Gathering Graces 9/17/2017

*Being in church seems to be one of the toughest places to be regarding missing Mom.  I think some of it is people being kind and thoughtful, and asking how I am doing, and the love I am shown.  Some is experiencing the moving of God’s spirit, and being sensitive to His love as well. 

*It was cold in the church building today, so it felt good to come home and heat up some leftover chili for lunch.  That warmed me right up!

*I got all the houseplants inside.  We added a few new pieces of furniture to the dining room area, and that helped to have a new place for a couple of the plants.  I also finally found the area my three to four foot angel-wing begonia will be placed.  It love having all the green plants in the dining room/TV room area, as well as a few in the living room.  Now to make sure they stay watered and healthy. 

*I had purchased a pork sirloin roast and decided to fix it for dinner tonight.  I rubbed the roast in a mixture of spices and olive oil, and roasted it in the oven.  I also cut some corn off the cobs of corn I had fixed a couple of nights ago, and heated them up  in a frying pan full of melted butter.  And I cubed some potatoes, coated them with olive oil and Old Bay Seasoning, and roasted them in the oven.  I added a little canned applesauce I made last fall, and it was a very fall-like meal we enjoyed tonight.

*One of the items we put in the dining room/TV room area was an old radio/phonograph of my Grandma Woolum’s house in Spokane.  It also comes with four folders of old 75 records.  These records include music of Gene Autry, Kay Kaiser and even former Spokane resident Bing Crosby singing White Christmas.  As I looked through the albums, I tried to imagine my Grandma listening to this music, and wonder if she chose to purchase each particular record, or if it was Uncle Bill, or Aunt Ruth or Dad that helped choose each album.  Do you remember Grandma Woolum’s radio Linda Northcutt?

*I got the dining room table cleaned off of old dishes I boxed up, and other items that were put away, or boxed up to give away.  Little by little, progress is being made.

*It was nice to hear the rain falling as I got in bed last night.  I am sure one of the meteorologists can tell me how many days we have gone without a significant rainfall.  All I can say is, it has been a very long time, which is very unusual for Kellogg, Idaho.  I love the sound of rain.

Gathering Graces 9/16/2017

*It got pretty cold last night, so I thought I had better figure out where I was going to put all my houseplants that I take out and put on the patio each summer.  I also acquired some of Mom’s houseplants as well.  I took some of Paul’s music boxes off of one shelf and put quite a few plants on it.  And found places around the living room, TV room and dining room area for most of the rest.  I have a few very large begonias left outside that I still need to find a place for in the house.  I will do that tomorrow.

*One of the requirements for graduation in the state of Idaho is to do what is called Senior Project.  This consists of finding a topic, doing an argumentative research paper, then accruing hours based on the topic.  These hours can be done a variety of ways, such as job shadowing, if a career is the topic, or doing some kind of project.  Two of this years seniors put together a project, and orchestrated a fund-raiser to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia Foundation.  The main goal of this walk was to bring awareness to these disorders while raising funds for each foundation.  The foundations supply research and advancement in medications, various therapies, new medical approaches and more.  Logan Jacobson and Rylee Riekena both did a fantastic job organizing this event.  Paul and I participated in the walk yesterday, and were so glad to be a part of this.  Rylee has Cystic Fibrosis, and has lived with it her whole life, but she doesn’t let it get her down.  She is a three sport athlete, maintains good grades, and if very active in the high school.  Logan has always had a heart for helping people, especially Lily Ramirez, the 8 year old daughter of one of my co-workers who has PCD.  Logan has helped raise money and awareness in the past for PCD.  I am excited to find out more on Monday about how the whole event turned out!!

Walk for the Breathless

*Most of the afternoon was spent at Mom’s house removing items from the house.  There was a big long closet upstairs that Paul took apart and brought over to our house.  That ended up being quite a project!!  There were also other bigger items that were hauled home, and some boxes of items as well.  I believe now most of the items we are using from Mom’s house from the basement and main floor are at our house.  There still may be some things upstairs, but that area will be tackled at a later time.  The house is now ready for someone to come in next weekend and deep clean in anticipation of the arrival of Bill and Debbie to their new home.

*Christy and I also spent some time in the afternoon going over funeral details.  I finally sat down and got myself organized for the dinner that will take place after the funeral at my house, and figuring out who would be bringing what items.  I have had friends of the family volunteer to bring something for the dinner, which has been very helpful, and now I need to contact everyone and let them know what they are to bring.

*Christy and I are on the same cooking wavelength the last two days.  Friday night we grilled steak.  That is what she had for dinner last night, too.  I mentioned today that I was making chili for dinner.  She was making the same thing.  I wonder how many days we can go making the same meals?  I love chili, and I love the recipe I use.  I usually modify it in some way, but the base recipe works for me.  I also loved that I could go out to the garden and add fresh oregano and thyme to the chili last night.  It was delicious topped with some cheese, sour cream and Fritos.  Yum! Yum!!

*I relaxed for a while watching The West Wing some more.  Simon Donovan, the Secret Service agent portrayed by Mark Harmon was killed in one of the episodes tonight.  Harmon looks so young.  He was on The West Wing the spring of  2002, and debuted as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS in the fall of 2003.  And Harmon has been starring in that series ever since.  NCIS is another series I would not tire of watching over and over again.

Gathering Graces 9/15/2017

*I typically stay home on Fridays, but I am trying to get my meetings with the seniors done, so I went in to work today.  Plus, it was school picture day.  Who wants to miss that?

*In talking with one of the seniors today, at the beginning of our talk, he said he didn’t want to go to college.  But he really didn’t know what else he wanted to do either.  As we continued to talk, I explained to him about financial aid, and approximately how much money he would receive to attend college.  This changed everything.  I think part of the reason he didn’t want to go to college was because he didn’t think he could afford it.  Once the money factor was taken out of the equation, we started looking at some of the professional technical programs at North Idaho College, and he found one that sounded interesting.  Now he is going to do some research on this program.  Time spent with this student convinced me even more that these one on one meetings with these seniors is important.

*Between students coming in for their one on one time with me, the outer office at the Counseling Center was bustling with two of our seniors, Logan Jacobson and Rylee Riekena preparing for their “Walk for the Breathless” walk that will take place on Saturday.  This is a walk they have organized as part of their Senior Project, and it is to raise money and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis, which Rylee has, and Primary Cyliary Dyskinesia (PCD), which Lily Ramirez is dealing with.  Lily is the daughter of a co-worker.  I am so proud of these two students, and Paul and I look forward to taking part in the walk tomorrow.

*Paul and I feel like we should each receive our Veterinarian Technician certification after the last few days.  We have quite the schedule of administering medicine to two of our pets.  Toby gets his insulin shot twice a day, and now Sadie gets pain medication three times a day, and antibiotics two times a day.  It is quite a schedule to keep track of!!  But both pets are doing really well.

*I finally sat down and planned out the menu for the reception after Mom’s service here at our house.  Thankfully I had the information still from Molly and Travis’ wedding from last year, and will use the same concept for this dinner.  Meats, cheese, chips, crackers, dips and salads.  And cupcakes for dessert.  We hope many of you who attend the service can come and share a meal with us and visit and tell stories about Mom with all of us.

*I was in the mood for a good grilled steak, so Paul went to Yokes and picked up a couple of steaks and grilled them on the bbq.  We also had a green salad, baked potatoes and corn on the cob.  It was a very delicious dinner.  Grilling days are coming to an end, so I want to take advantage of them while we can still use the bbq.

*I got a new essential oil called Blue Heat that is suppose to help aching muscles.  Paul has been having some lower back pain, so I mixed the oil with some carrier oil (coconut), and put it in roll on bottle to apply to his lower back.  He thinks it may have helped the pain, which is always good news.

Gathering Graces 9/14/2017

*Biomedical Engineer, Medical Assistant, Nurse, Doctor, Business Owner, Electrician, Firefighter, EMT, Paramedic, Physical Therapist, Veterinarian, Fashion Designer....these are just a few of the things I have been talking to seniors about this week, and their goals for careers as they graduate and move on into life.

*The skies were cloudy and just fine this morning when Nikki and I went for our walk.  About mid morning, my office began smelling really smoky, and when I left for lunch, the skies were filled with more smoke, and the air quality had changed dramatically.  We were hoping to get rain today.  Instead we got smoke.

*I took our little Pomeranian Sadie to the vet this morning so she could get her teeth cleaned.   We thought it was going to be a routine teeth cleaning.  But she had a few complications.  When Dr. Cook started looking in her mouth, he found some problems, and she ended having four teeth extracted.  She seems to be recovering well.  I gave her some softened food in the evening, and she wolfed it right down! 

Paul and Sadie all smiles after getting four teeth removed.

*Paul is beginning to gather the cast for the upcoming performance at the Sixth Street Theater.  It is a show he is creating, and it is called Goin’ for the Gold, Settlin for the Silver.  It is a show full of music and some Silver Valley history.  It will be well-worth getting you tickets to attend!  Tonight Tim, Ken and Gordon all gathered in our living room and started listening to some of the music that will be performed.

*There have been some coyote sightings in the area, and we have been warned to keep our cats and dogs close.  They like to hang out on the river, which is right by our house.  I keep telling our new cat Clark to stay away from the river.  I think the coyotes are out and about mostly in the evening, and by then all pets are back safely in the house.  But it is good to be cautious.

Gathering Graces 9/13/2017

*I love talking to students about their future plans, their goals, and how they hope to achieve these goals.  I have a pretty great job when I get to spend the majority of my day doing just this thing.

*After school we gathering as a faculty to talk a bit about the school shooting at Freeman High School.  This shooting was pretty close to home.  And our students play against these students in sports.  I pray no school ever has to deal with this type of senseless tragedy ever again.

*I spent a few hours after work in a chair at Uptown Hair Salon getting my hair cut and colored by Lynette.  My hair is now the colors of an oil slick....blue, purple, yellow and green.  I felt like doing something a little different.  Why not?  It is a fun way to be bold and creative.  I love how it turned out.  You really need to see it in person to appreciate it.  If you don’t think it resembles an oil slick, one student said it reminded her of a peacock.  That is okay, too!!  And it is school picture day tomorrow.  I bet Mrs. Roberts will have the most interesting hair in the whole yearbook!!

*When I got home, we grilled some chicken, roasted some cauliflower and cut up tomatoes and drizzled them with basalmic vinegar.  Why can’t we have delicious tasting tomatoes right out of the garden year round?  They are so wonderful!!

*The roofing project is nearing completion.  The charcoal gray shingles look wonderful. And no more leaky ceilings this winter!!  And it was nice enjoying a smoke free day today!!

Gathering Graces 9/12/2017

*For most of the month, and maybe a bit into October, most of my days at work will be spent talking one on one with each of the seniors, talking about their plans after high school, and what they can be doing now to help prepare them for life after graduation.  I am so impressed with these kids, and each day I am going to look so forward to spending time talking to each of them, and seeing what their plans are for the future.

*I continue working on little projects.  It feels good.  This house will be looking good for our gathering time after Mom’s funeral service on October 6th.  I am really looking forward to hosting our friends and family for this time.

*Somehow I got pulled into watching The West Wing again.  This time on Netflix.  This would be the one series I have watched more than any other.  I have lost track of how many times I have watched the whole series, all seven seasons, but I know it is over ten times.  I love this show, and it never gets old.  And I always laugh at the same spots, cry at the same spots, and am amazed by creator and writer Aaron Sorkin’s creative ability.  He still can surprise me, even after watching the same thing over ten times.  This show began in 1999, almost 20 years ago.  And the issues they were dealing with on the series, we as a country are still grappling with today. 

Gathering Graces 9/11/2017

*It is one of those moments in history we all remember where we were when we found out.  I remember being at home that morning, getting ready to go to work, and Paul was getting ready to go to school.  We were not watching television, so we had no idea what had happened that morning.  One of Paul’s co-workers called, and told him what had happened.  That an airplane had crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City.  We turned on the radio, and started listening the the National Public Radio’s reporting of the incident.

*I was working at the Shoshone News Press at the time, as a reporter.  When I got to work, contact had been made with a young woman who had worked at the newspaper the year before who was now in New York City.  A reporter got a hold of her, and heard her story of what was happening.  I remember trying to find local angles of the event.

*It wasn’t until 2012 when I actually visited Ground Zero in NYC, and the 9 11 Memorial that I understood the magnitude of what happened that day.  I stand amazed by the fact that the two largest buildings in the country, plus an airplane collapsed in the small area of Manhattan, and how many buildings still stand in that small little area is a miracle.  And the stories people told of those days following, and the miracles and the people working together.  Yes it was a tragedy.  Yes, the ground zero workers were exposed to many factors that caused them to have health issues.  But, through this horrible tragedy, the stories shared of the goodness that followed are what I focus on, and is a part of my remembrance of this event.

*A nice, sunny, smoke-free day in the Silver Valley, with the Air Quality Index at “Good”.  That really made a difference!!

*More washing glassware tonight, and cleaning out the buffet of all the junk that has accumulated in it over the years, and organizing my linens better in the drawers and cupboard of the buffet.  I keep doing one little project at a time, and I am making progress!  We are hosting the dinner after Mom’s service on October 6th, so my goal is to have everything cleaned and organized by that day.

*The heel that gave me trouble right before I left Italy was really hurting yesterday, because I wore the wrong kind of shoes to work.  So this motivated me to go online and purchase some shoes that I hope will provide the support I need and keep my heel pain free.

Gathering Graces 9/10/2017

*Happy Anniversary Molly Roberts-Cornwell and Travis Cornwell.  I loved remembering that wonderful day one year ago when family and friends gathered together to celebrate with you, and then dance the night away!!  Such a wonderful celebration.

*Church seems to be a place where I tend to get weepy about Mom.  Today we sang a song Your Presence is Heaven, and as we sang these words....

All my days on earth I will await
The moment that I see You face to face
Nothing in this world will satisfy
'Cause Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry
Nothing in this world will satisfy
Jesus You're the cup that won't run dry

...it made me think of seeing Mom shortly after she had passed away, and how peaceful she looked, and made me think of what it was like for her to see Jesus face to face.  For me, it is so comforting to know that Mom is now in heaven, and forever in the presence of Jesus.

*After church I came home and ate lunch and rested for a while.  Then Paul and I headed to KHS to get some work done for a few hours.

*We came home, and fed Toby and gave him his insulin.  He seems to not mind the shots, and I think it is helping.

*Cut up sausages and sauerkraut with Swiss Cheese were on the menu for tonight’s dinner.  It was very delicious.  We enjoyed it while watching the episode of The West Wing  titled Two Cathedrals where President Bartlett had a moving monologue inside the National Cathedral.  It is one of my favorite scenes from this tv series.

*The smoke had finally moved on, and the skies were cloudy, but smoke-free.  How nice to be able to open up the windows and be outside.  My prayer is the fires are put out soon.  And I also pray for the people in the south as Hurricane Irma hits, and the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. 

Gathering Graces 9/9/2017

*The sky looked a little better this morning, but still a bit smokey.  It was a nice, leisurely morning. 

*After calling and looking for Clark the Cat for about 20-30 minutes, he was found leisurely lounging in our neighbors backyard, not responding to the calls.  Paul went and scooped him up and handed him to me over the fence.  Clark was in for the day.

*Paul and I headed to Moscow to watch the U of I Vandals take on the UNLV Rebels in football.  Well, we really went to see Cosette Roberts play the buck drum in the U of I Vandal Marching Band, but we watch a little football too while we are are sitting in the Kibbie Dome.

*We arrived in time outside the Kibbie Dome in order to see the end of the Marching Band performing in the tailgating area, and to wave at Cosette, and recent KHS graduate Sidney Short, a new Marching Band member.  As we were standing there and the band was marching by, Cosette waved to us, and a gentleman standing next to Paul asked if she was his daughter.  When Paul answered “yes”, he said, “Oh we just love her!!”  Looks like Coco has some fans!!

*Unfortunately, our Vandals didn’t have a great game, and lost 44-16.  But the UI Vandal Marching Band was awesome, and did an amazing job entertaining us at halftime!! 

*After the game, we picked up Molly Roberts-Cornwell and Travis Cornwell and went to dinner.  Their one year anniversary is tomorrow, so we had a celebratory dinner, and Cosette joined us as well.  We had a fun time at dinner with some delicious Mexican food at La Madrid.

*After dinner, Paul and I each had a car, and Paul followed me home.  Only saw one deer, which stayed on the side of the road. (thank goodness!!)  It was not really fun navigating the road construction, but I survived. 

Gathering Graces 9/8/2017

*Ahhh Friday.  My stay at home day.  It started off a little slow.  I kept trying to type on my computer, and I kept falling asleep.  But, I persevered and finally finished writing my blog.

*Yesterday I posted about the unique tea pot that looked like a genie’s lamp.  I looked up information on it, and it is called the Aladdin Tea Pot, made by the Hall China Company.  I wish I knew where Mom acquired this teapot.

*After a summer recess, my Huckleberry Book Group gathered together at Vicki’s house up Burke Canyon.  She made a delicious roasted chicken with balsamic-huckleberry glaze.  I roasted some summer squash, tomatoes, garlic and Parmesan cheese to add to the feast.  We also had some bread, a fresh veggie plate and some crackers and dip.  The dip was made from a local woman from Kelly Creek Farms. Dessert and tea ended our lovely time together.  Debby is going to use us as a guinea pig this year to taste test some items she may be making at her teas she will be having at French Gulch Farms this upcoming year.  So today she made a lemon shortbread with a lemon and moscato sabayon.  It was very delicious!!  Oh, we did discuss a book by Fannie Flagg that Vicki and I had a chance to read.  It was called I Still Dream About You.  We both agreed the main character wasn’t that interesting, but the character who dies at the beginning was much more interesting, and we want a book written just about her and her story.

*Tacos were on the menu for dinner tonight.  I made some homemade salsa with tomatoes from the garden.  Then I picked our first mini cabbage.  The fresh ingredients on the tacos made them so delicious.  I wish I could go and pick fresh produce year round in my garden to help prepare meals.

*We had found the DVD Runaway Jury at Mom’s house while packing things up, and Paul suggested we watch it.  I know and I had seen the movie before, but it was long enough ago that I didn’t remember a whole lot about what happened.  I am pretty sure I read the book, too, because I went on a John Grisham kick where I read a lot of his books.  It was a really good movie.

*After the movie I went out into the backyard, looked up at the sky, and actually saw stars peeking through the smoke.  It was so nice to see a few of the stars in the sky twinkling.  The smoke is still giving me a scratchy throat and stuffy nose, but it is definitely getting better.

*The roofing project is close to being done.  Only the section above the garage still needs shingles.  Paul and I will be meeting with the gutter man on Monday to pick out a gutter color.  I can’t believe how much better it looks already.

Gathering Graces 9/7/2017

 

*I read a book a few years ago called The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan.  It is an account of people who lived through the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas in the 1930’s.  There days consisted not only of continuous darkened skies, but dust particles blowing through their land.  As I long for blue skies, and the smoke to retreat from my beautiful Silver Valley, I know somewhere there are people much worse off than myself.  So I know someday soon, blue skies will smile on me again.  Until then, I continue to pray for the firefighters, the people who are losing their land and homes to fire, and pray for an ending to all of this.  And praying for rain!!

*I met with all the seniors today at KHS to share with them some information about things coming up.  I am excited to work with these students, and help them on their way to whatever their future plans are after graduation from high school.

*I had to stop at the District Office to pick up some keys for Paul, and had a nice conversation about Mom with Cindy Burkgart.  She had some very kind things to say about Mom.  As I stood outside for bus duty after school, Roger Grosvenor visited with me about Mom, and how much he enjoyed know her, and how he was sorry for her loss.  This is the part that is helping me the most as I grieve the loss of Mom.  It is the stories.  I love it when people share with me stories about my mom.  I love seeing her through other people’s lenses.  I had my own view of Mom.  I like knowing how other people saw her as well.

*Paul drove to the Coeur d’Alene Resort tonight and took three KHS seniors to the Idaho Humanities Council’s dinner, where the featured speaker was author Jon Meacham.  A benefactor paid for the tickets for Paul and the three students to attend this event, and Paul chose three students who he believed to be intellectually curious, and would enjoy the evening.  Paul said the evening was a success!!  It is always great when we have the chance to expose students to situations, ideas and people they may not be familiar with. 

*Since Paul was not home, I thought some Chinese food from Wah Hing sounded like a great idea.  So I ordered some Kung Pao Shrimp and an order of Egg Rolls, and enjoyed them both.

*Tonight I continued to unwrap items from boxes.  Tonight is was a lot of glassware.  This included water goblets, candlewick glassware, and other types of crystal glasses.  I finally got the china hutch all organized, and dishes put away in it, ready to be used soon for a gathering around our dining room table.

*One of the teapots Mom has had ever since I remember is a dark mauve color.  As I looked at it as it sat on my dining room table, and I looked at it as I placed it on top of the chine hutch, it kind of reminds me of a lamp a Genie would live in.  If I rub the side of it, maybe a Genie will appear!!  Hmmmmm, I wonder what my three wished would be?

Gathering Graces 9/6/2017

*I can breathe!!  I can breathe!!  I finally had a good night’s sleep because I could breathe!  I found the way that helps me.  I take a 24 hour allergy pill in the early evening.  I use the Neti Pot morning and evening.  And I put my Vapor blend essential oils in the diffuser in my bedroom at night, and that seems to have done the trick!!  Oh, and staying inside with the doors and windows shut to keep the smoke away.

*It was amazing how much more productive I was today at work, because my head wasn’t in a fog.  I felt so much better!!

*Our cat Toby was diagnosed with high blood sugar levels at his recent vet appointment, so, to get the diabetes under control, we purchased some insulin, and learned how to administer it today.  So, from now on, two times a day, we will be inserting a small little needle under Toby’s skin to give him insulin.  He also has to be put on an eating schedule, eating only around the times he gets insulin.  I don’t think he is going to like that every much.

*I have been unpacking boxes brought over from Mom’s house and cleaning them, and putting them away.  Tonight I worked on Candlewick dishes.  I hand washed them in the sink, then put them away in the china hutch.  I loved these dishes when Mom had them.  I thought it was cool that they were glass and see-through.  I can’t wait to have my first dinner party and use these dishes.

*Mom also had some china called Antique Rose.  Our everyday dishes were getting a bit worn and scratched, so I thought...”Life’s too short not to use china every day”.  So, I switched things out, and I now have china as our everyday day dishes.  In making this switch, we also rearranged where things are in the kitchen.  I am still getting used to that!!

*With it being so smoky outside, we have been keeping our newly acquired cat Clark inside more.  He has been adjusting.  When we do let him out in the evening for a while, he is very good to always come in when we call to him.  We are very thankful that Molly and Travis made the sacrifice of letting us keep Clark at our house.  He has been a fun and welcome addition.

Gathering Graces 9/5/2017

*Happy Birthday to my baby girl Coco who turns 22 years old today!!  This year was the same as the year she was born.  Labor Day was the day before I gave birth to Cosette.  I remember I kept making cracks about going into labor on Labor Day.  And I did.  But it took me a while to figure it out.  Because I had never gone into labor on my own before.  With Molly, I had a C-Section and never had any contractions.  With Zoe, labor was brought on with Pitocen.  So when it happened with Cosette, it took me a while to figure out what was happening.  But, when it got to around 10 p.m. that night, and I couldn’t really stand up because of the pain, I told Paul it was time to call his Mom to come and stay with Zoe and Molly, because I think we needed to go to the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital around 11 p.m.  It was a short stay.  Cosette was born around 1:14 a.m. on September 5, 1995, and we were back home the next day by around 11 a.m. 

*Today was also the first day of school for the students of the Kellogg School District.  We had an opening assembly with all the students, and then went through the day.  Because of the smoke, my stuffy nose and sore throat made me tired and unable to focus.  I was not very motivated for the first day of school.  I got a few things done, but it was tough.

*Nikki and I have postponed our walking until the air quality improves.  I miss our walks.

*It was fun seeing students today and planning for the year ahead. 

*Paul and I came home and relaxed.  We enjoyed some grilled fish, coleslaw and steamed potatoes from the garden.  It was a nice way to end the day.

Gathering Graces 9/4/2017

*Happy Labor Day!!

*Still dealing with some sore throat, stuffiness and burning eyes.  Didn’t sleep much again.  Very smoky today.

*My friend MaryKay Lyons Hanson came over this morning to visit and pray with me, and share some encouraging scriptures.  It was just what I needed.  We talked about her experience when her mom died a few years ago, and I was so blessed by her visit.

*Paul and I headed over to Mom’s house and worked on clearing out items in her garage.  We went through tools to see what should be kept in the garage for Bill and Debbie, and what should be taken away.  Christy came toward the end of our project and helped sort through some of the items in the cupboards in the garage.  It was nice to get that project finished.

*Our roofing project is making progress.  They got all the old shingles off.  I felt very sorry for them having to work in this smoky atmosphere.

*Once we got home, we holed up in the house, and didn’t go outside.  I still felt stuffy, with a sore throat and itchy eyes.  Later in the day, Paul went to the store for some dinner, and bought me some allergy medication, and that helped.  I also started using the Neti-Pot to help clean out my nasal passages.  That was also a big help.

*The night before the first day of school is not as nerve racking as it was when I was younger.  I remember anticipating the first day of school with both nervousness and excitement.  I did get my clothes out for the next day, and got things ready for the first day of school.