We have confirmation!

Yes, I received a call from home and we have "furnace guy" on site - furnace is being installed as I type.

(and it's 60 degrees today, so we don't really need it, ironic, yes?)

Could it be????

Now, I haven't been home to verify with my own eyes, but . . . . . "furnace guy" should be at my house this very minute installing a new Tempstar furnace!!!! We might actually be WARM when we get up tomorrow morning - Whhhooooo Hooooooo!!!!

More news and updates as they become available :0)

Hey baby, it's c-c-c-cold in here!

Ok, 10 days later . . . . still no furnace.

Just talked to "furnace guy" he says they'll be here tomorrow. They'll be putting the furnace in where the old one was for now, and coming back later to put it where we want it (up off the floor so it won't get hit in the flood again.) At least we'll have heat. Last night I gave up and went to bed after Oprah! Yes, that's 5pm around here. I put dinner on the counter, announced it was ready and hit the sheets. Watched some tv, read a book that wasn't that good, and snuggled up with my blankets and quilts. Ellen & Marci ended up in my bed too. After Tim went to work, we spread out a little and Marci even went back to her own bed. She had a cat in there to keep her feet warm (ssshhhh! Don't tell Tim!!).

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" Yes,well, other than that, everything is going well.

At work, the newsletter got done and went into the mail- yeah! Quilting is progressing. I have Aunt Dee's quilt back on the frame to finish the centers of her Dresden Plates. I was pondering what to do in there for weeks, and I've decided to crosshatch (with help from my MQResource gals who pointed me in the right direction- thanks ladies!) And it should be done and in the mail by Monday.

I have an appointment on Wednesday to take in a memory quilt. It should be some simple quilting and go pretty fast. The next three quilts in line are applique and will need light custom work and ruler work too, so that will take some time (but make some good $$ too ;).

Max & Ellen both have done their kitchen chores with such a nice attitude this week! I can't wait to give them a bonus when I pay commissions on Saturday because of it. They'll be suprised that I noticed I bet ;o) School is going ok for all of them. Max is down to only 4 classes. We pulled him out of Spanish after that lovely 40% F for the last quarter - no sense wasting anyone's time there! He has two assigned study halls and one assigned resource (like a study hall). The resource time is with a great guy - 20 years retired military, former Army Ranger, and takes no silly crap from anyone. "I dunno" is not an answer when he wants to know what is going on with your grades, homework, or life! He meets with Max the last period of each day and checks to see that he is on task with the day's homework (it should be done with all those study halls) and doing well in the classes. I'm hoping that this will become a mentoring thing between them. Max could use a good role model in his life, someone besides mom and dad who, of course, know nothing by virtue of us being mom and dad.

Oh yeah, and I've been sneaking a cat in the house. I'm a bad, bad girl. And I ordered a headboard for our bed. We've never had one, just always had the bed up against the wall. So I'm going to call this a gift for our recent 18th Wedding Anniversary - see, then I don't have to feel so bad about it, LOL! Plus it was on SALE bigtime!!! And it will look great in our room. Ok, all rationalized. I feel better ;)

Um, can we get some heat around here?

Hey, it's like, almost the end of October and we are still waiting on our furnace to be installed (after it was ruined in the flood this summer). Now, admittedly, the DH & I do enjoy a little game we play each year called "see how long we can go before breaking down and turning on the furnace." And the record is Nov. 1st one year, I think. But somehow, it was a more fun game, when we COULD turn on the furnace -- being forced by karma, or the evil God of flash flood to play the game is not the same, and simply not as fun!

"Furnace Guy" as we call him, was supposed to be here last week. And when I called Friday, he said "middle of next week" (which, coincidentally had been his answer when I called the week before. . . . . hmmm .... sounding kinda fishy) But, I really like the guy. He's in business with his son, and likely they have just taken on more than they could keep up with (gee, like I do with my quilts?????? Maybe that's why I can easily cut him slack and be understanding.) And, for those who haven't lived in old, drafty farmhouses, let me add one other little detail to the mix: Plaster walls. They hold the cold. Great in warm weather -- not so good right now :(

Password does not match username

. . . . . .you know, sometimes I wonder what the heck I did to deserve such an awesome life. I promise you, it's nothing I remember -- that's for darn sure!

I was reading a friend's blog. She and I used to be close when our kids were little. Heck, Tim & I used to joke that she was his "other" wife. Well, she and her hubby are getting a divorce. That's not shocking news actually, they've toyed with this before, but always resolved to stay together. It just makes me sad. They are such a nice family. Yes, of course, I knew there were problems, frankly I picked them as the type to have dad live in one part of the house and mom in another "for the sake of the kids" rather than divorce -- they always maintained their friendship even when there were rough patches. No one cheated, they just grew in vastly different directions -- and not like one became a crackhead or anything, they are both really fine grownups -- just grownups who have their lives pointed in different, but perfectly acceptable, directions. It hit me when I used the wrong password to login today, "password does not match username" describes them. It used to work, but they don't fit together anymore.

And that brings me back to the question, how the heck did I get so lucky? I don't believe in soulmates -- I know, that is a shocking revelation for such a happy-go-lucky-romantic such as myself. But I really do not believe that there is one person out there meant for each of us. I think there are people who are willing to give 100 +% to making a marraige work, and if you are one of those people and get lucky enough to marry one of those people - barring any dealbreaking activities (the 3 A's as Dr. Laura says: alcohol, abuse, affair) you will have a successful marriage. Turns out, I am one of those, and so is Tim.

And maybe it also comes down to what you call a "successful marraige"? We are CONTENT. Not blissfully, lustfully hurtling through our days. But, gently savoring them and appreciating that we have a family, food on our table, a roof over our heads and beds to sleep in. Sure we play the "If we win the lottory" imagination game, and mentally lavish cars, furniture, and luxeries on ourselves and loved ones. But reality is, slowly, we make the roof and beds better, paint rooms in the home, upgrade appliances that die. At the end of the day, it is our nest and we feel comfortable there -- contentment cancells out restlessness, and restlessness makes you keep looking and searching for more. Restlessness might be the root of "I'll be happy when ________" fill in the blank. Well, contentment is when you look around and say, today I am fine, I am loved and for that I am humbled, suprised and so very grateful.

I finally painted a room in the house!

Yeah, it's only been FIVE years since we moved in, and I'm just now painting the third of 11 rooms! Ellen's got painted first, before we completely moved in. The downstairs bathroom got painted when we remodeled it, and now the foyer has been painted. I'd say it was worth the wait as it turned out fantastic! I love, love, love the deep blue color!

I purchased the small dresser/mirror at the local antique mall with mom. There was another table in here, but it went up to Ellen's room a few weeks ago in some major furniture swapping around.

Once I was excited about how the foyer turned out, I wanted to do more! What I always notice at other people's houses, is the open space. My rooms are just jam-packed with stuff. So I went on a mission to reduce the furniture in the rooms. The living room lost two couches, two book cases and some tables. It gained a piano, small cabinet behind the couch, and entertainment center.

The dining room lost the piano and gained a love seat, table, and chair. I was suprised at the open space created by moving the furniture this way. One wall has been painted so far, but I hope to finish the rest in the next few weeks.

And best of all, a call to the heating repair guy reveals that we are in line to get the new furnace installed next week-hurray! It's getting kinda coolish so we were starting to worry!!

Just gotta get this off my chest~

There must be a top 5 list somewhere of places NOT to answer your cell phone, right? Well yesterday while running my errands, I had to live through the #1 on the list. I'm in the potty at the store and the stall next to me rings. . . . . . . AND THE WOMAN ANSWERS IT!!!!!!!!!!! WTF?????????? She proceeds to have a conversation, setting an appointment, Doctor? Lawyer? Who knows. Then the woman on the other side stands up . . . . . . and you know those motion detector thingys??? Yup! Her potty flushes -- while woman #1 is still talking on the phone. But here's the kicker, when woman #1 finishes the call. Woman #2 says "Sorry" for the flushing.

OMG! Woman #1 should have said "Sorry" to all of us in the room for being stupid! but, I guess that didn't occur to her. I'm telling you, I wished I had DH or DD#1's skill at farting right about then. I'd have ripped some big ugly ones while she was having her conversation, ROFLMAO!!!

what? no posts??

that's cause the last month pretty much sucked rotten eggs!

Not sure if it's all the crap with Max, or not enough meds, or just what. But the last month has just been miserable. Don't even want to discuss it. Let's pretend it never happened.

I will however, sum up the situation with the 15 year old son: we have "taken our hands off the wheel" so to speak. After trying everything under the sun to get him to be responsible and do well in school and life. We are going to let him "run it in the ditch" on his own. Much like they say about alcoholics, if you can't help 'em up, then help 'em down. The idea is for Max to hit his own rock b0ttom of irresponsibility and THEN he will be ready and open to help. Until then, when our mouths are open, he just hears "wrrrraaaa wrraaaa wwrrrraaaa" like in the Peanuts' specials when the teacher would talk! The worst that will happen is when he fails classes this year, he will have to take them over. This will give him less free time at school next year, so it is not all bad. As long as he passes the state exam he took 2 weeks ago (and he's not ever failed the ISTEP in all these years, so we don't expect that to be a problem), and accumulates the credits needed to graduate, he will receive his diploma. He will then be able to enter the local community college if he chooses. We are not destroying his life by letting him make some big boo-boos here. He will be able to pick up the pieces and put together a plan. And he will likely care a lot more, because he will have to work for it.

'nuf said.