Job Hunting

Job-hunting--I've now applied for about 35 jobs and have had two teeny weeny bites that have only panned out to other smaller bites. We'll see. I'd like to substitute teach, but seem to have misplaced my brand new credential--I've looked through paper after paper after card stack after book stack and cannot find them. I'll find them about two weeks after it's too late.

My biggest hopes for employment are full time, at either Boeing, Ingram-Micro or PacifiCare. Here's how much I want a job: Usually I'm a detail-oriented, expert editor, but when it came to my own resume, it wasn't until I looked at it upside-down on the interviewer's desk that I saw four (count'm 4) huge mistakes...email address, the year I left the Gas Company was 199 (not 1995 as it should have been) and for an unknown reason, all the bolding, italicizing, underlining had been deleted. Plus, some of the data was so very outdated, I looked very, very old on paper in deed (as if it's not bad enough to look as old as I am!).

I'm too busy to work anyway. President of Emily's Preschool Boosters Club, co-leader of Sarah's Brownie Troop, Referee for Sarah's Soccer League, taxi for those activities, schools, piano lessons, and gymnastics, plus family accountant (and a very bad one at that), my husband's personal travel agent, secretary, cook, bad (very bad) housekeeper and laundress, as well as my dad's financier, accountant and caregiver.

I'm also coordinating the re-painting and rennovations of my house. The drywall guy hasn't called back to figure out how best to fix the cracks in the new ceiling plus the black mark in the front room ceiling as well as the apparent sinking of the part in the front room of they repaired. The painter has not shown up for 3 days--he was supposed to be here last week, and this week, yesterday as well as today, he still hasn't shown up. Three phone calls haven't even got him to call me. I can't put furniture back until it's fixed.

Plus, I'm still trying to finish painting the girls' bedroom and get it re-furnished by the time Sarah starts school, which is this coming Tuesday. Isn't that busy enough? What would I ever do if I had a paying job?? (beside be able to pay for all of this!)

Traveling with Children

This morning provided me with the rare occasion to read the Travel Section of the Los Angeles Times. I love that section; it gives me great dreams for traveling to exotic locations. I became very frustrated, however, when I read the following letter to the Travel Section this morning:

Entitled, Please, leave those screamers at home" it read:
"My wife and I recently made a trip with British Airways from L.A. to London. On both flights, we had to listen to screaming babies and toddlers for many hours. I can think of no unselfish reason for a parent to take a child under 4 years old onto an aircraft.

British Airways has three flights per day to London, and perhaps they and other airlines could consider making the minimum age 4 y ears for one of those flights.

Duncan Smith, Thousand Oaks, California"

First, I can think of no unselfish reason for this letter. Second, allowing children access to only one flight out of three is discrimination and just wrong. Third, here is my letter that I wrote to the Times to rebut D. Smith's little outburst:


I have seen about enough from people who do not like to travel with children.

I can assure these people that parents don't always love traveling with their children.

The inconsiderate, thoughtless, uncaring and selfish people who write letters to the Times requesting special flights for adults only cannot possibly be serious. Maybe, instead of requesting that the airline move mountains and expensive flight schedules to accommodate their selfish desires, they could travel with a pair of $5.00 ear plugs.

Perhaps they'd have a different opinion if they'd only think about the families who travel. Especially families who must travel overseas. It is not always for fun and frivolity. Many families travel abroad simply because they must. Many times they only travel with their children this far due to a death or serious illness in the family and have no real other choice.

British Airways provides some of the best customer care for their customers with children, allowing pre-boarding, settling-in time, and assistance to parents. Parents, I do realize could prepare for the flight, with toys, gizmos, other easy to carry occupations for the children, plus some small snacks that can be doled out to help facilitate quiet.

However, in my response to D. Smith of Thousand Oaks is, "Duncan, you inconsiderate, selfish, thoughtless fool."

CRHM, Cypress

So there!

Interviewing

I went. I interviewed. I tested on Excel. I tested on PowerPoint. Funny thing this, I scored higher on PowerPoint than I did on Excel. I use Excel every few days. I haven't used PowerPoint in 10 years.

The job I thought I interviewed for has been placed on hold indefinitely; however there is another job in the same company (a very good company, btw, from what I've heard about it), where I might be considered.

So I'm home and out of the interview clothes, having found out that my perfectly appropriate suit doesn't fit anymore. I calculated that 1/3 of the salary would go to taxes, of course, and another third would go to child care. That would leave me with less than acceptable amounts of cash to help with bills, household things or even the car payment!

Is this trip really necessary?

Interview

I wrote in my previous post that I have an interview for a Project Coordinator position this afternoon at 2:00.

Even I am kind of surprised at my reluctance to go. I don't want to go! I despise interviews for jobs. I detest having to prove myself with the "right" words and answering questions like "what do you want to do in five years?" Be alive is the answer, or not be working. But I know companies don't really want to hear that, even if their question is targeted more for the 20 and 30-somethings rather than a wilting 40-something who is too busy to have a job.

I'd better finish getting ready.

Wish me, um, luck?

I'm here...

...painting, moving furniture, waiting for the other painters to come (this is
the third day they were supposed to come and they are not here yet, nor
have they called), doing a lot of Boosters stuff to get ready for the
school year (preschool begins 9/12, elementary starts 9/6). I'm also
trying to get registered for Referee classes for the upcoming soccer
season, plus I've been asked to be involved in planning for girl scouts
events for our troop.

That week in Tahoe wasn't enough!! But it sure helped!!!!

While I typed this the painters came and we saw some troubles with my new
ceilings, plus they need to replace the new crown moulding since it's
smaller than the size we agreed upon. Now, not only do I have to wait until
the weekend to hear from him again, but I have to call the ceiling guys to
get all the cracks and lines repaired. Will this ever end??

But now, since they won't be here painting today, I'll have a little more
time to paint the girls' bedroom, plus get ready for my interview in
private. I have a job interview for a Project Coordinator position today
at 2:00. Wish me luck!

There goes my Spanish class...

Mr & Mrs Most Gracious Hosts

There is one more thing I must mention about my Tahoe trip. You might have wondered how Mr & Mrs Most Gracious Host got their names; herein is a most lovely example of their grace.

Mrs. Most Gracious Host had brought her organic vegetables from her home to share with us all. We got to talking about vegetables at all, and I mentioned that I rarely get fresh vegetables since my family doesn't eat vegetables (unless French Fries and ketchup count).

I also told of a most delicious thing my mother used to make that included zuchini, crook neck squash, onions, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. It remains one of my favorite memory things to eat since childhood. Mom would grill the onions and sometimes ground beef, add some garlic, salt and pepper, then for the last five minutes or so, add the tomatoes and squash. I could have eaten the whole pan of that food. She'd either serve it over rice or some time of noodles.

I forgot all about that conversation, until later, when my very dear friend Mrs. Most Gracious Host served the very same meal, sans the ground beef, with dinner, while Mr. Most Gracious Host cooked the main entree of very delicious grilled chicken breasts.

Now, when someone cooks something for me that I simply mention in conversation, I am truly devoted to her (or him) for life!

I will never forget the gracious hospitality and love served to me while in Tahoe.

Tahoe! Chapter Two

8/21/05

Well, we’ve been home for a few days, and it’s nearly like I never left. The house is in the same dismal condition it was when we left, the crown moulding is still wrong and needs to be fixed then painted.

But before I get into that, I must write more about wonderful, beautiful, restful, fun Lake Tahoe.

Sunday, after my own personal day of rest, we started out for a great bike ride and lunch at an outside grill/restaurant where we were to have great food. Emily demanded to ride her own bike, and as I foretold, she nearly made it down the hill and about 100 yards from the actual bike path. My most gracious hosts had rented a nice bike with a trailer that looked very comfortable and came with its own helmet. Emily would have no part of it. So, when she got too tired and I got too scared of the cars driving past us, we walked our bikes back to the cabin.

Good thing that Mr. Most Gracious Host was there and knew where we were all supposed to meet. Em and I waited for him to finish working on the hot tub, and we three drove together to the restaurant. That worked out very well. We had great burgers and they had Coke floats!! This restaurant is located right along side the Truckee River and it is at the end of a rafting “path” so we got to watch river rafters paddle down to the river and then get on the busses to go back to where their cars were parked.

Mr. Most Gracious Host had the brilliant idea that we ought to raft on the river. The moms and kids got very excited about this idea. I thought of my four-year-old and wondered how she would survive it, having a mom who swims, but in a very unsure way. So, since everyone wanted to do it, I felt, what the heck, I’ll do it too.

Mr. Most Gracious Host guided us to a sports store that happened to have water socks on sale, and Sarah, Emily and I all got new socks. Back to the house for games, hot tubbing, drinking and more eating then blissful sleep.

The next day we all got into cars and drove over to the rafting spot. The guys tied our two rafts together, and we joked that Mr. Most Gracious Host could tell everyone we were his harem. He was the only dad present, since Mr. New Very Dear Friend had to work that day.

I sincerely hope that everyone gets to experience rafting down a river sometime in life. I loved it. The Truckee’s water level was not too high, so the rapids were really “quickies,” and the rest of the river was mild enough even for a scaredy-cat like me. We had packed lunches and ate on the bank of the river, then went on down to the end to turn in the rafts and get on the bus back to our cars.

What a great time we enjoyed! No one fell into the river…well I nearly did, but caught myself so I didn’t get completely submerged, anyway. The water wasn’t even very cold. In fact, it was refreshing. The weather blessed us with sunshine after just a little while on the river, and we began our floating experience early, so we got to go down the river without summer crowds, unlike those who started their rafting after 11:am. We felt very lucky to have our own personal tour guide who knew exactly what he was doing when he made the reservations for a 9:30 am flotilla.

Dinner was provided by Mr. Most Gracious Host and we moms got everything else ready. What a scrumptious feast it was, too. Tahoe Teasers are my new favorite drinks. I have the recipe, but I’m sworn to secrecy.

Tuesday gave us our rest day---the kids just played around the cabin, and we moms read, talked, did a little sewing, shared ideas and just really rested. I decided in the early afternoon to take a walk with my dog and my camera, since the other moms had already done their running and walking. So we started our little trek. The dog was so happy—he had more new things to sniff in a block than he had in two years living in our neighborhood at home. I was happy to be outside and walking.

We got to the destination I had wanted to reach, a new covered bridge and a dam from the lake to the Truckee River, and walked a little further. It felt good to take pictures again. I got the distinct impression that I haven’t been able to participate in my favorite hobby simply because my kids interrupt me so much I lose my focus (so to speak) and don’t get the shots I want. So I happily shot the lake, the river, the clouds—uh-oh, those clouds looked pretty dark up there. Maybe I ought to start walking back.

Then I felt drops of water. The dog chose not to drink the lake water, so I guided him back to the path for walking home. A few shouts of thunder and some lightning, hurried our steps a little more. A few minutes later, my dog and I, completely soaked, slowed down our steps since we did not believe we could get any more wet. Just at the street where we turned into our neighborhood, I saw the van of our Mrs. Most Gracious Host out looking to rescue the two of us drenched rats.

What a blessing she is to any who know her (especially me! Gracious, gentle, genteel, hospitable, giving, married a man very much similar in qualities as she has, and beautiful, well mannered, well-behaved children. She won’t let on that she is in constant pain, works and works to make everyone very comfortable, and smiles all the while she is doing it.

Even while they hosted two other families at their cabin, Mr. and Mrs. Most Gracious Host threw a party for their neighbors. Mrs. New Very Dear Friend and I tried to help, but Mrs. Most Gracious Host happens to be a very accomplished host and threw a most delectable assortment of appetizers together.

Wednesday we determined that we must leave and drive home. I had intended to leave at around 10 in the morning, but we got a very slow start, and didn’t hit the road until about 1:00 pm. No problem, I said, the way we drove (the boring I-5 highway), it ought to only take us 8 hours to get home.

Long story short, with potty breaks, gas breaks, food breaks for all four of us travelers, we finally pulled into our own driveway at around 12:15 am Thursday. No-Doz, coffee and ice cold colas, plus a couple of very needed phone calls, helped me drive all that way without too much incident.

I was certainly glad to be out of the car, though!

Things I gratefully acknowledge about my time away:

¯ Getting time away from my own kouyaniskatsi,

¯ Sharing meaningful time with good friends

¯ Affording myself the time to be myself again

¯ Making time to take good pictures again (when you are the one driving, you can stop to shoot anywhere you want)

¯ Meeting and getting to know gracious, helpful, gentle families with husband/dads who do whatever they possibly can to enhance the comfort of their families and friends.

¯ Playing with my kids

Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Most Gracious Hosts as well as Mr. & Mrs. New Very Dear Friends for making that really restful vacation possible. My only hope is that I did some of the same for you while I took advantage of your hospitality.

Lake Tahoe

I'm in Lake Tahoe. It’s so nice here that I have now decided to stay two extra days. It's too nice here to be able to leave yet. It's great to have the luxury of staying a few extra days without too much consequence. I’m here with my daughters and my dog, but not my husband.

So, here I am, with two daughters in a beautiful cabin at Lake Tahoe, eating, drinking, swimming, getting a massage, eating some more, drinking a little more, river rafting, hiking, biking, and oh yes, eating a lot! No gambling, though. We're at the North Shore of Tahoe, so we're still in California.

This is quite the healthy resort with gambling. It’s gorgeous. My favorite thing to do so far is to sit on the verandah and stare at the greenery and sky to refresh my soul. How earthy of me. I got a spa treatment (a massage) on Saturday, and sat in the pool area by myself for about an hour afterward. I realized that I probably need about six months of sitting in a rocker or nice comfy chair at a sanitarium somewhere up here to get back to who I would like to be. (confused? me, too)

This trip is the most relaxed I've been in many, many years. I'm staying with friends at their cabin, and they have just spoiled me rotten. The drive took 14 hours--we came up the 395 through Mammoth and we drove overnight to get here. I tried to get rooms in Bishop, but from Lone Pine through Lee Vining and even further north...I tried to stop at Mono Lake to sleep for a couple of hours, but there was something outside the car that my dog absolutely did not like. So, I listened to my "watch" dog...and moved on.

The wonderful thing about parking at Mono was that I looked out the window and in the moonless and starry night, I got to see not only our arm of the Milky Way, but watched some of the Perseids meteor shower. However I reluctantly moved on for about 20 minutes until I just couldn't drive any further, and found a safe place to park. The dog didn't mind this location, so I got to sleep for a couple of hours.

Daylight began to creep into my twilight sleep so I re-started my drive. I found my way to the road taking us into the Lake area, and stopped at beautiful Emerald Bay, where the girls, the dog and I got out, used the "facilities," ran around and took lots of pictures.

I didn't want to get all the way to our friends' place so early in the morning (it was about 7:am by this time), so we drove and drove around the lake and up into the mountains. We stopped again for more pictures, At about 8:30 we finally called the cabin and found our friends.

When we arrived at the cabin, the girls got acquainted with the other children, the dog went running around with the adorable yellow lab named Rosebud. My very dear friends introduced me to my new very dear friends, and they all told me to sit and rest, that I would not join in with any of the chores/duties, that I would go to the spa with the other two moms, relax, eat, drink and unwind from the 450 mile journey to the mountain paradise. And I did exactly that.

I leave tomorrow, and hope to finish this story, but there is one pc here and others await their turn. Bye for now.

Fun for me!

I had some fun yesterday, and listed a book to sell on Amazon.com. Within two hours it was sold! I may go through my bookshelves to see if I can find some more! (The book was "The Da Vinci Code")

I'll be leaving for a few days, so my blog won't be updated until probably sometime next week, so have a good weekend...will tell all when I return, I'm sure.

Someone Noticed!

A very dear friend wrote:

<responded to your emails yet...but I did want to say that early this week,
I received your check! thank you!>>

I noticed you haven't been on the list or your blog much -- I guessed you
must be verra busy.
Have things quieted down a bit?

And this is my response to her:

Nope not yet....going to Lake Tahoe this weekend with Herb and Cathy Ritter...(giggle) I'm driving up their with my daughters and dog--Scott cannot go, and we're leaving in just a little while....the d**n house is not done yet, and I think I'll be forced to find a "real" job (instead of substitute teaching or demolition crew member) rather sooner than I want to do (yesterday I applied for over 25 jobs at places like Boeing, Pacificare, and the like). I'm not done packing--the clothes are done, but that's the easy part. Now the bikes, snacks, toys, portable potty, blah blah blah and to see how much of all this stuff fits into the van! When we return home, there will be the house to finish and put back together.

We have about 3 more weeks of summer, so I get to fill in entertainment time for Em & Sarah, too. Let's see, beach, paint, swim, paint, move furniture, paint, Wild Rivers Water Park, Soak city, Disneyland, etc., and then paint some more.

I will be back sometime next week.

Advice Please

Hi, gang!

What if you really must get a job (or a different job if you are already employed), and you seriously do not want to work in a conventional setting. Say, for example, that you have experience in office work, but looking at a cubicle now makes you nauseous. What you'd really like to do is teach, but a master's degree is required for that, and by the time your life allows you to get that degree, you'll be past retirement age. Something that's been in the back of your mind for over half your life is construction work, or especially destruction work, such as being the people who tear down buildings or parts of buildings before a remodel.

How would you go about getting into that industry?

What a question, eh? It's um, not for me, no, no....it's for a friend, yeah, that's it! :-)

Charmaine

$336

That's what I get to pay the county of Orange, California, for a portrait of me in my car at an intersection I frequent, right next to Poppy's house. An angle of me driving, an angle of the front of my car and an angle of the rear of my car, traveling through the intersection with a light, clear as day that was red as an Abraham Lincoln Rose.

Today I get a notice in the mail that I "may qualify for traffic school." that is, if I'm willing to pay an additional $70.

I want to fight it. I know it's me, and I must have done it, but I can't believe that I blatantly ran a red light without some reason--someone tailgating me? My car is somewhat new to me and I really am not used to the breaks; I seem to need additional time to stop safely than I used to need for my Explorer.

So--a parking ticket for a car that's not mine, and a moving violation for nearly $400 that I cannot believe I did!

I think I might be losing my mind. (and lots of money!)

what a life we live

There I was anticipating my new family room with tranquility this morning when the worker guys showed up. I should say worker guy. I thought with both girls away at their camps, I'd have time to sit, pay bills, get a little rest, maybe plan a nice dinner for my family.

Worker guy pulls up old baseboard in preparation to replace it with the new, and calls my attention to a place on the wall where the carpet and old baseboard is wet and moldy. Said that it must be the bathroom sink (the girls' bathroom) leaking, and it looks as if it's been leaking for quite awhile.

Odd how it's the one wall that is up agains the home theatre and all the electrical cables as well as outlets that go with all the components. Worker guy says it can be fixed, but I must call Boss Worker Guy (BWG). I do, and they decide to fix it.

I am unable to do long awaited laundry because water is off due to the leak. I talk with BWG; he says they can fix it no problem. Just an additional charge. What am I going to do? A plumber will charge more, I'm sure. So I agree. The baseboard gets finished and all is well. Or so I think. I now have to find some time to phone the home insurance carrier to see if leakage is covered by our policy. My luck, probably not.

While they work, I leave to take Emily her lunch, and visit my dad who is still in the rehab center (nice name for convalescent hospital). I stop back at home to see the progress, and it all looks good. I go pick up Emily, deliver some paperwork to my doctor, and return home.

The new lights are finished! Well, nearly, anyway. Worker Guy says "there we are, five lights--which way do you want them aimed?" I say, "five? I thought there were going to be six?" Worker Guy says that BWG told him there are six lights and one goes in the entryway. I try not to get bothered by it.

Worker Guy turns on the new lights in the new family room, and voila! The whole room looks like crap. My soft Acorn squash-like color is now bright Caltrans Orange. Every single mistake ever made in the wall where the new lights are located is now beautifully illuminated in great detail. The beams look as if a drunk painted them. There is orange on the brown, and brown on the white and white on the orange, in places where we don't want these colors. It looks horrible. The lights are horrible. What do I do now?

Meanwhile, I try not to be too disturbed by it, but the nausea is building, so I go look at my email. What a nice surprise! an email from Kim, with a warning about sex offenders in my neighborhood. I stupidly looked at the website, and find 27 (that's twenty-seven) registered sex offenders in my town. Not just in my town, either. No, some are just a few blocks away from my home! Nearly all live near a park or an elementary school where our children in the town play soccer, softball and other sports activities, not to mention all the play dates made by young mothers for other youn mothers.

My living room drapery has been hung, thank you very much Mr. Scott. I now realize why there was some extr a slack on the cord. The rods were supposed to reach more to the edge of the wall than within the window.

I attempt to remain calm and walk to the mailbox to see what mail we have. What's there but a parking ticket for a car I've not owned for two or more months. I phoned the owner and guess what? Her telephone number is disconnected. How clever.

I want to scream but I can't. I've lost my voice due to this sore throat. I call my husband and just about whisper to him asking if I can have a nervous breakdown because of my day.

Now my throat is screaming, and I have nothing to take for it since I don't know whether it is caused by a sinus infection or just a cold, or what.

My beautiful daughter Emily comes to me with a coffee mug full of ice water. I am so pleasantly surprised by this. She has been such a big help to me in so many ways the past few weeks. She has just made me realize how grateful I am for my life, even with it's ugly walls, erroneous parking tickets and bad lighting.

My little beauty cutie.

Peter Jennings

Rest in Peace, dear sir.

You represented dignity, candor, and truth in reporting. Your eyes twinkled when relaying good news; they saddened when bad news came. You always had a smile for me, and all the viewers who tuned in to your reports every evening for so long.

The worst news today told us that we lost you. Though I did not know you off screen at all, you appeared to be the very presence of grace, kindness, honesty, strength and honor. I have needed to see those qualities in someone for a very long time, and received reassurance that someone on television still owned and lived them every time I saw you on the screen in my home.

Peter Gibson, and others who have atempted to fill in for you, though good reporters, will never quite fill your shoes.

My heart cries for your family, having lost such an important person in their lives. I will miss you very much. I wish peace to you; I wish comfort to those who knew you personally and have lost their very good friend, father, husband, loved man. I'm so, so sorry you had to endure this pain.

Weekend Update

I was supposed to have our girl scout troop overnight tonight, but both of my girls are sick--fever, sniffles, sore throats, coughing and sneezing. Plus, our house was turned up-side-down and not made right-side-up until too late to have company.

Yes, we started with just scraping the acoustic material off our ceilings. I had planned to paint the girls' bedroom anyway, and when the ceilings were done, our family room, without the furniture in it, demanded some emergency attention. So we got paint, and paid the ceiling painters to paint the walls in that room. They had erred in the front room, by painting not just the ceiling, but half the walls (they painted from 6" to 18" down the side of the wall instead of just painting the ceiling).

So, we had them color match Benjamin Moore's "Popcorn Kernel" (a nice soft yellow) and they painted our front room too.

So a job that was to be finished over a week ago, got finished today. Plus, since we didn't have the sleepover tonight, we decided to have some other work done, too. We'll get canned lights in the family room, plus a canned light in the entry hall, new baseboard molding and the entry closet door repainted. The entry will be painted too, sort of a mix in colors of our family room and the other hallway.

Our family room is a shocker. I was so sick of Navajo that I picked a deep pumpkin color. It's called "Apricot Glow" and is much brighter than the paint chip indicated, but we love it. Scott even loves it. The cherry furniture and our old brick fireplace just brightened and looked new again. It's so beautiful and intense...I can't wait to decorate in a sort of Jamaican theme, with our masks, some silk palms, and our sofa that has palm leaves all over it. We have white trim--a Swiss Coffee--and accents of deep cherry brown that accidentally perfectly matches our home theatre cabinet.

I can't wait till the house is all back together. Sarah and Em both have camps next week (Sarah goes to an aquatics camp and Em to a gymnastics camp), so I'll have time alone in my house during the day!! It will feel as if they are both in school full time! That's when I plan to search and either destroy, dismantle, or donate 50% of our household so that our home looks peaceful and nice again.

Controlled and Scheduled Chaos

I didn't write last week; but then you know that, don't you. We lived a very eventful week that included a visit to the new Mormon temple in Newport Beach, California. I must note that the girls’ behavior there amazed me. They remained very quiet when asked, walked softly, did not break any of the artifacts or ruin the grass or anything! I was a proud mommy that day. I thought it was a hard day for both of them, too--having to behave quietly for nearly three hours, being nicely dressed, walking quite a bit, and not allowed to run once can be tough on an adult, let alone a four and an eight-year old.

That did not complete the week by a longshot, oh, no. In addition to that on Wednesday, we still had piano lessons, swim lessons, and such. Plus, contractors started the job of scraping my celings of that lovely acoustic material that was all the rage in the 1970's. Then re-texturing and painting should happen. After that, the rooms will look awful, but the ceilings will sparkle! So, I have to paint at least the girls' bedroom and the family room--I suppose I could just replace the masks where the old marks are on the wall, but I have some other things I want to put there, and the marks just would not look very good at all.

This week, there is the finishing of the ceilings, painting of rooms, putting it all back together with I hope 50% of the toys books games, etc so it won't be quite so crowded in this house. It all needs to be done by Saturday morning so that we can happily host 10 little girls scouts for their first over-night indoor camp experience. For that, the carpets need cleaning, too. Last night, I began to think about the benefits of all of us going to a couple of adjoining hotel rooms. But the disadvantages were too great. So, the non-stop 24/7 work will be here this week. Pray thee we get it all done!

Short update on Poppy: He's doing better, in the same rehab facility, but in a normal room now, not that ugly unit they call the Alzheimer's care facility. I've got to phone his doc today as well as a few other people to find out what the plans are for Poppy--whether or not he'll go back to his assisted living facility or somewhere else.

So if you don't hear from me for another week, I'm ok. I'm just drowning in my own home!