| 2005 | ||||||||
 Today is my last day at work. I can't wait to start on the house. When I am working at a job, I'm too wiped out to care about fixing up the house when I get home. All I want is supper and sleep. Now I can work on the house, fix dinner and know when I sleep I will wake up and be able to sew or read or compute or whatever needs doing. Whew! Hurrah. It looks like April is going to give us a bit of time to catch our breath before we swing into May and the Solo & Ensemble Statewide competition, Dance Arts Academy recital and graduation grind. April 2, 2005  Snowing again I hope to accomplish a lot this weekend, but it is off to a slow start. As I loaded the dishwasher, I was a little bit dizzy, and figure it's that congestion from this "cold" (or whatever I have had for over a month now.) I'll just take it slow, and keep on keeping on. Annie's precious little dog Smuckers is on antibiotics. Apparently one of her teeth has a cavity or something and it has made her face swell up. She will be on antibiotics until Wednesday, when we take her in to have her teeth cleaned and see if that hurting tooth can be saved. It's something we just don't understand. We have three dogs and they all eat the same, play the same, get the same care... but poor baby Smuckers has tooth problems. I've been told it's something common with chihuahuas, and even our attempts at cleaning must not be too effective. We'll be glad when she has her sparkling smile back! And she's troubled with a bit of weight gain. All three dogs were on "free feed" meaning it was always out. Smuckers was rarely seen eating from the bowl, but we knew she was getting chubby, but she weighed in at 8.8 lbs. WHOA. Maybe she was going downstairs at night, or when we were gone, to eat. Although restricting her feeding times means the same for the other dogs, it will be good for all of them and we will start immediately. April 4, 2005 Still snowing off and on. Good grief. I don't think I have ever been as eager for spring as I am this year! It felt strange not getting up and going to work this morning. I do need to go by later today and turn in my key. I'll get some errands run. This will be a good thing. It has been stressful not knowing if the bill payments got dropped of and when I do it... I'll know it's done. Bill's schedule is so erratic sometimes that he can't always get to things. So, my new job is running our household. I think I read someplace that people would never run a business like they do their own households because they'd be out of business in no time. (putting on businesslike attitude) Now where's that timeclock? Everybody had better punch in, we have work to do!!!  April 7, 2005 Smuckers is recovering nicely from her teeth cleaning and (sad sigh) extractions. She's alert and happy already though, so that is good. She lost .2 of a pound, so yesterday weighed 8.6 lbs. April 9, 2005 -- Prom Night Emily borrowed a dress from her friend Stephanie, and stepped out looking pretty for prom with her friend Kirsten. She apparently had a great time, she got home about 2 am!    
 
 It's been clear and warm (up to the 40's) for the past week or so, and the snow is slowly melting. Most of the streets are clear (or puddled into lakes in the day and ice rinks at night.) The pussy willows are starting to bud out, so green can't be but about a month away... maybe less. I'm certainly eager enough for it! Emily got her paperwork for costume accessories, recital pictures and Summer/Fall dance class enrollment. (sigh) Well, she loves dancing, it is good exercise for her and teaches discipline, so... we will only fret about expense, not fuss about it. Naturally we want a picture of her in each of her costumes, and since she has NINE of them... it is going to add up. Between that and starting at UAF next Fall, she's going to have to find a good job after camp this summer! I will start working on her 2nd formal gown tomorrow. She is considering going to Eielson's Prom, and I have had this fabric sitting around for years, so can make her a formal either to wear to the Prom or to sing in some time or another. She'll need a nice dress for singing in eventually and hopefully this will do. Other breaking (or is that break up?) "good" news is that most of the snow and ice is melted from our driveway. (Although the yard still has about two feet to melt as yet...) The bad news is... instead of ice, it's mud. We are going to have to do something about the drivewway by the end of summer, or it will be even worse next year. I will be comparing prices between just dumping some gravel on it and spreading that out, asphalt, and whatever else. I have heard asphalt is the least expensive of the solid surface options. Maybe I ought to start looking for a new job... (whine!)
The snowfall has stopped (for the moment) and everything looks fresh and white. There have been a lot of accidents though, as there are every time a weather change happens. People just seem to forget how to drive in snow! It's like this at the beginning of winter, and then when the little gig of snow or freezing rain hits at the end of the season dumps on us. Hello, People? This white stuff is snow and it's slick, so SLOW DOWN!  Another sunny, melty day. Spring will get here eventually even though it is coming at a frozen snail's pace. Emily is starting to study for final exams and Annie is planning her packing for Texas. I'm sewing a second prom dress for Emily in case she goes to Eielson's Prom, and working on the quilt for MY bed. (How's THAT for a change?) The dogs are adjusting to their twice a day feeding schedule, and Bill is working odd hours (but loves it!) Life rolls right along, doesn't it? Today Emily went with her Daddy to the Guardian Flight hangar to take pictures of airplanes for training slides Bill uses in presentations. She sat in the King Air and looked at the new jet. She likes the King Air best!  Has it really been 4 months since Christmas? I just took the tree down! Time is going by entirely too quickly to suit me. On the other hand, if I were waiting for something exciting, it would drag. That's just weird. "Lake Dourte" continues to enlarge in front of our house.  Ready to get out of the driveway?  JUST DON'T STOP!!! I have so many projects in mind... a "Pet Palace" where the dogs can stay and play and have access to outside yet be safe and secure... not to mention getting the rest of the house "in order"... I have figured out that what makes those TV shows where they bust the clutter work... is that they have TEAMS of people clearing out and doing the work instead of just one (okay, sometimes two) people. It's a daunting task for one person, especially with three others piling in more clutter. (In addition to the clutter the one trying to "clean" creates!) No wonder it feels like a losing battle. (sigh) I have mostly finished Emily's Green Dress. I still have to put on straps and she wants it cut/hemmed to waltz length. Before I make that cut, I'm making SURE she is sure she wants it cut. It's just barely to her feet right now, with no hem. It'll be done in plenty of time, imagine that! (big smile) Okay, fine, whatever, she isn't going to Eielson's Prom. She's got enough to do without one more prom to go to. But I want to see this dress on her! Look! It's the soccer ball that got lost when Billy was playing with Marzipan back in December!  Today  December 2004 Forward to May | ||||||||
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