Happenings

• It seems Bubbie is dying. She's been transported to a hospice and has been sleeping mostly for the last two days. She can't breathe deeply; the cancer has come back with a vengence. The nurse told Rick late yesterday that she didn't Bubbie would be going home again. So we are waiting for a phone call. . . . I think Hannah is thinking of going over to visit her tomorrow morning. I guess we'll be there on Saturday. Bubbie has really been deteriorating for the last 6 months and especially since my mother-in-law died. I am dreading the whole funeral thing again so soon. Poor Bubbie.
• Someone got ahold of my debit card number and spent the last couple of days buying things like gas and groceries. This all took place in Maryland. For some reason the bank thought this was suspicious activity and suspended my card. I got one of the automated phone calls warning me about it. The thief was spending money on such things as car washes, gas and groceries. Nothing very grandiose; it added up to a couple hundred dollars. Anyway it is really annoying but I find myself praying for the thief, for all I know they are out of a job and just need some cash to buy groceries and gas.
• We are finally having the siding replaced on our house. The people before us never cleaned the siding and it was in terrible condition so they painted it. You are not supposed to paint siding! The paint doesn't hold but peels off in big strips. So after seven years of ugly siding issues we are getting it replaced. It is a very noisy process and it involves lots of banging on the outside walls which results in things suddenly falling off shelves due to the vibrations. It also involves strange men's heads suddenly looming outside my windows. And then this morning when I went out to see what they had put up I saw that they were putting up the wrong siding! We did not order tan siding with beading! We ordered smooth, white siding. Soooo, it turns out they ordered and started to install the wrong siding. Wonder how long it will take for them to get the correct siding, rip down the wrong siding and replace it. Sigh. And today they didn't come at all because it rained all day. I have a feeling this project is going to take awhile. . .
• Hannah has complained about the incompetence of her boss at the local Starbucks since day one of her job. He sounded like he did a terrible job and caused lots of problems. Turns out he was dishonest too. He just got fired for lying to the company about hours worked.
• I made the decision last Friday to not continue with my Friday morning co-op after December. Josh did not like it, Sean was indifferent at best and I felt like I was having to invest a lot more time and effort with little to show for my efforts. And I didn't like not being home for Hannah and Will on Friday mornings. They simply didn't get any work done on Fridays, would want to play all Sat. and Sun and then wouldn't be prepared at all for weekly obligations come Monday morning. So I'm looking forward to having Friday mornings at home again.
• Josh and Sean have started taking a new class called Explosive Performance with Sean's friend Joseph. It is basically an indoor running class. They've gone twice and love it. The coach is really nice and encouraging.
• I'm planning to put Becky into a nearby homeschool Girl Scout Troop in lieu of the co-op. She was the only one really getting anything out of co-op. But she didn't mind me wanting to drop out because now she's all excited about being a Brownie.
• Our TORCH group started a Fridays games social at about the same time that our fall tennis lessons were held. We went last week and it was a big hit. At the same time, some of the moms are in a book discussion group. We are reading Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict. We got the study guide from Ignatius Press. I'm excited about it!
• And last but definitely not least, Hannah turned 18 on Monday! I made her tacos for dinner and she had an ice cream cake. Her boyfriend, Ryan, came over for dinner. She's planning on having a small party on Sat. night; maybe 8 to 10 friends over.

So that's what's happening around here! Good night!