Not official yet

No blood, but plenty of sweat and tears - Andrew got his papers accepted by the District Advancement Chair Saturday, May 19. Hooray! Now he waits to be called before a Board of Review (thank goodness THAT didn't have to take place before his 18th birthday. I was afraid it would). I have very little doubt that he will pass. Soon (hopefully), we will be inviting you to an Eagle Court of Honor.

Do As I Say, Not.........oh, ok, I will do it, too

The trouble with sending out a reminder asking everyone to write to
the family blog, is that now, of course, I need to also.

Today is E minus 7. In seven short, short days Andrew turns 18.
Will he fly or crash and burn? He and I are working away at his
Eagle. His project is completed - he collected and delivered probably
around 1500 books, plus stuffed animals, games and toys to Books for the Barrios
for schools in the Philippines. Now, the write up! groan. The
application to fill out. Letters of recommendation to collect. His
Eagle book to put together. Get all this approved by the vigilant
District Advancement Chair AND have a Board of Review before midnight
of his 18th birthday. We are so close, and yet ...... I sure know
why they give the mothers those little pins.

In other news, we adopted a couple of cocktiels from a dog park friend
who rescued them from a cruelly negligent neighbor. "I was hoping
they would die." Recently Mr Cotton had us quite concerned as he
huddled in the bottom of the cage and seemed out of sorts. Until we
saw an egg in the bottom of the cage! So far Mr Cotton, or should we
say, Mrs Rosie Cotton, has laid 5 eggs now. We do not THINK they are
viable (and WHAT would we do if they are???). Some experts say to let
th hen keep her eggs for a while to satisfy her little mother heart.
Also, if you take them all away, she might just keep laying.

Joseph and I are facing finals in our respective classes Thursday.
ahh, the joy. So far, we each have strong A's, so no terror. I am
amazed at being able to carry an A and STILL not understand, much less
like, Accounting (basic beginning class). The teacher is helpful and
a bit lenient, but still..

Don't you think you can write something AT LEAST as interesting as this?! I bet you can!

Hoping to hear from you!

love, Barbara

Barbara on Break

I asked you all to write, so I guess I had better!

Glen finished remodeling and renovating the house he inherited from his father and moved into it last month. Mostly. Some of his stuff remains in some kind of informal storage at my house.

Along with the various leavings of 10 pack rats over some 30 years. It is going to take AGES to clean, sort, and implement some of our plans for the house. (If you want to know about some of our ideas, read my old post What Shall We Name Our House" on my personal blog.)

He also signed over his interest/ownership and I have gotten my own mortgage. Being the sole responsible person is a little scarey. But I feel good about it. It is OUR house!!

Although not final, I don't even know how close it is - weeks ago (before yet another trip to Mexico!) my lawyer said that his lawyer was going to draw up the papers for us to sign and then it has to go through the court or something - anyway, the divorce is beginning to have healing effects. Although the house is a cluttered wreck, it feels like home. It is a peaceful, happy place. Not that there was yelling or fighting before, but there was tension and unhappiness. Some of us who have struggled with strongly negative personal feelings find ourselves feeling less resentful and bitter, much more Christian. The boys are self-reliant and helpful which makes it so much easier for me. I don't know how working moms do it!

I have been at my job with California State Parks for 5 months now. Almost done with probation and no warning notices. I don't like being away from my guys and home. I don't have time or energy to see the grandbabies much or get anything done around here. But if I have to work, and I do, I am very fortunate to work here. I like all the supervisors, especially mine. My co-workers are almost all good workers and pleasant people. The Chief of services is a delightful, friendly woman. I feel like I am working for something worthwhile. The work is enough to keep me busy and make the days go quickly, but not enough to cause great stress. Much about my job is very convienent and tailor fitted to me. I thank the Lord for blessing me to be here.

Fun stuff - Joseph and I took our old beat-up lawn mower to SMUD's Mow Down and replaced it with an electric mower. I don't know how to use it yet, but Joseph does. I used to have to ask him and remind him to mow. Now, I come home to a neatly mown, pot-holed weed patch, instead of the scraggly mess we used to have. It looks much better.

We adopted a pair of cockatiels from a friend who rescued them from a criminally negligent neighbor. We don't know their age or gender. I tend to think of the yellow one as she and the grey one as he because of birds we had before. We call them Yellow Rose or Rosey Cotton and Mr Cotton.

Andrew is 1 month away from turning 18. I am trying to NOT to get an ulcer as "we" try to finish his Eagle requirements. Finish Communications Merit Badge, do his Eagle project - collect books for a disadvantaged school in the Philippines whose books were lost in a typhoon, do all his paperwork and get a Board of Review. I know he CAN do it and I think he will, but it is going to be a near thing. Believe me, you will hear about it if, that is, when he does!!! I tell you, mothers DESERVE those Mother Pins!

After Andrew, I as Troop Committe Chair, have 4 more Life Scouts to help along to Eagle. The next one has a year and his mom is really nudging him. His project has been approved. My youngest Life is Benjamin. I also need to work on getting our younger Scouts to advance. I love the Scouting program and what it can do for our young men.

Part of celebrating Easter for me was to finally get to the temple for the first time since starting work. I had thought to go on an evening during the week, but that just didn't work for me. Saturday morning seems to work out. I am going to try to manage once a month. It felt so good to go. I truly felt like I was going home and I felt a loving welcome.

Not much news and my lunch break is over.

What is happening with you?