YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN TROUBLE WHEN THE ARTIFICIAL PLANT DIES

 We have been back from our 2 weeks in England for about a week now and I am still finding signs of Sharon and Bob's stay here. All the signs make me smile and some even inspire me to write a blog about them.
We have known Sharon and Bob for almost 40 years now. They have been friends for all of that time and we love them like family. (Even better than some of the family!) So when we were planning for another trip to England and Sharon said they had hoped to come down for a visit with us we saw a WIN WIN for both couples. They could come before and stay after we departed and returned and in turn we would have the joy of their company for a few days before and after and the bonus of house sitters while we were away. For some strange reason Sharon and Bob found this AMAZING. That we would invite them to use our house and car for 3 weeks was beyond their belief. And so Bob started to worry! He worried that they would break something. He worried that he wouldn't be able to take care of the house the way we do. (Who is he kidding, we are the world's worst home owners.) Bob worried that he would worry too much. But we talked them into it and so they arrived in Florida for their stay. Ger showed Bob all the things he might need to know about the house and he showed Bob lots of places to go and things to do.  We had a great time with Sharon and Bob and then off we went across the pond without another thought about the house or anything.
Upon our return the house never looked so good. Bob and Sharon washed EVERY window (all 15 of them) and every sliding glass door, (all 6 of them). Not only do they shine like I have never seen them shine but we now have the secret recipe and the tools to perform this task ourselves. (Like that will ever happen.) Bob does nothing HALF ASSED (like someone I am married to). The man takes pride in all he does and when he does something it is done RIGHT. (This does drive Sharon crazy on many occasions but  I have got to tell you these windows are CLEAN!) There are other little things Bob did for us like rolling up the garden hose. A silly thing but something that we NEVER do but it looks OH SO neat and you don't trip over the hose as you are walking across the yard. They replaced the food in the fridge, the flowers in the vase and the cereal in the cabinet. AND THEN . . . they bought us a flat screen TV !  I don't know of a single house keeper, cleaner, caretaker that pays you for working on your house. These people are something else.
But Bob is not alone in all this. The quiet little one in the back ground, named Sharon, is in on all of this. She cleans and straightens and washes and putters. BUT Sharon's greatest fear is that I will ask her to take care of my house plants. For as long as I have known her she breaks out into twitches when ever I ask her to "Water my plants while I'm away". This is worse than anything I could ever ask of her. She thinks she has the kiss of death on house plants. Meanwhile she has a garden at home that is envy of her neighbors. But the thought of being responsible for 3 African Violets for 2 weeks makes her tremble with fear. (Just because I told her these 3 plants are descendants of an African Violet that was my mother's and is the only thing I have left of my mom who died 40 years ago . . . she seems to think it is a big deal.)  I tell her to just ignore the plants, they will be fine but for the entire time we are gone she worries.
But sure enough when we came home from England the house plants were FINE! They are looking healthy and happy and their reflections are just beautiful in the shinny windows. But then as I was walking through the house this morning I took a look into the living room and there stood the saddest looking mess of droopy green leaves that I have ever seen. The plant had been fine 3 weeks ago but here it is today looking like an elephant stepped on it. The plant needs to go, it is wilted and droopy and looks just awful.
Sharon,  how did you manage to KILL the artificial plant?