Friday Catch Up

Here I am at 7:00pm on a Friday doing paperwork and bills. It has been a very long time since I was in the routine I have been in for most of my marriage, which is to run errands and get bills paid on Fridays. In the last 10 years I have gradually gone from paying my bills in person or by mail to online payments. That meant a gradual change over to spending usually Friday evenings online keeping things caught up and done. However off and on since last fall when the grandparents got so bad I have had to skip this ritual and try to catch up here and there during the week.
Today I am proud to report that the sitting/den room is tidy, the gentle breeze is cool and humidity free, NCIS is on the tube and I am actually in command of the papers. It feels very good. I was able to get several important errands run which make our electronic/technological life easier and I didn't have to grab carry out for dinner. Life is good!
Now just to get the packages for Africa ready and in the mail! Then I would say life is completely back to normal for us. The recovery from our very difficult journey is almost complete.

Barn Update

(Pics posted soon)
Well, every muscle and bone in my body hurts and hurts and hurts. I feel old. But, the barn is almost done being painted. We hired a young man to do the peaks and after a lot of experimenting, we ended up with a scaffold which is working well. A huge accomplishment. Now just a cupola and finishing the doors. The garage doors will be here tomorrow and I will get door knobs this weekend. Then it will be weatherproof and critterproof. We already had a bird come in and start a nest.
It is so nice to have storage finally. We don't have a good basement and our outbuildings were all old barns so it has been a long time coming and it is really nice to have someplace large to put things and keep them out of the elements.
Matt is working on getting the stud walls in to get it ready for electricity. The dancers will stay put for this year. Too much work to do to move them yet.
We are slowly getting the pond weeds down and it is starting to look civilized. That property has brought a huge amount of joy to all of us. It is a decision no one regrets. Now to just the Hillsdale County piece sold.

Lazy summer Sunday

Today is Matt and I's 23rd anniversary. We celebrated yesterday since we had no people around. We finished up on our to do list for the day and headed up to the tip of the thumb. We were on a mission for unique cupolas to help us design one for the barn/garage. Then we were looking for a nice place to eat, preferably on the lake. Both missions were accomplished. However in the chaos of the day I managed to leave my glasses at a garage sale. So bright and early this am I had to head back to the garage sale to retrieve them.
Well, glasses are back on the nose and so I am whole once again.
The construction crew has one last task and then they will be gone. The concrete is still not poured and it looks like they will miss tomorrow since the rain is coming. But we are moving things in and slowly but surely it is becoming home. For the first time in several years the porches will be tub free. I am looking so forward to that.
Between the bugs and the heat, the horses are getting a lot of extra attention. They love it. Everything else is going pretty well. I am finally starting to feel like I have some control over my time and I am very grateful. Now to begin the arduous task of planning the trip to Africa.