learning the coding, and that makes Nanaw happy. Maybe it would never be a career he would be interested in but at least he’s learning something new this summer instead of just watching YouTube videos and playing games on his phone and computer. And Nanaw is having fun learning Python. Chase and Daddy won’t be spending the night at Elias’s house over the weekend because there’s not enough room for them but at least Chase will get to play golf with Elias and do other things together. The last two pictures are of the sparkly things Nanaw bought from Amazon for the front of the house.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

For lunch, Chase had a new Lunchable – a nachos one. He said he liked it, and Nanaw thought it looked good. He had a workout in the afternoon and didn’t get so hot and sweaty like he usually does. The weather has cooled down, and it’s really nice after the hot weather we’ve had the past few weeks. Once again, on the way home from the workout, Chase talked a lot to Nanaw. They talked about golf and how Chase likes it. He says the only sport he doesn’t like is volleyball. Again, he said he thinks he’ll play baseball for the Gibault team. They talked about the trip they took several years ago to the Smokey Mountains, and how they played so much mini golf and went on those things that swung around in the air. Chase said it was a good trip, and he really liked it. He said that if Florida didn’t work out sometime, they could go there again. Nanaw’s going to see if she can find some streaming golf tournaments for Chase to watch because he seems to like golf so much. Mama texted Nanaw that Chase and Brady played miniature golf this evening after Chase got home from Nanaw’s. She didn’t say where so Nanaw will have to find out. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Chase had an interesting morning, afternoon and evening. He ended up saying it was a really good day. Then he said maybe it was going to be a good week, especially if he got to have a sleepover with Elias this weekend . In the morning, he told Nanaw that Brady couldn’t play golf today but he wanted to come over and visit him today. So they arranged for Brady to come at 11. Chase wanted to go to Walmart to get some practice golf balls so Chase and Nanaw went Telegraph Road Walmart. Chase got his golf balls, plus some Baked Lays potato chips. Nanaw got lots of Lactaid cottage cheese. Telegraph Road Walmart carries it now. Nanaw took Chase over to his house at 11 to see Brady, and told him she’d be back at 3 p.m. to get him. At 3, she went to get him so he could have his turkey soup for lunch. They dropped Brady at the ICS church, where his Mama works as the church secretary. After eating his turkey soup, he did his Python computer-coding class. He’s being really good about doing it, with little complaining, making Nanaw happy. Before Nanaw took him home, he told her he had texted Daddy to see if they could go to the driving range tonight and take Brady with them. Daddy said yes, and Chase was very happy about that. Mama was having dinner with a friend so they were on their own. 

Monday, July 20, 2026

This morning, when Chase got to Nanaw’s house, he showed her the medal he got yesterday at the Bears baseball tournament. Chase’s team won second place. Nanaw took the picture below of Chase and his medal. Later in the day, there was a mishap involving candy powder and Nanaw’s laptop. Somehow,, Chase spilled candy powder all over the keyboard of Nanaw’s laptop and the dining room table. They got it cleaned up but both Chase and Nanaw were worried that it messed up the laptop. But so far, it seems okay. Nanaw may have Chase eat his meals and snacks at the kitchen counter so something like this doesn’t happen again. Chase said he had a good time at his workout this afternoon. On the drive home, he told Nanaw he will probably play baseball at Gibault this year because he’s not playing golf. He also said that he’s excited about seeing Elias this weekend, and he hopes that he and Daddy are spending the night out there. Mama is spending the night at Uncle Mike’s house, after the driveway adventure. Chase said that thinking about spending time at Elias’s reminds him of the time he had the best week ever. Unfortunately, he can’t remember when that week was or anything about it except that maybe Elias was involved. Later in the afternoon, Chase did his Python computer coding, which made Nanaw happy.

Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19, 2026

No baseball rainouts this weekend! Chase played shortstop this weekend instead of second base or pitching. I think he doesn’t like pitching anymore because of the pressure. After the two games on Saturday, Mama wanted them all to go to Wally’s with Tucker and his family but Chase didn’t want to go despite always wanting to go before. Mama said he was hot and tired, and they came home instead. Nanaw was there when they returned home, bringing back Chase’s shoes. He’d left them at her house on Friday, under the dining room table so they weren’t easy to see. He had texted Nanaw Saturday morning about them, and she told him she would get them and take them to his house when she got home from the little house. He hadn’t told Mama about the shoes so she was surprised to find out they hadn’t made it home. Nanaw was happy to see Chase unexpectedly on Saturday. Chase had four baseball games this weekend; unfortunately, they only won one game and that was on Sunday but they came in second in the tournament and got medals.  For Chase’s Monday lunch, Nanaw got turkey soup out of the freezer. Nanaw also put lunches on the weekly calendar. Plus, she texted Mama that the sunflowers are blooming in North County and did she want to take Travis (her Traverse) on a road trip to see them. They  haven't had much luck seeing the sunflowers these past few years so Mama isn't sure she wants to try again.

Thursday, July 16 and Friday, July 17, 2026

On Thursday morning, Chase had an ortho appointment, and the tech said everything thing was fine and to come back in 6 weeks. Fortunately, Nanaw was able to make a 3:15 p.m. appointment on September 15 so Chase didn’t have to leave school early. Chase said on the way out, he saw Jackson P. And they both nodded to each other. Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass and work on the basement. He and Nanaw loaded up all the trash they wanted to put in Nichole’s dumpster. Then while Uncle Mike put the trash in his truck, Chase and Nanaw moved the boxes of holiday decorations from one part of the basement to the shelves on the other side. Chase was absolutely wonderful helping. He carried about 20 boxes, two at a time. Nanaw was so happy and proud of him. On Thursday afternoon, he willingly did his Python lesson. He thinks it was lesson 15. Chase had a workout on Friday morning. He really seems to like the workouts. On the drive home, Chase did something unusual for him. He talked a lot to Nanaw about the workout, saying his goal is to be able to lift weights in the amount of his weight, 119 pounds, He said he did 90 pounds today so he’s getting close.  He told Nanaw he thinks the workout sessions are really making him a lot stronger. On the way home, they stopped at Walgreen’s so Chase could get some of the special candy he likes -- $17 worth of special candy – LOL! In the afternoon, Chase once again did his Python lesson, lesson 16, Nanaw thinks. Nanaw is way behind him on her lessons. She thinks she’s on lesson 11 or 12. But she hopes to get caught up this weekend at the little house.