Rather than re-cap the last four months, I will include two photographs, one of Miss Bird and one of Toad as they celebrated their birthdays, and then I will move forward. I hope that you haven't completely given up on Home for the Holidays.
What's new with us? Hammer Guy has finally made it back down to the basement (he's working there right now, actually!). We hired someone to finish the mudding and taping and so we're very close to the painting stage. Thank goodness the bathroom is finished, at least, since we've had to seek shelter there a handful of times already this summer because of severe weather. The Deadline has been extended once again to Labor Day (of 2008). HG is also planning to brew this month for the first time since November of 2006. He has a whole day set aside for it at the end of the month (when I am on vacation). Another major undertaking for HG is the Professional Engineering Exam in October. He'll be hitting the books again soon.
I continue to make it through work day by day. In the face of product recalls and stop-sales and increasing prices (a value box of diapers is up to 37.99 -- ridiculous!), not to mention the price of gas, more and more customers are impatient and downright rude. At one of our other locations, an irate guest ripped a credit card pinpad off its cable and threw it at the head of the assistant manager. I told my boss that the day a customer throws something at me, I will hand over my keys. Am I looking for a new job? Of course, but daily I try to remind myself about what I like about retail and why I got into it in the first place, but it is no longer worth it to me to drive 50 miles round trip each day to a job that does not make me happy. I am, however, writing again -- ever so slowly allowing myself to dream again.
Toad, amazing and wonderful Toad, completed his preschool year at Montessori and will be in kindergarten there in the fall. Next March we will attempt to enroll him at the public Montessori elementary school about 10 miles from here. It's the luck of the draw as they take applicants based on a lottery. He absolutely loves being in the small classroom with his beloved teacher. Birdy will be able to join him for the last part of his kindergarten year as well. Toad's obsessions right now include Star Wars, Star Wars Legos, Indiana Jones Legos, any kind of Legos, and Lego Duplos (he and Birdy can play together). He also enjoys castles, maze puzzle books, PBS Sprout (favorite friend Caillou), soccer, his new Island Adventures water table, riding his bike... I could go on and on.
Birdy is full of words and spunk and energy. She's a good little girl who goes nigh-night all by herself and usually doesn't make a peep. She started walking about a month after her first birthday. She and I like to go for long walks on the mornings I don't work. She likes books (mostly to chew on), cuddling, singing (eensy weensy spider and wheels on the bus), Duplos, the water table, playing with her brother, and eating. That girl loves to eat. She loves black olives and pickles. That's my girl! I've got this crazy idea that I'll have her potty-trained by the end of the summer -- who knows, stranger things have happened!
Looking ahead -- Rockin' Rogers Days is right around the corner. Hammer Guy works all three days but we're hoping to catch the parade as a family and at least get a bag or two of mini-donuts. That weekend is the start of a ten-day vacation for me. I hope to get some work done around the house, do a little writing and submitting, and maybe even read a bit... at the end of the week, we're heading to Wisconsin to celebrate the Fourth of July. The last two weeks of July brings jury duty for me, and Toad's Godfather gets married on July 26th.
One last thing... Congratulations to the Nanny, who graduated from high school this spring. She's off to UMD in the fall! Go Bulldogs!
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