Monday Ramblings

Well....I'm not sure I have time to write this and get it posted before it's time to get ready to go back on the bus. On the one hand I feel like I've accomplished a bit today - dining room table is cleared off, laundry is folded while more is cycling through the machines, kitchen counter is tidied and wiped down, chicken soup from last week is divided into bags and frozen, meat is out thawing for supper and family room is tidied. Before afternoon route time I will hopefully be able to switch laundry loads out one more time as well as fix my hair just a bit.

The weekend was very very busy - Squirrel had his conference meet on Saturday morning. He is the 7th runner on his team so got to run "varsity" - he did very well - ran the distance of 1.9 miles in 13:58. Having said that - running varsity means there is less runners and therefore he came in almost last. However he was pleased with his time and that's most important. I was able to watch him run before I headed off to B's dad's for the auction that was held this weekend. Stretch went with Dipstick and B first thing in the morning to be there before everything started. Squirrel was dropped off around 2:30 pm. None of us made it home until well after 7:00 pm Saturday night. I think the auction went well overall - it was certainly a learning experience for me as I'd never been before. I truthfully don't understand how those auctioneers can talk so fast - it was amazing.

B bought me a large copper kettle in a stand - not for making carmel corn as it can't handle getting that hot. My current challenge is to decide exactly how I want to use this pot. I have always loved copper - plan to decorate part of the new kitchen with copper jello molds and cookie cutters. (We found some on our honeymoon at a very nice price so they are stashed away waiting to get settled). B's suggestion was to polish it up, put something neat inside it - for display and top it all with a piece of glass. It's in too nice a shape for use as a planter...we will see. Most things went reasonably ok at the auction - the tractors brought more than expected, the truck brought considerably less. B was able to get several items that he wanted and could use in his shop. At least one of them was something he'd helped build many years ago. I hope and pray that enough was sold to keep his mom and dad financially stable for the rest of their lives.

As far as the house is coming...the kitchen is now tiled and cabinets likely should be going in this week. The master bedroom is completely painted and has floor down - as does part of the "great room". The cherrywood is up on the wall in the dining area - it looks really cool. Flooring is down in both the "hall" bathroom and the mudroom and both those rooms are painted. We have agreed on a stain color to finish the wood trim throughout. I think we still have another trip to the home improvement store but not sure when that will happen.

Tonight Stretch has a choir concert at the high school. Squirrel has his very last crosss country meet this afternoon. Dipstick has boy scouts but not sure if he will be going or not. I am still fighting cold symptoms and allergies (mold count is up around here). Crops are coming in...it's unseasonably warm here - the trees are all shades of brilliant oranges and reds. No pictures organized to post - no time at the moment.