The offer still stands...

Yes, we received an offer for the house on Friday. We have mulled it over, investigated, asked opinions and are ready for our counter. It really should not be this hard yet... it is. The offer has a contingency on it and according to the relocation company we aren't allowed to have any contingencies. We are willing to work with this couple on their hang-up and remain on the market until it gets resolved. It of course could not be simple but it sure is exciting. Lots of action will probably take place once business opens for the day tomorrow. Stay tuned...

In other news... I got to do some running in Ames yesterday. It was really great to get out and see the world after being home with itchy boy for a few days. Fred held down the fort in the best way he could and I brought home McDonald's for lunch. It was a win win situation.

After we got my purchases stored and lunch fed I took a nice little nap. Nic had been up around 4 with a bad dream so I was counting on a bit more sleep. After my nap I got busy with a few things and then Will and I headed to 5PM Mass. He was awesome throughout the mass except when I went up to communion. He is not quite ready to receive yet and usually walks up with me with his arms crossed. None of the Eucharistic Ministers offer him a blessing but Father Rick always does. Well, we sat in the wrong place to see Fr. Rick so he wanted me to walk all the way around to get in the other line. I felt awkward so I just let him stay in the pew and not get blessed. In just a few short weeks it will all be good buddy.

He and I spent a bit more quality religious time today. We had Jesus Day at St. Pat's Parish. It was a little mini retreat for all of the first graders from the cluster who are making their first communions. We went to four stations and got to spend time with Jesus and Moses and Aaron. We got to go on the Great Church Search and we even made water and wine. It was a very hands-on event and I think Will learned a bunch and had a great time too.

The boys got outside to play today, it was mild enough for a little time on the grass, and I made a gourmet meal of Hamburger Helper Lasagna and an even tastier dessert of warm chocolate chip cookies. Everyone is going to bed clean, with full bellies and ready to head back to school and work tomorrow.

My week involves submitting my resignation letter tomorrow and getting back into a groove with S and K. I plan to work until May 2nd then we'll head to Dallas for the great house hunt of 2008. It is a biennial event around here.

OK, I think I am pretty ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. I need that good night of sleep to make it all work though. Off to dreamland.

BIG NEWS!!!

Less than three full weeks after listing the house we have an offer. It is a bit peculiar and thankfully we have all weekend to think and work on it. It does have us out of here by May 16th. YIKES!

Not ready to talk about it on the phone just yet. Fred is still mulling etc. Please say a prayer that if this is supposed to work out it will and if not that the people from Altoona will have a shot! Stay tuned...

Day #3

I am really tired of my kids getting sick with illness that doesn't make them tired. Nic is FULL of energy and life yet has to be holed up with me in this quiet house. Sometimes he gets to be too much...

We have had a decent day today all things considered. Got Will off to school a little early, I ran in to work to fill out my pittance of a time card for the week. I was able to see real live people and enjoy a few moments of joyful conversation. Once I got home I putzed for only a few minutes on the computer before heading to the basement.

First I took care of some laundry then got busy at my scrap desk. I created while simultaneously backing up photos from the basement computer to disk. All good. I was reminded that there are a number of events from 2005 that need to be documented. I need to upload the photos and get them ordered so that they can get into the flow system.

After a good bit of work in the scrap space, that included cleaning it up when I was done, I decided to move on to other things. I headed upstairs and made a tasty grilled cheese lunch for Nic and me. During lunch I got a worisome call from Will from school. I was sure he had broken out in spots and needed to be brought home. NOPE! Seems he was dissatisfied with my lunch I packed for him. He wanted Wavy Lays, not pretzels. Sorry bud... You can have Wavy Lays after school. (I am going to take some in a baggie when I pick him up today.)

After lunch Nic and I watched No Reservations. I multi-tasked while watching it and continued to get photos in order on the upstairs computer. They are really in good shape but still need to be backed up. My next step. The movie was a bit lame but not terrible. Just predictable I guess. Too much kissing according to Nic.

Well, I am ready to head out, stopping at the library to return and borrow for the weekend, before I pick up Will. Fred is en route to DM from TX somewhere I think. He'll be home in time to pick up Pizza for Dinner! YEAH!

Here is the latest look at Nic's pox. Not too bad, getting through the phases, hopefully well enough to head to school on Monday.

Day #2

The view out the back this morning... It is "officially" Spring right?

So this is another view from this afternoon. A few more spots but not really too bad. Nic took an Oatmeal bath this morning, and despite the wicked smell that just about made me gag, he found it very soothing. We got him clean from head to toe and tackled some homework and enjoyed a movie together today. We watched Martian Child which made me laugh and made me cry and made Nic laugh at me when I cried.

In other news here are a couple of shots of the fun time I missed at the DM Science Center. The good news is that we are members so we can go back again once everyone is healthy, and the other good news is that Will was well behaved and had a great time without me. He was a little clingy when I dropped him off this morning, but he must have recovered nicely.

The final blog-worthy bit of news is that Will is not feeling hungry, not a huge bit of concern, but he did say he didn't feel so hot. Well, let's follow up on that and take your temp. He is registering 100.3 in the ear. We'll keep an eye on that until bedtime. Could be a full house here tomorrow?!?!?!

Gratitude... Yes, I do have some!

1. Staying home allowed me to catch up on laundry and change the boys bed sheets.

2. Nic is handling the CP as well as can be expected. The ones in his hair seem to be the most bothersome.

3. Will had a great time on his field trip without me. See, I have raised strong, independent but loving children!

4. I made Blue Box Mac 'n Cheese today. It turned out the best it had been in a long time. Silly thing to find join in but I do!

5. Fred is due home tomorrow! Let's hope the snow melts before he gets here:)

Day #1

So this is what home schooling might look like at my house... Nic hard at work now that we have some work for him to do.

Sadly, this "condition" will prevent me from joining William on the 2nd Grade field trip to the DM Science Center tomorrow. I am bummed to say the least. Sadly, with no contingency childcare plans and no one who really relishes time with my nine year old suffering from the "condition," I had to bow off the chaperon list. I am sending the older digital camera with Will and plan to personally connect with his group leader in the AM to ask for her assistance in getting a couple of shots and letting Will have some fun with the camera as well.

The parting shot of the day will be Nic's back. Not really too bad as of this afternoon. Nothing even pussy... yet. His first spot appeared last night and there were MANY more this AM. We are up to about 30 right now. Stay tuned... He did ask if I planned to scrapbook this disease. He said he might like to know what kinds of sickness he had growing up. Since he had Fifth Disease a month or so ago he has been a little more aware of childhood illnesses. Crazy what kids pick up on?!?!

I make plans... God laughs!

So, not that we have a LOT of stuff going on here, just trying to sell the house and stay busy. Well, it seems that God wants us to slow down a bit. Sit still even. Nic has the Chicken Pox. He is #6 case at his elementary and just after we went in to see the nurse she got a call about #7 who is in Will's grade. YIKES!

Right now Nic just has red spider bite looking things. Less than 20 I'd say. He is a bit itchy and VERY board. Me too. I got the house in great order for the showing yesterday so it's not like I have cleaning to do. I do need to tackle some laundry so that will help keep me busy. I should look on this as an opportunity to sort pictures on the computer and back up some files. But I think I'll do that in my sweats. Off to change out of my work clothes.

Happy Wednesday!

Made my cake and I'll eat it too!

So I got a call around lunch time that a couple wanted to take a third look at our house around 4:30 this afternoon and they wanted to have at least 90 minutes! Yikes, I think they might be serious... Well as fate would have it, S went home not feeling great today so I was able to make arrangements for K this afternoon and take off of work early. I got home around 1 and got straight to work. I vacuumed every piece of carpet in the place, I washed the hardwood floors, I dusted, I wiped, I straightened. We had been home for four days straight and it felt like so much needed to be done. Well, after 2 1/2 hours I just had to be done. The boys and I crashed at a neighbors house from 4:15-5:15 then we ran to M-town to grab some dinner. They wanted Burger King and I am so nervous I can not eat. Well, on second thought I could carve myself a big 'ol slice of Chocolate Torte that I made for Easter dessert. If I don't eat a bit it will go to waste.

So I am nibbling my torte and waiting not so patiently for a call from my Realtor. Who knows when it might come...


Oh yeah, and check out my home listing here. Do you see any reason someone wouldn't love this house? I would move it to TX with me if I could. It is a great house!

Photographic Evidence

Happy Easter!

I made the yummy rolls and they were yummy!

Will had a bland plate with a roll and turkey no gravy.

Nic thought the food was so good he had to dance.

Nic can smile like Daddy and Will can snarl like Elvis. Who knew???

Proof that there is more finished square footage in the basement.

We love that this room is so full of light. No window coverings here, just SUN!

The view near the bottom of the stairs. Such and improvement! I need to find a "before" so you can appreciate the "after" that much more.

Nic gave Pete a faux-hawk after his bath this week.

Remember me? This is this morning. My hair didn't look half bad huh? Works for me!

Just stuff...

So traffic at the house continues to progress. We had a second visit on Thursday from a guy who looked at it on Wednesday. He really wants more garage space for his toys and we don't think he can have a detached building. We'll see... Friday we had a visit while I was running in Ankney. Fred got the feedback but I honestly have no recollection of what it was - not bad I don't think but still no offers.

Friday I went to Ankney for a LONG overdue haircut. I had been trying to grow my hair to donate to locks of love but I was getting so tired of ponytails and the hair hurt associated with that style that I decided to have it cut. It is a layered bob at about my chin. It looks bad right now but it will be cuter when I try and I don't nap in the middle of the day.

While I was in Ankney I also did some damage at The Family Christian Book Store, Target, Kohl's, Michael's, and Memory Bound the LSS. Since I only get to do that every two months or so I don't feel so bad. I did score on some summer clothes for both boys and found a cute sweater for me. I REALLY wish it were warmer so I could wear it for Easter with my cute skirt I bought last year and have only had occasion to wear once. Guess I'll have to wait until First Communion in May.

Will had a sleepover last night with pal N. They did pretty well all things said. I don't mind having extra kids around until about bed-time then I wish it were just us. I didn't sleep well, kinda waiting for someone to come to me upset. No one did until 7:30 AM. Will wandered in with an ache in his inner ear. Yep, we had to hit the Saturday Physicians Clinic in M-town. We dropped N off around 8:30 and got the ear checked. Definitely infected says the doctor, amoxicillan and numbing drops for you kid!

After we filled the scripts we headed to Payless to look for shoes for Will to wear for Easter and First Communion. We got the only style of dress up shoes for boys for just $9.99. They are not really comfortable but I told him he only has to wear then twice and will just have to deal. We are out of options at this point.

Well I have a turkey breast to make for dinner tomorrow. We have ham around here often enough that we didn't need to do it for Easter. I am also going to make yummy carrots and tasty potatoes to round out the menu. I may even get crazy and make my famous rolls. My family probably deserves those.

OK, time to switch the laundry and see what I can do to this hair before 5 PM mass. When Will and I made it home from the Dr. and errands I crashed for a couple of hours. It was a great nap but my hair can tell you that I did it. Gotta go hide the evidence.

Let the sun shine in...

It is turning in to a beautiful day here in IA. The sun is high, the snow is melting and the grass looks a little more green today than yesterday. My day at work was as busy as ever but full of smiles. The boys seemed to have had a good day minus the country boy calling Nic a city kid and pouncing on him. They are outside soaking in the vitamin D and playing ball. Hopefully not getting too muddy.

Feedback on our showings was positive but no offers are pending. A couple of people are debating build or buy and one doesn't like the fact that our living areas are to the back of the house and they can not see the street or visitors coming up the drive. Reasonable and nothing I can do about it. Let it go.

Fred is running late coming home from Memphis, storms there I guess. We are on our own for dinner so that takes a little pressure off. He should still make it home before bedtime or soon there after. Good enough for me.

Well, the house is clean, I have 1/2 the laundry clean and needs to be put away. I think I may head to the new room and spend some time creating or straightening. I can do that while my second load of laundry moves through the cycle. I must multi-task or I don't feel like I am earning my keep.

The house is still clean

No feedback yet from tonight. We all disappeared for an hour and went to M-town for dinner. Pete was a great companion. I was able to secure doggy day care for him tomorrow. My wonderful neighbor is allowing him to spend some quality time in his crate in her garage. He'll be lonely but OK. At least she can turn up her TV to drown out the barking. I feel much better knowing that our potential home buyers will not be annoyed by him. I will come home at lunch and set him free again. Yes Fred, he is spoiled.

In other yet similar news, our showing for ten tomorrow is now a showing for ten and another at 10:45. I am THRILLED with this kind of traffic. I was seriously afraid and now I am much more at peace about this. OPTIMISM speaks!

OK, off to read my great new book The Runaway Quilt. What makes it great? It cost a thin dime at the library's used book sale. After a few chapters I will sleep as best I can in my big lonely bed. Fred gets home tomorrow, just in time to negotiate the offer that is sure to some soon. OPTIMISM at it's best! G-night!

Send the good vibes!!!

Showing today at 5:00PM and tomorrow at 10 AM. I am home for a quick spruce before we have to disappear for an hour. Tomorrow will be more stressful since Pete will be here for the first time during a showing. Not sure that we would be welcome at the workshop with S and me.

Sad news of the day. I work at the local nursing and rehab center with K twice a week and we play Uno there once a week. Well, I found out today that a very sweet patient and member of our parish passed away yesterday. He fought Alzheimer's with all he had. My last real encounter with him was about 6 weeks ago when I administered ashes to him. He wanted to say something, the activity director could tell, I waited patiently to hear him say so clearly and sweetly, "She did a nice job of that." Thanks Dale. May peace be with you and your wonderful family.

Splendid Sunday

I say splendid because Nic and I got a fix of "culture" today. We enjoyed the final showing of the spring musical Beauty and the Beast. Will was at a friend's house playing so Nic and I grabbed the friend's sister and off we went. Nic and I had seen the first 3/4 of the show on Friday but it was good to see it two days later, improved, and the ending of course. Way to go thespians. They are a really great group of kids and for many it was their final senior performance. They did their parents proud. There was one tense moment when Lumiere slid to the front of the stage on his knees and very nearly ended up face first on the floor below. Yikes! It all turned out just fine in the end.

During the intermission Nic was talking about being smart. Well, the other guest in our party is pretty bright as well so they wanted me to quiz them. I asked a too simple math question and Nic challenged me to challenge him a bit more. His suggested question..."What is the atomic weight of a burrito?" I busted out and continued to laugh as our guest suggested we check the atomic weight of Nic's brain. Oh to be 8 again. It made my day for sure!

Last night Will and I went on a date to Hickory Park then saw the movie College Road Trip. We also did some damage at Borders and Sam's before heading home with a BIG item for Nic. He has been hankering to learn to plat the guitar for about 6 months. He was so interested that he was willing to spend his Christmas money on a guitar instead of waiting for the Wii game systems to get replenished. Well, Sam's had the LAST ONE displayed on our way out last night so we called to confirm his interest and it was a go. The bag was a little dusty and there are two nicks but all in all for the price it was a good deal. He tried to follow along with the enclosed "how to play" DVD this morning without much luck. I need to follow up on a couple of leads I have for private lessons. Add that to my to do list. I am seeing more and more similarities between dear son Nic and my brother Ben. Nic has taken an interest in art recently as well. He received some "How to Draw" books a couple of years ago from Uncle Tim/Aunt Anne for Christmas. They were set aside on the book shelf and were recently put into use. He is getting pretty good. When he showed me one of his latest drawings last night I said I was definitely going to put that on the blog. He said, no. I will do a better one. Stay tuned for that sometime this week I hope.

While Will and I were enjoying our date, Nic was out with daddy seeing The Spiderwick Chronicles. They both said it was good and a little scary so I am glad that Will and I opted for the kinder gentler G rated flick.

Tonight I am making my famous homemade pizza. I have some laundry to work on but I did get the sheets changed so I am making progress. Oh yes, and I wrote out bills for the second half of the month. That is always such a fun experience!

Pizza is in the oven and I need to clear the table for our feast. Happy Sunday to you all!

A good way to wake up.

Not the first time of course, that was to let the mutt out. He is so anxious in the mornings.

The next wake-up was to tell the boys to quiet down.

But the final wake-up was a call from the realtor. He wanted to give me a showing report from last night. The couple saw six houses and ours is their first choice. YEAH! No offer yet though because they too are relocating and need to list and sell their house first. They live about 45-60 minutes away so my guess is that this guy will commute until they sell theirs. The news is great none the less. I am really trying to live my WORD OF THE YEAR on be optimistic.

Guess it could be time to start looking at houses in TX. Not ready to make the trip but I suppose I could look on-line. I have been avoiding it, afraid I'll fall in love with something that I can't have because we aren't ready to move soon enough.

The next bit of good news is that we have no showings today so we can lounge in our PJ's and such. Nic is getting his fill of Saturday cartoons and Will is getting his PlayStation fix. Fred is working on a small home improvement project and I am going to work on laundry. There is always laundry. Need to get to Ames today and have a few more to do's. We'll keep busy for sure.

Happy Saturday!

Quick check in...

It's Friday and I am so happy to say that I WORKED every day this week! My paycheck may now resume to normal. NOW!

I am home a few minutes early because the boys are going over to a friend's house after school. I need to do a quick tidy, then Pete and I are going to disappear while there is a showing at 5:00. Not exactly sure what the rest of the weekend holds for us. Maybe seeing Spiderwick Chronicles with Nic and ??? with Will. Hopefully a nap or two and spending some time in my scrap space. I need to upload some pictures and order some prints too. Oh, and I pledged to back-up photos off the older computer so Fred and clean it off and start over. Maybe there won't be time for a nap or two? Maybe just one short nap.

Off to clean toilets and put vacuum lines in the carpet! Think good house selling thoughts around 5:00PM Central.

Trying to be good here.

Let's just say that Sr. Mary Ann is sure lucky she has the Sr. before her name.

Got a note and calender from Will after Relig. Ed tonight. Seems there was a BIG mistake on the calender that I got handed to me last week. Yeah, BIG OOPS! No explanation why they had it printed for the April 12th. Just wanted to let us all know that the REAL date is...

William's First Communion Date

Saturday, May 3rd

During 5:00 PM Mass

We sure hope you can come and that we will still be here!

Please RSVP as there will be hotel reservations to be made and dinner counts to be taken.

I promise you that this will not change again. Even if the rest of the class is not there with him I will administer his First Communion on this night! It could be fun don't ya think?

On the home front. We listed Monday around 6. Got a call Tuesday around 3 that someone wanted to see the house at 6:45. Got a call from the realtor that for $250,000 we could seal the deal today. Um, no. We haven't even been on the market for 48 hours, not even on MLS yet, and we are not taking $20,000 less than the asking price. They didn't even put it in writing so we really shouldn't even consider it at all. But we did... for just a minute.

Good news is that there is another showing scheduled for Friday evening, so tomorrow AM we do not need to make our beds and tomorrow afternoon I can do laundry and not worry about hanging up the unmentionables for a few hours. It's all good!

I am wiped out and need to crash. We stayed up way too late talking politics with mom and dad last night. The saddest part is that at the end of the night I still have no clue who I would want to be the leader of the free world. Not real good choices out there in my humble opinion. Sad to think that I may just get to pick the best of the worst come November. God bless us everyone!

HOUSE FOR SALE HOUSE FOR SALE

As of last night we are official on the market. No sign in the yard yet but that doesn't seem to matter. I got a call this afternoon at 3:00 asking for a showing at 6:45. Um yeah, you can see it!

Well, that does change our mellow evening plans with mom and dad but we are flexible. Not sure if we'll still do Bailey's or if we'll head to M-town and try Zenos or Pizza Ranch? We'll see.

So I have spent 45 minutes getting about 20 feet of three inch thick ice off the front walk. The temperature, a balmy 48, helped a bit and a very sturdy shovel and I did the rest. My hands are still shaking. No rest for the wicked though. The sun also melted the snow in the back yard that is littered with Pete land mines. I am going to put on my grubby shoes and go see what I can do about that. I'll up-date more tomorrow I hope!

UPDATE! First Communion Date Changed

I think I have confirmed with an "official" source that the date of

William's First Holy Eucharist is

Saturday April 12th

at 5:00PM mass.

I am working on a meal for afterwards and will need to find out how many people are coming to make sleeping arrangements. There are not likely enough beds in this house but I have a connection at a hotel in M-town and should be able to get a very reasonable rate. Please be in touch if you think you will be joining us. Please drop me an e-mail or give me a call. I know that William would appreciate any and all support on the big day!

A good day that got even better!

It started at a reasonable hour. Pete got up at 6:30 but we were quiet enough to go back to sleep until 8:30. No one had great expectations so no one was let down this morning. Breakfast was lite or non-existent and the larger family group left at 10:30 for lunch at Hickory Park. Lucky ducks! Glad I suggested that even if I couldn't go.

I headed to the middle school for our monthly crop. I was the hostess this month so I brought a Nana's Apple Cake and some munchies. I also took my Cricut and some basics and made my swap pages that were due today. I made six pages in about 2 hours so that was pretty good. They were not too fancy but were nice enough. I am a less is more kinda girl so that makes it easy for me. My style is clean and basic. Keeps the cost and time investment to a reasonable amount.

After scrappin I came home to a busy husband and one kid. Will went to a friend's to play and Nic was hangin' I did a little stuff and then grabbed both boys and went to church. After church we came home and did some more prep and rearranging and kept busy.

I put in a last minute call to a couple of sitters today and got a call back around 7:40. Nick was able to help us out so he ran over and Fred and I ran out. We just needed to run to Ames to Best Buy and I was starving so we got to stop at Panera too! YUM! We zipped into Target and then headed home. All in less than 2 hours. Pretty good huh? I am a cheap date. Sure wish we could have enjoyed a movie and dinner with drinks but not today. Maybe I'll plan ahead and try again next month...

OK, off to declutter some more in the kitchen. The FOR SALE sign goes up on Monday and it just dawned on me that people could be looking inside my cabinets. YIKES! Got a little work to do in there. Want to make it look like we have more than enough space. Which we do.

I have lots on my list for tomorrow. Some deep cleaning of the bathrooms and the hardwoods. Decluttering some shoe racks and backing up pictures off the older computer. Nothing I can't handle. I am adding, in writing, to post pics of the new room. It really is a spectacular addition to the basement. Makes it seem so much bigger and useful. Too bad we didn't so this 2 years ago. Oh well, we'll enjoy it while we're here.

Gratitude
1. A husband who goes to lunch with his kids and his in-laws and doesn't bat an eye.
2. Nic who did an outstanding job on the 8th grade Explore test he took in January.
3. Will who won a prize for being the second highest reader in his class for February Reading Minutes! He got a Doodle Pirate.
4. My parents who are low maintenance house guests and so fun to hang out with.
5. My sister who called me yesterday to remind me of #4. She gave me permission to chill and I did, a little.

I think I am on the mend.

First let me apologize for the free flow of details yesterday. I was in a state let me tell you. I am better. I stayed home from school today. Spent a lot of time just sitting and chilling until about 3:00. I seemed to have recovered. Interestingly 24 hours after the start.

Once again, how does a 24 stomach bug know when to vacate?

Mom and dad were a little later than expected but that was good because so was Fred and he had dinner. Once everyone arrived I got busy in the kitchen and we all ate a yummy spaghetti dinner. The evening was mellow with fun chiding and one load of laundry folded. Thanks mom!

It is now time to crash. Tomorrow will be a FULL day but I am ready to take it on. I have no choice now do I?

I think the new room may become Sick Bay

Monday delayed start at school. Decent day.
Tuesday mommy puking, Nic pooping, Will to school and Family Fun night with Daddy.
Wednesday was wacky Wednesday at school and Nic won a Citizenship Award.
Thursday scheduled early out, mommy came home feeling awful and now has what Nic had.
Friday we are expecting company and do you think the room is ready? NO!

I am home from school tomorrow. If I feel like crap so be it. If not, I'll be attempting to make my house look better than it does right now.

I have so much to do this weekend that I do not really have time for this epidemic but this too shall pass right? I am off to medicate and sleep.

Happy to report the progress

The ceiling is white, the walls are brown and the floor is started. We have about 20% of the floor down but have hit a bump when trying to figure out how to piece it around the door way where it meets the carpet. I think Fred will sleep on it and wake up with a plan. My plan is to head to Ames tomorrow to go to Target and Sam’s. He needs to go to Menard's for trim wood and liquid nails. I need to get a watch battery and chocolate milk. The important stuff, you know?

Fred put in about 11 hours today on the basement. Looking at the walls they need some touch-ups. I painted the wall in the Jr. Man Cave with primer and that is all we are doing. I can get busy putting that room back together tomorrow. Of course everything is covered in dust so I will need to wipe everything down with a wet rag as I put it back in place. I am also hoping to purge some more of the boys’ toys so it doesn’t look so cluttered. I hope they don’t fight me too hard.

You know how when you do home improvement projects your hubby always needs a new tool? Well, I talked Fred into buying a table saw to get the flooring cuts done quickly. He has wanted one of these on and off for a couple of years at least. We bought a Craftsman at the little Sears store in M-town and we are rockin. I am glad we bought it and I am certain it will be used many more times. He is such a do-it-yourselfer (aka tightwad).

Well, I am beat from trying to be supportive and attentive and helpful. I did paint some and lay some floor and ran to the hardware store and Sears. I may not have done as much as Fred but I did my part for sure.