Tuesday

Wayne called this morning to say he wasn’t coming because he was sick. Ed says he had a very convincing sick voice, too. I suppose that is why he wasn’t here yesterday. Dan came, though, and touched up ceilings (he is tremendously tall, so he doesn’t need a ladder to do ceilings) and painted trim in the kitchen. I am really going to love that kitchen, some day. Ed bought some of the formica for the counters last night at Lowes, and ordered the rest. He and Dan are planning to try their hands at re-formica-ing the counters after Ed has finished rebuilding the base cabinets, and I will be doing the backsplash (it’s been years since I did the backsplash in the last house, and I hope it will come back to me when I get started). Once those are done, and we’ve put in our new floor and built a pantry and put in new lights, I will have a very nice kitchen. Do you suppose I’ll have it by Christmas?

T. did his school with unusual enthusiasm today, motivated by the offer to accompany me to the Super Walmart in Mount Airy if he finished promptly. Too bad that he finds shopping so alluring, but at least we turned it to good today. Unfortunately, Ed’s “minor” repair job on the van – replacing the thermostat so the heat will work – has turned out to be an all day project. It is now 4:45 and he is still trying to fix a leak, so perhaps I can use the lure of a Walmart trip as an inspiration for academic excellence tomorrow as well! (or would that be unsporting?)

** The picture of scenery is the view next to the corner store, where we went today for afternoon ice cream to cheer up someone who needed cheering. If you look closely, you can see that some of the leaves are turning colors. The picture of K. shows that she can pick clover even while firmly holding onto her Tootsie Pop.