Fall is Upon Us

What fantastic weather we have had this year. We are usually still sweating this time of year, but it has been beautiful. We went camping last week and not only didn't use the air conditioner, but had to pull out extra blankets at night. We've used the camper a couple of times and are getting more comfortable with it. It sure makes camping more fun!

The big news is that after being terminated two times in the past month; I still have my job. The wonderful citizens of this city donated money to cover the cuts, and the budget passed for next year, so I am still working at the library! Thanks to everyone for any part they played; donating, praying, contacting city council members. Most of all, I thank God! I love my job and the people of my community and am very grateful to be able to continue to serve them.

The bathroom remodel continues, though we are getting close to being done. I keep waiting for it to be complete to take pictures, but I am very pleased with how it is turning out. I bought towels and rugs for my master bath tonight. Now I just need to find new accessories-soap dispenser, toothbrush holder, cup....

I am going to a prayer group once a week that focuses on my adult children. It has been so helpful to me, because I feel like I don't have any say over their lives anymore (and I'm grieved about many of the choices they are making for themselves). It is very empowering to pray about it-because that IS something I can do. I already see answers to my prayers and have more peace about things because I have released them into God's hands and He knows how to best deal with them.

I got a great deal on a GPS unit. I want to use it to go geocaching. Geocaching uses the GPS coordinates to locate a cache. I'm still learning how to use the GPS unit right now, so it will be awhile before I hunt for treasure!

Good news-Nate got a job. He is working at an ice cream shop. It is early, but things are going good so far and he is happier. Bad news-Nate hit a deer with his car last night. Thankfully, he only clipped its bottom with the headlight on the passenger side. Unfortunately the headlight pushed far enough back that it clipped the radiator causing over $500.oo in damages. Nate and his girlfriend, Carly, are back together. She is very nice-hope he can hold onto her this time!

Noah seems to be doing fine in school so far. He finished up his online summer courses this week. I have concerns because he doesn't seem to have a passion for Business like he did for Science. He's just going through the motions. I'll just keep praying about that. He called last week and we had a nice long conversation. Maybe I just need to sit back and let them come to me more often.

Well, I am going to sign off and get to bed early. I haven't felt well all week and I'm very tired.

Finally some news....

Well much has been going on, but not much time to sit and write about it.

First of all, the last few weeks of work were very tough. My co-workers were trying to go on as normal, because if they thought about it they would cry. The news really didn't focus much on the staff terminations, so the public was carrying on like normal too. I felt very isolated. I began to tell a few patrons goodbye, and they got very upset, which upset their kids, which was upsetting to me. One lady said I ruined her day (though she was glad I told her). This left me feeling uncertain if it was better to say something or just stay silent. My last day of work was on Thurs the 27th of Aug. We left Friday the 28th for California. While I was gone, money was raised to cover the budget cuts made this year. I could go on and on with the boring details, but there is still much uncertainty about my future. I do have a job for another two weeks though. Two more difficult weeks I'm sure....and then we'll see.

The other big thing in my life is that I have bathroom remodels going on. I am so thankful we were able to refinance and hire someone to do the job. That being said, it is still a lot of work. Decisions, decisions, decisions.... I hadn't thought much about what I wanted. I don't like to look or dream about such things anymore, so I was clueless. I don't make quick decisions normally, so this was tough having to make decision after decision, night after night. I know WAAHHH. The contractor worked with us to save some money which meant we had to run to the hardware store and pick up supplies. I'm getting to know the people at Lowe's real well! All that being said, my main bath is nearly done-just a few minor things left. I LOVE it. It was a complete remodel-everything new except the vanity (though it does have new doors and drawers). He has started on my master bath. We are putting tile in the shower there, but sticking with many of the same features used in the other bath (easier that way). I was hoping to have enough money left over to do my kitchen too, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until the job situation is a little more settled.

Nate was bit by a dog at a friend's house and required 19 stitches. The bite near his mouth was the worst and they called the plastic surgeon in to repair that. She did an excellent job and he is healing up nicely. I don't know anything to report about Noah right now. He doesn't seem to want to talk lately.

The last thing I wanted to tell you about is my trip to CA. We had a very early morning flight and pulled a "Home Alone" morning. The alarm is on Jim's side and he says he poked me, but I never heard or felt a thing. We made it to the gate just as they began loading the plane. We flew with our friends Scott & Julie, which made the 3 hour layover in Phoenix bearable. We landed in San Louis Obispo and drove to Dave & Mary's home. Scott & Julie got a Sebring convertible. We wound up with a Nissan Sentra. So not fair! We all piled in the convertible and took a tour of the area. It was my first encounter with the Pacific Ocean. My impression-it is COLD and has lots of kelp. I don't know if the kelp has the distinct odor I smelled or if it was something else, but it doesn't smell salty like the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico. We all stayed with Dave & Mary for two days. During our stay we went to the Farmer's Market at the Avilia Pier, Did some wine tasting, drove on Avilia Pier and got up close and personal with the sunning seals, hung out at the beach, grilled Tri Tip (big in CA), watched a movie in Dave & Mary's own personal home theater. It was great to be all together again. Some things I noticed while there-cigars are very popular with the fellas, the fruit and veggies are not only plentiful but fantastically flavorful, the weather is perfect (Dave & Mary don't even have air conditioning), no bugs (in fact both of our hotel rooms didn't even have screens on the patio doors-just didn't need them), it is dry and brown in the mountains, the towns of the Central Coast are not very big (I always thought people were stacked on top of each other in CA), the people were so friendly, dogs were everywhere....on the beach, in the shops, at the restaurants. On Sunday, Scott & Julie packed up and drove that convertible down to San Diego for business. Jim and I checked into the Cliffs Resort nearby. We began his business trip with a fancy dinner meeting. So fancy, several of us didn't know what the items on the menu ever were! The host chose several excellent local wines. I'm sure it was a very pricey meal! Our stay at the Cliffs Resort was so wonderful. For the first time in my life, I slept well every night there. The bed was so comfortable and the hotel quiet. The best part was the view. It was on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There was a path down to the beach below which also had small tidal pools. I would sit and watch seals and pelicans and dolphins. Mary didn't have to be to work until noon, so we would do things together in the morning. The best thing was our oriental pressure point massage. We got worked over like never before for $40! She did my whole body for an hour. I felt so good that day and slept like a rock that night. In the afternoon I would often lay by the pool and read or explore the beach and tide pools. One afternoon I went to Hearst Castle and took a tour. WOW, was that awesome. I was wary because Biltmore left me a little disappointed last year, but I felt much more satisfied with my tour of Hearst Castle. First of all, there are several different tours to chose from and the price is more reasonable. Secondly, we had an actual tour guide and she was excellent. She couldn't answer one question, so her assistant immediately got on the phone and called the librarian who researched it and called right back. How impressive-maybe that is just because I am a librarian. Third, it seemed like Hearst was the real deal when it came to collecting and Vanderbilt a wanna be. He had a zoo back in the day, but only a few animals remain, including a zebra herd which I saw on my way home. The rest of the time was spent shopping, exploring, and trying new food. Jim had to have turkey nuts. We tried something called linguica, which is a Portuguese sausage and is common there. We went to In and Out, a burger joint, and ordered off the "secret menu". It was really hard to leave the Cliffs Resort-I couldn't imagine a more perfect place! We drove north to a beach where elephant seals hang out. They are big, especially the males! We checked into our room at the Inn at Morro Bay. Another beautiful place. This time we got a bay view room with a private hot tub on the deck. We packed up and went to Montana de Oro State Park to hike and see the tide pools. We heard they were fantastic. We did see some great tide pools, but I'm not sure we saw the best ones. It was a very undeveloped and huge state park. The visitor center wasn't even marked and we arrived moments after it closed (at 3 pm), so we were kind of on our own. The signs at the trail heads warned of mountain lions and rattlesnakes. One trail head sign had a picture of a deer ripped to shreds by a mountain lion on that very trail-happy hiking! We did see and touch starfish, crabs, and all sorts of sea creatures in the pools. It is such a thrill to be on rocks that are just barely above the ocean waves that jut out into the open ocean. We ate dinner and made it back to our hotel room in time to enjoy a glass of wine on our deck as we watched the sun set near Morro rock. The bay offers protection to sea life so there were cormorants and cranes, seals, sea otters, and I'm pretty sure we spotted a little whale. We were eating dinner down by the water when the tail came up right by the restaurant. I got so excited and Jim turned around just in time to see the tail come up a second time. Then it showed it's head and was gone.... Whales are in the area, but not usually in the bay, so the locals were sceptical, but we know what we saw couldn't be anything else. It was so hard to fly out the next day. I would love to live in CA-maybe I wouldn't feel the same after surviving an earthquake! There is a very relaxed and friendly attitude and the conditions are as near to perfect as we are going to get on this earth. This is the best vacation I have ever taken though-chock full of new experiences and good memories.

Well it is getting late and I'm messed up from the travel and time difference. I'm posting my favorite picture of the trip. Not the best mind you (my others are posted on Facebook), but my favorite. It is Cinderella shopping for shoes. Maybe she was looking for a new glass slipper? Only in CA would you see that!

Out of the Blue

I was fired yesterday. This was rather unexpected. Our city is in dire financial trouble and has been taking steps to balance the budget. That is why my hours got cut recently. The management told us that if they were asked to make further cuts, full time people would lose their jobs. Instead, 50 some part time employees were fired yesterday, and not one full time person was let go. So this was unexpected..... I've learned a lesson the hard way about trust. I've been what feels like kicked in the gut three times now, and feel so devalued and disillusioned. I didn't used to feel that way about my job, only since the annexation. They are hoping the budget for next year passes so they can hire us all back, but I don't think I want to do it anymore. So I'm trusting that God has something different in mind for me, something even better. So please pray for me to find a new job and soon. Noah starts school in a week, which is why I emphasize soon! The hardest part will be telling the people I've served for 11 years goodbye. I love them and love the connection I have to them through my work. That is what makes me cry......I have a couple of weeks before I have to go and they are going to be tough ones. Pray for me.

Time Flies

Hello all! It is nearly the end of the month already. I'm thankful for that because the summer reading program is done at the end of the month, and then we take August off from programs to recover. Things should be returning to normal soon-it has been a super busy summer at work. Speaking of work, my hours did get cut 16 hours a month. I have also signed up to go through the process of getting my name on a full time specialist hiring list. I have to take a test and based on the score they will hire. I hate that; it feels like I'm in high school competing for a higher chair in band again. Still this opportunity doesn't come around very often, so I need to take advantage of it. It is just bad timing for me, as you will see below.

We bought a camper! I'm so excited to be moving up from our pop up. After this last trip, and getting practically no sleep, we decided it was time. We searched and searched, until we found a camper with everything we were looking for. Then we got lucky; there was a 3 year old model that said it was in excellent shape available. So we drove an hour away to look at it, and found out someone had purchased it that morning. I was so disappointed. He took my name and number, in case the financing fell through. Well it did, so I rushed down again and gave it a better look over and bought it. We pick it up tomorrow. We have so much to learn-emptying tanks, new type fridge, using a battery, backing up (always an issue). I'll post a picture next time. We should be more comfortable now.

The other big news is we are getting ready to start our bathrooms-next week! I finally made a decision on tile and counter tops. Now I have to find a shower curtain (so I can pick out colors), and pick out fixtures. This weekend we have to start moving everything out of the bathroom, including the washer and dryer. That is going to be the hard part-one finding a place to put them and two going without them during the remodel. I hate going to the laundromat! It will be worth it to wind up with a fresh, updated, fully functional bathroom though! When the dust all settles, I'm hoping to have enough money to update the kitchen also.

In other news, Nate's job isn't working out. For whatever reason, his boss hasn't called his crew to work in a month. He also has Nate's paycheck, and Nate won't ask for it (that's rude). So he's flat broke again. I see in his eyes that he really wants to work, but all his actions say otherwise. So typical Nathan, complicated. He has been doing some chores outside for me and I'm paying him (enough for gas). Still I pray something comes along for him soon. I had an exciting moment yesterday. I stepped on the scale and saw a number I never have seen before, and now I can say I've lost 80 lbs! I love the cooler weather we have been having this summer, it is good for walking! Jim is going to the surgeon that did his original surgery today to get another opinion about his hernia. He is not symptomatic so our family physician said we don't need to do anything, but other things he has read disagree. Keep you updated. Noah is taking a couple of online classes right now. His computer broke right before he started, so I hope it is working out for him to borrow a friends, while his is getting repaired (warranty work we hope). He is having a tough summer and hasn't been real pleasant. At least he is going to church and bible study and seeking a change. I'm very thankful for that!

That's about all for now. I need to go throw some laundry in, while I can!

Summer is here

June flew by, mostly because we were on vacation for half of it! Went back to work today, which was hard after being off for so long.

Our vacation was great. We left straight from work and drove to Galena, IL. We camped right outside of town. Our first morning we had to weather a severe thunderstorm in our pop up! Thankfully it didn't last long (or cause any damage to us). We spent the day exploring shops downtown and took a tour of Linmar Gardens. It rained a little bit, but stopped early enough that we were able to take in a balloon glow that evening. The next day we toured President Grant's home and Belvedere Mansion. We also stopped in to Galena Cellars and did a wine tasting and went to dinner at the DeSoto Hotel (Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and Grant all spoke from the balcony there). What I liked about Galena was the history and it was a nice size. We were able to park the car downtown and walk anywhere we wanted to go. It was also nice because we would run into people that we knew from previous tours as we wandered around town. There are so many neat things you can do in Galena-maybe next time we will stay in a B&B and have the spa treatment!

From Galena we drove to South Bend, IN. Jim had a conference there. I went to the same conference last year in Charlotte, NC. It was so much better than South Bend. Our first night, we were approached by a hustler in the parking lot and someone broke into our camper. There wasn't much to see or do in downtown South Bend, so I went to the laundry mat and grocery store. My sisters came down and we did spend one day at the Amish flea market in Shipshewana. Haven't done that in years! We were so excited when we arrived and got parking three rows from the front gate. Mom would have been so proud!! We quickly realized why we got such good parking-it was sweltering hot. The temps were in the high 90's with the heat index well into the 100's. For the first time, we didn't make it to all the booths. We actually only did about half the booths. Still, it was good to be together and we did find some bargains.

From South Bend we drove to Silver Lake State Park in Michigan. That is where we had our family camping trip. My mom only had one sister-she had 4 kids, and we had 4 kids. Everyone was there except 4 of our kids that had to work. We occupied 9 campsites and spent our time going from site to site, visiting & eating and laughing. Jim's mom and stepfather were also able to camp with us and his sister's family came to visit for the day. It is so great to be surrounded by family. The weather was very comfortable in MI. We biked, swam, fished, and rode the dunes. Our brother in law, Dom, has a souped up dune machine and took us on some thrilling rides. Some interesting things happened at Silver Lake. Many of us broke out in a case of swimmers itch. Not fun! One evening, it looked like storms were rolling in. I looked behind our camper, and saw a young man setting up his gear in a clearing. I told him to finish up, storms were on the way. He said he was done-which confused me because all I saw was a tarp on the ground. He explained that he had biked in and that was his sleeping gear. I invited him to put his stuff under my camper and come join our family. We were having a big chili feed that night and had WAY MORE than enough to share. His name was Joel and he explained that he was biking from South Bend, IN up to Traverse City, MI and was on his way back to South Bend. Impressive! It didn't rain long, so Kim asked him if he wanted to go on a dune ride. His eyes got so big-did he ever! He came back with a huge smile on his face and couldn't wait to take a picture so he could tell everyone back home. The rain came later that night, and I invited him under my awning and even into the camper (I wouldn't have slept, but I couldn't leave someone out there laying on the ground in a tarp in a storm). He did come sleep under the end of the camper, where he had stashed his bike. Thankfully it didn't rain hard or long and in the morning he was on his way! We were able to stay a few extra days in Silver Lake, but had to move our camper to the site next door. I thought it would be a pain, but it wasn't too bad.

We left Silver Lake and started back towards home. We had hoped to do some more camping, but the weather was quite cool and rain was forecast everyday. Instead, we stopped at Starved Rock State Park in IL and treated ourselves to a night in the lodge. Always wanted to do that! There was a country music talent competition on the patio that night, so we had fun listening while we ate our dinner. Wish we could have stayed longer......

We came home to grass that was as high as the corn, and some mess, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Spent the next day cleaning up the camper mess-and we had to really clean it due to the sap from the trees at Silver Lake. Spent the rest of the weekend getting caught up and enjoying the 4th with both of our boys. Glad we had the time to do those things and get caught up on sleep too!

Now it is back to reality. I have an adult program tomorrow night, which I haven't had enough time to prepare for. The city budget crunch continues to be a source of stress. No good news there. Started the process of looking for tile-overwhelming.....need to get a friend to help. Still the boys are healthy, we are both working, and we are thankful for everything the Lord has seen fit to bless us with. Life is good.

Beautiful June

Hello! We are into June and all week it is supposed to be in the 70's. We have had a few hot days, but mostly cooler weather, which this northern girl really enjoys. I think the temperature in heaven will be in the 70's!

The big news is about work. The summer reading program started this week, so it has been like working at Chuck E Cheese. Loud, chaotic, busy...... It is exhausting. It is also frustrating. I have noticed a shift in parenting. Moms no longer correct their kids or even tell them no. I had a mom bring her toddler to an adult program I did this week. He was not happy to be there and kept voicing that rather loudly. I kept waiting for mom to realize it wasn't going to work and take him out, but she wouldn't. It was obviously bothering the rest of the people in attendance, so I finally had to say something. When the movie was done, I invited her back in for dessert and discussion. She got that child a full piece of very expensive cheesecake, and didn't say a word as he just squished it to oblivion with his hands. It scares me to think about the kind of adults they will become when they are spoiled, indulged, never told no, and nothing is off limits. I recently heard a talk and the woman said withholding creates gratitude. How can a child ever be grateful if all their desires are totally met? It is better to not give them everything, so they learn to be grateful for what they have, and grateful when they receive something they desired and had to wait for. A word of advice for moms-it's ok to tell your child NO, it is ok to correct bad behavior, it is ok if the child cries and even pitches a fit, it is ok if your child says he doesn't like you. You need to be a parent, not their friend. Get it right now, because the teenage years will be here before you know it. Teens are like toddlers on steroids!

The other news about work is that I am probably getting my hours cut. I'm really not happy about that. First of all, I have a child in college and need all the hours I can get. Secondly, the way I was told was insensitive. It popped into my bosses head as I was on my way out the door and she just blurted it out and then gave me the look that says "I know I can count on you to understand and not give me a hard time about this". Third, it isn't fair. She is cutting my hours and one other part time person because we are the part timers that make the most money. I understand it has the least impact on the staffing if she cuts us. So two people have to bear the brunt of a bad economy and others bad decisions, while 8 people carry on normally. I've also been given new "job expectations". These were extra things I was expected to do that will affect my performance evaluation. I barely have time to get my regular work done, and now I'm expected to do extra with less time. It just isn't sitting very well with me still.

More about work-Nathan has a job!! He is working for a seeding company. It pays decent and they work him hard. The only disadvantage is he doesn't have a regular schedule. He got his first paycheck the other day-YEAH!

Jim went to work on his boat three weeks ago and something broke in the motor. He is taking it in this week for repairs. Still, he could be putting that seat back together and cleaning the boat up in that time so it would be ready for use when the motor gets fixed! We cleaned a bunch of stuff up and tried to have a garage sale last week. Unfortunately, my schedule was wacky and I needed too much help to man it, so we cancelled. Took most of the stuff to Goodwill this week instead. Played my clarinet at the opening of the summer reading program. It was a two hour event and they scheduled us to play the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes! At least it was a nice day. We are playing again at a library event next week. This is all volunteer ya know! Had someone come and refinish my decks. They look better! Had some more contractors come and look at stuff to finish up bids. I have a leak from my laundry, I think, so I need to get a plumber out next week sometime. It is always something. I went to the doctor and he said my thyroid level was low and had to up my dose. I also had him look at my joints and run some blood work. He said my joints looked good and the blood work came back fine, so he thinks the pain is more from the connective tissue, which is again probably fibromyalgia. I'm starting to accept that is what the problem is. He gave me an anti-inflamatory and a low level antidepressant which acts like a muscle relaxant. I do feel much more comfortable, but it makes me so tired. I am surprised with as low as the level is that I can be so exhausted. I also remember this was the problem with antidepressants in the past and it was so debilitating, that I just wound up going off them. I'll give it more time before I decide.

Well I'd better go and hop in the shower. See you all soon!

It Has Been Awhile

Hello All!

Nearly a month has passed since I last updated you. It has been very busy preparing for graduation, and time has gone by more quickly than I realized.

First of all, I did paint Noah's room. It turned out to be a bigger job than I had planned on. I wasn't going to paint the ceiling, but just touch up some bad spots. I used this ceiling spray that was fine on my other ceiling, but it was very yellow on Noah's ceiling.....so I bought a power sprayer and painted it. Then I decided to just prime all the walls because there was so much patchwork and grubbiness. I had heard about tinted primer that you could get the same color as your paint. It acts as the first coat, thus saving time and effort. When I went to purchase the blue, they said I needed a grey primer due to the dark color of the paint. I don't know much about these things, so I went with that. When I went back to get the golden color, I was told I could get a lighter primer or grey. I asked for more information, since I was obviously misinformed about tinted primer, and again got a hazy explanation about the deep color. Since I had plenty of grey, I just used that. Neither the blue or gold covered the first time, so I actually wound up painting the walls 3 times! I am pretty happy with the results though. The gold is a little on the orange side, but it goes well with the furniture and compliments the bedspread. Had just enough time to clean up the room before my mother-in-law and her husband came to stay for graduation.

Graduation-yes there was a graduation! Nate pushed it to the last day before we found out. English was the problem. He had a 68%. He got an 85% on his final exam which brought his grade up to 71%. One percentage point to spare! We were told he would not be allowed to go through the ceremony unless he passed, which made us nervous with Grandma & Grandpa coming all the way from MI just for that. The ceremony was good. Tip to all you with future grads-go early, take a blanket, and lay it on the bleachers to save your spot. It fills up fast. We had a nice family celebration afterwards-smoked turkey, pasta salad, cake.....Nate got a kick out of his card that said "What Fun......You're Done" and played the Hallelujah Chorus when opened up. He was a little crabby-felt like a giant tomato in his gown, and the hat was too small (which prompted him to say "I'm about 10 shades of pissed off right now" to me during the part of the ceremony where they give their parents a rose-memories......). Noah was even more crabby-don't know why, but was glad when he headed back home!

We had a good weekend with Darlene and Gary. Sat on the deck and had cheese, wine, and dessert while trying to enjoy a fire in our fire pit. It was a little windy and the fire a little smokey. We took several walks, Jim's mom and I went to see Wicked, and we tried Warren Buffett's favorite steak house (I was not impressed). I learned some things about my mother-in-law that I didn't know before, and it caused my respect for her to increase all the more. I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

In other news, I had to have a couple of mammograms and an ultrasound this month. I was getting nervous when we moved to the ultrasound, but I'm thankful to report that it is just a cyst. I did have the contractors come and look at the bathrooms. They are getting back to me with the ideas/bids and then we'll get that started. Noah is staying at college this summer, working at the bank and trying to take a couple of online classes from the local community college. He is behind since he decided to switch his major to business. He is living with a bunch of girls right now-but some are coming and going and he is also lonely. Nathan is still looking for work. Jim is enjoying his new recliner and cable tv. At least it keeps him out of my hair.

Well, that is all I can think to tell you right now. Please stay in touch-I'm lonely too!