July 2024

We got up Sunday morning and took the shaggin' wagon to drive Chris and Tom to the convention center to watch Hayden play volleyball. Stuart and I went to the grocery store to buy a few things and then came back and picked up the kids to go on a kayak adventure.

There were no alligators on the lake where we were, which was a bummer, but we still had a great time. It was hot and our butts were wet when we got done, but we had fun and created memories. 

We went to the outlets of Orlando when we finished our kayaking. Stuart bought some shoes, Jack bought some cologne, Millie also bought some shoes and I bought a $5 pair of shorts in order to get out of my wet ones. That was the best money I have spent in a while. Soggy shorts and humidity do not go together. 

We ate lunch at the outlets and then headed to buy beer at Publix, the local grocery store. We went to the accommodations and dropped off our groceries. It was pouring on us. Hayden played volleyball all day and we picked them up after his third match. We then went back to the Hurley room and had some snacks. We made our way to the pool bar to play trivia and have a few beers. 

We were contemplating going to a Puerto Rican restaurant about a half hour away, but instead we did Uber Eats from that restaurant. It was delightful. We played cards for a while and then called it a night. 

Monday morning I got up around 7:45 am. Stuart had already taken Tom to the convention center and was back to get ready to go to Volcano Bay, a Universal Studio water park. 

Chris and Owen went with us. It was muggy outside so it was nice to be in the lazy river. Stuart, Chris and I did a family ride and got soaked. Millie's day was a bit tragic as, even though I was sure five days was enough for her period, she was not finished and was actually bleeding at the water park. She was embarrassed and sad. Chris helped a lot as she talked her through how to handle things. This was a bit excessive for a first period. Poor kid! Having a daughter who has her first period reminds a woman of the injustices of being a woman. 

After the water park the kids settled in and played Mario Cart with Millie's Nintendo switch. 

Stuart and I went to the Hurleys to do some laundry and ended up watching Beverly Hills Cop. They had gone to Hayden's team dinner and we had their suite to ourselves. Once they were home, we finished our card game from the previous night and then went back to our room, through torrential rain! We were soaked by the time we got back to our room. 

Thank goodness Millie had stayed in the room. She would have been super irritated had she come with us and ended up sopping wet and then had to be in a cold room. 

 

We checked out of our hotel Tuesday morning and headed toward Wild Willy's Airboat Tours. We were hopeful that on this adventure we would see alligators, since our kayak event proved to be void of alligators. 

We saw a number of female alligators protecting their nest. 

They blended in and we could only see her head. 

We got to hold this little guy at the end of our airboat ride. 

We headed back to the resort to pick the Hurleys up. We dropped Hayden at the convention center. We then headed to Sam's Club, where 6 of the 7 of us had lunch for a total of $8.88. We spent nearly $700 and then another $300 at Walmart. But we were sure that $250 per family was way less than we would have spent had we eaten out every meal of the week. 

We got to the airbnb at 2 pm and what a place it was. There were two bedrooms on the ground floor, which were taken by the Holmes parents and the Telford parents. There was also a theater and game room downstairs. Upstairs there was another common area with game tables. Off the common area was 4 bedrooms with either king or queen beds as well as two bunk bed rooms that were epically decorated. The kids were in heaven. 

Once the van was unloaded, Stuart took Chris and Tom to watch Hayden play. He then went to get Vicki and her boys from the airport. In the meantime, I put away the groceries where I thought was best. Naturally, Chris rearranged everything when she got back to the house. 

The theater. 

Game room. 

Mario Cart. 

When Vicki and the boys got to the house we did a whole lot of nothing. The boys swam. The Hurleys returned around 9 pm. Apparently there was a big kerfuffle at Hayden's last game. It is such a shame when adults don't act accordingly. 

We spent the rest of the evening watching volleyball on Baller TV. 

The kids were digging the pool for sure. 

The following day, the Holmes family arrived. We had dinner prepared when they got there. Dinner of steak, chicken, potatoes and salad. The rest of the evening was spent chatting. 

We were up at 5:30 am making snack bags, breakfast, sandwiches and getting kids ready for their first day of tournament play. 

We spent most of the day at the convention center. They didn't get the result they wanted as they went 1 and 2 on the day. Jack was disappointed for sure. 

When we got back from the convention center the boys all had an ice bath. 

Jack struggled to stay in for 10 minutes. But he did it. 

Chris, Vicki and I also got in, but not completely. 

Hear no, see no, speak no evil! That ice was cold. 

It rained for a while in the evening and because it wasn't lightning, we let the kids swim. 

Friday we had a tough day at the courts. They won the first one and lost the other two. We ended up going to the grocery store and then going back to the house. 

Dinner of leftovers after a swim. 

Saturday morning we were back at the conference center and nearly got into a fight with the Puerto Rican team. They wouldn't leave the court, even though their kids weren't playing. It was terrible. They only won one of their matches. They got into the Flight 3 pool for the following day, which just meant they were basically in the middle of all the teams in the tournament. 

Saturday evening we went to BJ's Brewery for dinner. We then came back and put on our matching jammies. 

Sunday morning we were up and rushing around to get everything to our hotel. We were staying an extra night. Everyone else was flying out that evening. Vicki ended up staying as well because there was a threat of a hurricane in Texas and her flight was to have a layover in Austin. 

The boys ended up winning Flight 3. 

We went to the Yard House for lunch and Christie and Jeremy left for the airport. We went to check in at our hotel. The Hurleys and Ryan left for the airport around 5 pm. The rest of us sat around in a daze. We were all exhausted. We Uber Eats food and ate in the lobby. Stuart and I did our best to drink the rest of the beer leftover from the Airbnb. 

We had to wake up at 4 am to head to the airport. Millie was so difficult to get up. We had yet another conversation about how she was putting other people out due to her behavior. I'm hoping one of the these days she will actually think of others before herself.  Once at the airport, all was very uneventful. Our plane was completely filled. 

Once we were in Arizona, we shuttled to our car. Once home, Jennifer Harley had stayed and the house was as if we hadn't left, which was a bit depressing as it is in such disarray. I had told the kids if they would get their things unpacked we would take them to their friends' houses. We were home at 10:42 am and back out the door at 11:31 am, having put all things away and a load of laundry started. 

After we delivered the kids, we headed to lunch at Old Chicago. We then hit the grocery store for some needed items. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out our plan of attack for the following day. Millie went to gymnastics with her friend Brinley. I picked her up after gym and she said it was good. This was her first day back since the last of May. We shall see if she changes her mind once school starts. Jack got home around 9 pm from Tatum's. We were all in bed early as our internal clocks were a bit screwed up. 

Tuesday Stuart and I headed to Home Depot early in the morning. Then at 10 am, Jack and I went to Dick's to get him a new pair of volleyball shoes. Brinley had spent the night, so the girls swam and played all day while Stuart and I worked on the house. The guy coming to do our pantry was due to start on Thursday, so we had to empty those cabinets he was removing. What a great mess our guest room is. 

All the food that was in those cabinets is now in the guest room. 

We covered everything in the house and Stuart started spraying the ceiling. When he finished mid afternoon there was a fine layer of paint dust everywhere, even upstairs. But we will keep plugging away. 

Our dining room leaves a bit to be desired at the moment. 

The kitchen is difficult to use. 

Everything is piled in the middle of the living room. This too shall pass. 

After a great deal of work, we got into the pool. I was sure to be sore the next day. Stuart made breaded pork chops with a mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes for dinner. I guess our kitchen is not as unusable as I thought it was. I picked Millie up from gymnastics and home we went. It was an early bedtime for all of us, yet again. 

Wednesday Jack was supposed to have practice for his USA All-Star Championship team, but it seems they had difficulty reserving court space, so they would postpone until Thursday. I think he was relieved to have another day to rest and this meant he could have Tatum over for the day. 

Stuart and I were up at 5 am, coffee flowing. We started the wall paint. I started trimming as did Stuart. Millie had an orthodontist appointment, so Jack went with me. She had a great report about her teeth, so since this has been an ongoing battle, I had promised her she could get acrylic nails. Once her appointment was over, we went to pick up Tatum. We went to get Chipotle for lunch. When we got back to the house, Stuart was in the middle of spraying the walls. We decided to go down to my mom and dad's house to eat our lunch. Tatum stayed all day. 

Thursday I was up again at 5 am but didn't get started with painting until almost 7:30 am. Millie and Weston had Colt Days around 1 pm. Elise and I took the kids so they could walk their class schedule and feel relaxed about their upcoming first day of junior high. Jack had a buddy come back from volleyball practice with him. They went to Carter's and I picked them up after I collected Millie from gymnastics. David stayed the night. 

Friday I took the boys to volleyball practice, but not before painting the second coat of trim downstairs, which took me nearly 2 hours. I hopped in the shower and was out in time to take them to practice. 

Millie messaged me and told me she had decided she was going to play volleyball and not do gymnastics anymore. Needless to say, I was shocked a bit. 

Tony removed the cabinets. 

Then it was framed. He planned to come back on Monday to finish the sheet rock and texture. Then he will put in the wire shelves and then the door. Although we have run out of money and have to wait on our flooring, it is going to be great and I can't wait until it is completely done. 

We left to take Millie to gymnastics and then met Bob and Kristi for a drink at Skippy's. We got home and Stuart started tidying up the house. I went to get Millie at gymnastics, carting rice with butter with me. Since her orthodontist appointment on Wednesday she has had trouble chewing. Her teeth have been very sore. When we got home, the house was pretty much put together, except for the flooring. We had removed our old sofa in hopes that it had been sold, but it turns out that was not the case. 

Saturday morning I was up and walking four miles. Chris, Vicki and I had decided we were going to start making goals for ourselves to live a more productive life. We planned to make two new goals every two weeks, but sticking to the original goals each two week cycle. My two goals were to not drink any alcohol on days that didn't start with Fri or Sat, as well as walking two miles per day. Well, on Friday, I didn't walk so I decided I had to make up for that on Saturday. Boy, was it hot! 

After my walk, I drank water and had coffee. Stuart took Jack to the carpool spot and then we took Millie to her counseling appointment. While she was meeting with Aimee, we grabbed a bean and cheese burrito from Los Favoritos and then did a shop at Wal Mart. We were having a cookout with Tatum's family the next day. It makes total sense that this is what I would orchestrate in the midst of our chaos! Ha!

Once we were home and groceries were unpacked, Stuart headed to Costco to get ribs! I had promised Millie acrylic nails for being so good about taking care of her teeth, so this was the day. 

This is what she chose. After nails, we went to Target and did some school shopping for supplies. When we got home, I took a shower and Stu and I got ready to go to a birthday party of one of his colleagues. Brandy and Brad, some friends of ours, came to pick us up and we headed out East. It was passed where Mary & Mack lived. We didn't stay terribly long. When we got home, Millie had cleaned up the kitchen. Sometimes she does that to make up for being a stinker during the day.

The theme of the party was 'white'. 

Sunday morning I was supposed to get up to go walk and I slept through my alarm. We didn't do any work on the house other than tidying up the rooms in order to have Tatum's family over for a cookout.

Jack helped with cleaning up the back porch and around the pool. Stuart and I worked on the inside and Millie vacuumed upstairs. Both kids stripped their beds and we washed those. Then around 3 o'clock, Tatum's family came through the door. They are both hard-working people who are trying to make ends meet just like we are. So having them over was such a delight. They are a lot like us, but a lot younger. We had a great afternoon. We swam for a while and then we ate ribs and chicken. They made dessert and brought over brownies and chocolate chip cookies. They left around 7:30 PM and we counted that as a successful interaction. We really are so thankful for Tatum and her family because she and Jack are the best of friends. We like that part about the relationship. 

Monday morning I woke up at five to go walking. I had attempted to walk on Sunday evening after the Kahler family left, but it started storming so I couldn't. So Monday morning I would have to make up for it by walking 4 miles instead of two. It was much cooler at 5:30 AM than it was at 7 AM one of the previous mornings that I've walked this month. 

We spent the rest of the day getting all of our food out of the guestroom because it seems that we had a little visitor in there. We chased him out of the house and are hoping he doesn't come back. Tony, the guy remodeling our kitchen, or rather adding a pantry, came around 12:30 and finished putting all the drywall on. He's not the fastest worker in the world, but he's very nice and he seems very efficient. So we can be patient for a few more days. 

Jack had his last practice with his high-performance team and then went to Owen's to swim until around 3:30. I went to pick him up and when we got home, Stuart and I went to Costco to buy snacks for Jack's tournament. We were going to have very little interaction with him while he was in Iowa, even though Stuart would be there. We were told the parents are to be seen and not heard. It's a way of them teaching the boys how to bond as a team and also grow up a little bit. The problem with this team is that the communication leaves a lot to be desired. At about 7 PM on Monday night, the evening before they leave, we get a message from their chaperone that says she's planning to go to Costco when they get there and buy a lot of snacks and breakfast food and then use the remaining of the money that we are all to donate to her for dinners. She said it would be easier than having each of the boys be in charge of their own money. However, one of the directives we were given was that we were to teach our children how to tip a waiter or waitress so that when they did go out to eat, the team didn't look cheap. So, although we had bought all the snacks for Jack, we contributed the $150 towards the food. These organizations are frustrating when you're a teacher and you've traveled with students before and it's so disorganized, which I never was. 

Jack and Millie both went to bed just before 10 o'clock. Jack would be up at 3:30 AM to head off to Iowa and Millie was going to be up at 6 AM because she was going to school from 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM as kind of a trial day in junior high. I think both kids were equally nervous, but were ready for the challenge.

I woke up at 3 AM because I just couldn't sleep. I went downstairs and made sure that Jack had some cold medicine because he was starting to feel a bit under the weather. This was not surprising to me as he almost always gets sick before he goes on these tournaments. I decided since I was up anyway I would get my 2 mile walk and so I headed out on the street after Stuart and Jack left for the airport.

Elise and I took Millie and Weston to school for their mock day in junior high. Jack arrived in Des Moines and we were sent this team photo. 

Jack got a hair cut when he got there. He's such a nut. 

Millie went to gymnastics, even though her foot was still hurting. I dropped off teacher supplies to Jennifer, Tatum's mom. When I got back to the house Stuart and I went to eat sushi. Stuart went and picked up Millie from gymnastics and she showered when she got home.  She ended up falling asleep on the sofa at about 9:30 so I had to wake her up to go to bed.

Wednesday morning I got up at five to go for my walk and when I got back, I had some coffee and then I took my baby girl to her first day of junior high.

I'm not the mom that takes photos with a chalk board stating her grade and dreams. I'm the mom holding my cup of coffee in parent drop off, realizing I didn't take a picture of my daughter's first day of junior high. And then I'm yelling out the window, 'I love you! Have a great first day! You got this!' Always doing my best to embarrass her. 

Jack's team had practice and a team photo on Wednesday. Jack is number 2 and looks angry. 

The progress of the house helped to give us a little bit of hope!

Before on the right and almost after on the left. I am so pleased we decided to put a pantry in that corner. 

Thursday was another day of painting. I ran out of wall paint so had to head back to Home Depot. Stuart was in Iowa, living his best life. Although he was there with Jack, he wasn't really responsible for Jack. So he and the other dads got to have a bit of a boys' weekend. Prior to painting, I went to Chris' house to tread in the pool for a while. It was surprisingly good exercise. Once I was home, the painting commenced and I was able to watch Jack's games. Jack's team won both of their matches on day one of the tournament. 

Friday was my birthday and I went to coffee with Elise after we dropped the kids at school.  

Then I went to a drumming class and brunch with Sue. I think drumming is an annual thing for me with Sue when drumming was over we headed to eat, but discovered that the internet outage had closed the restaurant we had planned to eat at, so we headed south to a different location. They gave us a buy one get one free coupon, so that was a win. Sue paid for breakfast, as well as my drumming class, so I was getting to do all the free things. 

In the late afternoon, I met Kristi at Skippy's. Seems to be 'our place'. This was also my birthday treat. My birthday was completed by a visit from Elise, my neighbor. 

Saturday I got up and decided that painting was a big fat 'no' for me for the day. I truly lazed around all day. It was delightful. Jack only had one game and they lost it. In spite of that, they were going to the gold bracket. 

Vicki and Chris picked me up at 4 PM and took me to a surprise location. It turns out they planned for us to play bingo at the casino. Once we were there, it was so crowded that we decided maybe we would just play slots. After one round of slots, Chris and I decided to play roulette. I ended up coming away $10 ahead, which never happens. We then went to dinner at Humble Bistro. It was delightful! We had a fantastic evening. 

These ladies know how to treat a birthday girl. When I got home, Elise came over for a little bit.

I got up on Sunday morning and watched Jack play his first match of the gold bracket. They won the first two sets and then lost the last three sets so they were done for the tournament. He was disappointed, but he did have a great tournament.

I spent the rest of the day painting woodwork. When I first started, I shook my gallon of paint and then dropped it. Bummer!

So I finished the woodwork and decided to rest for the remainder of the day. I watched stupid, sappy movies until the late evening, then retired around 10 pm because my plan was to get up at 4 am to walk 6 miles. I had skipped Saturday and Sunday, so needed to make it up to fulfill my goal of walking 2 miles per day, or at least exercising the equivalent of that each day. In true form, I woke up at 1 am and felt I had had a full nights sleep. Stupid internal clock. It really proves I only need about 4 hours of sleep each night. 

When I did actually get up, I only had time for 5 miles instead of six. I took the kids to school and then picked up Stuart from the airport after that. We spent the entire day painting. It was exhausting and I can honestly say I hate painting now more than ever. 

Millie had volleyball tryouts at the end of the school day, which made her late to gymnastics. When we got her there I went in and spoke with her coach, telling him that she would not be returning in August. He didn't seem surprised. I got a text from her female coach that pissed me off and confirmed that her quitting gymnastics was the right decision. Her female is mean to kids who don't fit her mold. It's horrible. 

I picked Jack up from the airport. What a kerfuffle that was. Stuart picked Millie up from gymnastics. When we got home, Jack put laundry in the washing machine. Tatum stopped by to say a quick hello as they hadn't seen each other for an entire week. Jack would be overwhelmed with school this week, but that is the price you pay when you want to be involved in something like high performance. 

Tuesday I got up and walked three miles. My sciatica was killing me. We painted the pantry and got it ready for the shelves to be put in the following day. Our house was finally coming together. Millie went to gymnastics and Jack spent the entire evening getting caught up from the days of school he had missed. 

Wednesday we did some more work, but Tony did not show up to finish the pantry. Millie had her last tryout day and we took the boys to Brophy to open gym. We ate dinner with Chris and Tom at sushi vibe. In the middle of dinner Millie found out that she made the seventh grade volleyball team. She was so excited. She was only one of three girls that made the team that are not currently on a club team. But guess who will likely start club in November?

Thursday, we got up and took the kids to school and then went and collected a coffee table that I had purchased off of marketplace. We then went to Home Depot to try to sort out our blinds for our downstairs windows. When we got back to the house and Tony was there to finish our pantry. In the afternoon, we went to pick up a rug that I bought off of marketplace as well. We had lunch at Olive Mill which we had not done in years. We got home and started sorting things out in the pantry. We had very different ideas as of what was supposed to go where. We may have gotten into a little tiff. I decided to take a shower after making a dessert which Stuart was monitoring.  I ended up leaving the house to get Millie and take her to gymnastics, and then went to Sherry's house for dinner for and Mary and my birthdays. The sad part was Mary wasn't able to make it due to her sister being very ill and getting ready to die. We missed her so. We had a wonderful meal, with everyone selecting a dish from a cookbook Sherry had bought each of us. It was such a wonderful concept. 

On Friday, I was supposed to go to hot yoga with Melinda after dropping the kids at school, but she forgot to reserve us a spot so it didn't happen. I took the kids to school and then did odds and ends around the house. That evening we were supposed to go to dinner for my birthday and Christie's birthday, but Chris's son Hayden had his wisdom teeth cut out and he would not stop bleeding. So we had to cancel that. Melinda came over for a pool day during the day and we hung out for a while. In the evening it ended up just being the family hanging out. Elise came over for a while as well. 

I slept until about 6:15 on Saturday morning, which is super late for me. Stuart and Jack went to pick up Tatum to spend the day at our house. Edgar, the painter, came at about 10 am and painted our stairwell. What a blessing he was! I took Millie to Sky Zone for the afternoon with her friend, Brinley. The neighbors came for lunch of burgers and dogs. That evening, Stuart and I went to dinner with Sherry and Skip at Cooper's Hawk. It was amazing food and none too cheap. 

Sunday we got up around 6 am and vowed to paint. We finished the downstairs and the doors. We took Goodwill things to Goodwill. Good riddance.  Then in the afternoon we did nothing but watch television. We were enjoying all the different Olympic sports.

I decided this was my Olympic sport. 

Monday morning I got up and walked. When I got back, I made sure the children were awake. They had both slept through their alarms. Millie was quite a treat, as she always is when she is woken up late. Once I had delivered them to school, I came home and started painting the wall on our island as well as the wall in the alcove. We had decided that it needed some color because our big piece of furniture that sits in there is very similar to the wall color. I got all of that painted by about noon and then Stuart and I decided to go get a bite to eat for lunch. When we got back, we watched volleyball and I may have taken a nap. I've then headed out for a few minutes to grab some free baked goods that were offered up on buy or sell nothing, which is a site on a Facebook page, that gives away free stuff. A little detail that wasn't mentioned was that the items were expired. Boo!

I fixed Millie something to eat and went to pick her up from volleyball practice. Stuart came with me and we ran her to gymnastics. This was one of her last practices for gymnastics. As of Wednesday, she will no longer be a gymnast. I have mixed feelings about this, as I know she does as well. 

Tuesday I got up to walk. We had decided that we may actually not paint the kitchen cabinets. Their color actually compliments our walls now. I ended up washing them and put on new black hardware. 

I think the entire look has changed. 

We watched beach volleyball on the Olympics. We realized that Chase Budinger was a USA team member. We found this picture of him holding Jack when he played basketball at the U of A while my brother Russ was the coach there. 

We went to lunch and then came home to swim. We picked Millie up from volleyball practice and took her to her last gymnastics practice. We went back and went in to pick her up, which turned out to be the wrong thing. She was crying, her friend Brinley was crying, and it was a bit chaotic. She was trying to clear all the things out of her locker in order to bring them home. The coach that was supposed to lock up for the evening, was trying to lock the door and she was still in there. So of course, any words that came out of my mouth were seen as attacking. She was just upset about the whole situation. However, I do think she's going to be fine in the long run and very satisfied with her decision.

Wednesday morning I got up and took the kids to school and then met my friend Sally for breakfast. I haven't seen Sally in a couple of years and it was good to catch up with her. While I was having breakfast with Sally, Stuart went to Home Depot and got our flooring. We are getting very close to being finished with the downstairs.

Wednesday afternoon our pantry guy, Tony, brought our pantry door. He and Si, his helper, helped themselves to some candies on the island counter. I was so happy. I love that people see the candy on the counter and think it is an open invitation to partake, because that is exactly what it is. After I picked Millie up from volleyball practice and dropped her at the house, I went and met Stuart for happy hour with some of his colleagues. He had worked in the afternoon.  We then carried on to collect a consul I had bought off of marketplace. We got that home and sat around for the rest the evening. Millie dug into the culinary treat that Jack had made at school. It did not look terribly appetizing, but in the end it was quite tasty.

It was a coco crispie treat. 

Thursday morning I took the kids to school and went down to Skip and Sherry's to borrow their sawhorses. We were hopeful we would have our baseboards soon and could paint them in the house. I then went to Home Depot to look at baseboards. While I was there, Tony showed up and told me he could get baseboards for me much cheaper. So I met him back at the house and after he put the door in, he ordered our baseboards. We had a guy come and give us an estimate for a front door from Lowe's. I sent his estimate to Tony and asked Tony if he could do it for a little little bit cheaper and he said he could. So we're letting Tony put in our front door. Thursday evening we tried to go to trivia at TC's, but they didn't have a place for us so we went onto the Brass Tap and had dinner.

Friday morning I got up and took the kids to school. The previous evening I had given Millie some suggestions on how to stay organized so that she could actually be on time to get in the car and leave each morning. It worked, kind of, but not terribly well. Once I had dropped the kids, I took Stuart to drop his car at the mechanic. He had a check engine light that had been on for a while. We then headed to Home Depot to pick up some items we needed in order for him to do the flooring. There may have been a slight domestic prior to that. Pretty sure we need a break from each other because we're getting on each other's nerves. It may be that I've gotten more on his nerves than he has on mine. After he started the flooring I headed to hot yoga with Melinda. I decided that I would actually go back to hot yoga, but it might've been the most claustrophobic experience I've ever had in my life. At one point, it was 109° in the room.

When I got back to the house, I changed my clothes and started painting the pantry door and the woodwork around the pantry door. That took me most of the rest of the morning. By the time I stopped, Stuart was about halfway finished with the front room flooring. We both had a bite to eat and had a little rest.after school without two teachers from my school last year came over for a swim afternoon. Merkel and Melissa Wise were the two teachers. Stuart picked Millie up from school and Jack went with Owen to a climbing wall. Merkel's husband joined a bit later and she and her husband end up staying for the majority of the evening. Owen ended up spending the night and would go with us to the annual GCU volleyball camp the next day. 

I volunteered to drive all the boys to GCU on Saturday morning. I fully intended to drive there and come home, but I ended up doing some birthday shopping for Millie. Staying out of the way of the flooring project seemed like a good idea to me. There were plenty of little projects to be done around the house but I didn't have the will. I got home just before noon and Stuart had nearly finished the front room flooring. I talked him into going to lunch at Skippy's. When we got home, he carried on with the tricky bits in the alcove and under the fridge. He then stopped, which I thought was wise. Millie spent the day at home and Jack was delivered home after camp. Chris and Tom asked us to go to dinner, but I had already planned to meet for dinner with Traci and Joan Sawyer. Traci is the sister of and Joan is the mother of my best friend, Teri, who passed twenty years ago with breast cancer. I hadn't seen them in six years. I had decided I would never forgive myself if I hadn't seen Joan and something happened to her. It was great catching up with them. It was good for my soul. Teri and I were inseparable for over ten years. When I got home we just spent the rest of the evening relaxing. 

July was a busy month and a lot happened. I am hoping that by the publishing of the August blog, our remodeling will be all done. 

The top photo is the before and the bottom is the after. We are super pleased with the results.