I am usually up early on Saturdays, as I turn in early, out of exhaustion, on Friday nights! Already got a load of clothes run through the washer, ready to be hung out to dry. It's cloudy now, but that is supposed to burn off later this morning, and it's supposed to be a nice day. A Nor'eater of rain (much needed! we're in a drought, farmers are concerned)arrives tonight.

I've packed myself a lunch as I have a workshop to attend from 9-3. I had the option to split it into 2 sessions/days but I figure that it made more sense just to do it all at once, and I'd save on gas, not having to return for round 2.

Bfst for me (everyone else is asleep-even the cats)was 2 fried eggs over toast, OJ, coffee.

I'll pop in the shower soon, as I need to be on the road by 8, I have a 45 minute drive ahead of me. On the return trip home, I'll stop at IGA where they have potatoes on sale 5 lbs $1.99, Simply Smart milk 1/2 gallons for $2.50 (I have 4, $1.50 cpns to add on top so I'll pay $2/galllon for 2 gallons of milk-very nice, thanks!,

Not sure what I'll do about dinner. I was planning on making a beef soup from scratch, but if it's 75 degrees out, not going there.

Have a great day!

Ahhhh it's good to be home.... Got in after midnight last night, drove straight thru- 15 hours.... We had a good visit, for the most part. My kids had a bit too much time together and spent a lot of time fighting with each other, especially at the end.

Today is kind of a "get back on track" day. My car was in the shop while I was gone and need to go pick that up today, do lots of laundry and straighten the house and run to Aldi for a few things like bread, milk, juice....

I spent less on this vacation than I had planned to and am going to use the excess to fill my oil tank.

We had planned to leave last night, but put it off until this morning. I got DD excused from the developmental disabilities center for Monday, so we aren't coming home until Monday night or even Tuesday morning. I could drop her off on the way home Tuesday and she'd be on time if we left by 7:30.

Our projects this weekend are to continue staining and installing the woodwork. I stain and Varathane. DH put up about half of the door casings last week. We also will be admiring the new garage door that was installed yesterday.

I'm planning to cook all of our meals, even though at least one of the restaurants is open now. I went to The Grocery Outlet while DD and her boyfriend were at a dance last night and bought some fast-fixin' food for cheap.

I'll be making a trip to the library to entertain myself. I'll also be visiting my friend Suzanne at the motel, because I bought her a thrift store rug and need to give it to her and be reimbursed $30. Their balconies haven't gotten new floors yet, so she covers them up with rugs, and the guests love them. This one has a native American design which will go well with a couple of her western theme rooms.

In the last few days I've seen three homes that we're seriously considering making offers on. All three have similar square footage. A duplex, an American foursquare and a colonial. So I'll discuss the pros and cons of each with dh tonight and we'll make at least one offer tomorrow. After seeing the first 20 or so with me dh just said to let him know when I found the right one and he'd go with it, but now I wish he's seen these three with me.

Today dh and ds got up really early and took a bus ($5 each way per person) to NYC for the day to visit his uncle and the Intrepid Air Museum. After the house shopping I've been doing laundry and I think it's time to take a break and hit the thrift store. The weather is absolutely beautiful and we're expecting needed rain tonight and tomorrow.

We went a few years ago and X and the boys LOVED it! Had to admit that I found it interesting too....

They took the guided tour through the Concord and took lots of photos of everything. They also visited a tiny museum in Times Square and got to see the ball they drop on New Year's Eve every year.

DD and I attended a 4H event. We spent time at Cornell with some nutrition students making black bean brownies. The cooking stations were stocked with vintage pyrex bowls which I was seriously coveting. DD enjoyed telling the students that her dad worked in the same building as the classroom.

It was also a spend day in some respects. DH and DS went out to breakfast while DD and I were away and DD and I went out to lunch. I think it was a good investment for us to have one on one time with each parent.

We also payed $150 for DH and DS to go to a Yankees game this summer. This will be a day that DS always remember. He is a serious Yankees fan he loves old players as well as new and can quote a zillion facts and stats.

No mishaps, just lots of measuring and cutting around stuff.

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The road to success is always under construction.