Summertime and the Livin' is. . . Changin'

Summer seems to have FINALLY arrived here in Oregon. It has been the wettest, coldest spring in 50 years and at our house, we have all mourned the dearth of sunshine and heat (except for Caspian--Mr. Anything-all-of-you-like-I-don't. He loves the cool and the rain.) Now the sun is coming out every day and the temperatures are rising and although I love it, it makes it that much harder to stay sitting in front of a computer working instead of out on the deck reading.

Have had a number of changes happening on this end that will make July an interesting month. First, Nicole has gotten the lead in a community production of "Up the Down Staircase". Ironically, the lifetime unschooler is playing a high school English teacher. :) She has almost 400 lines to memorize and she is shocking all of us with how well she can do it. Of course, we all take turns running the line with her, so I think we could be stand ins by the time the play starts in mid-July. In addition to the play, she has also gotten a job as a cashier at Sizzler's and starts this week. It will give her some good training and also some cash to use instead of relying on us--something that bugged her more than it did us.

Also, Joseph started this morning on an internship at the local VW repair shop. It is a family owned business that he has bought parts from, asked questions from and hung around in for years. I suggested he think about volunteering there so he could learn more about VW repair, meet people, and perhaps, maybe, someday turn it into a paid job and he decided it was a good idea. I am hoping, first and foremost, that he enjoys it and gains from it. A paycheck down the road would be icing. So, he will be gone each morning for a few hours and while I will miss him, I think it's a good step.

Coryn is getting ready to build his first computer (once Mom comes up with the bucks to fund the experiment) and he and Jon have a long list of what they will order as soon as I say "go". In the meantime, he has given his computer to Caspian. Coryn wondered what he would do in the interim between giving away his computer and building his new one . . . and decided to fill it with learning how to speak Spanish and other educational endeavors.

As for me . . I'm doing ok. Took a lousy fall a few weeks ago that I still feel if I move my arm wrong. My right hip continues to make me swear and wince and take a lot of aspirin. No more vertigo attacks though. I even drove last week and that felt great. Lots of work to keep me busy for sure. I am glad too--I like being busy and having projects to work on. I just wish I could smooth them out so they were less famine and feast. The only time off I have had in more than a month is when we went to Maupin. Other than that, I am putting in 10 to 14 hour days in an attempt to keep up. On the other end, however, I am hoping I can build up enough extra money for us to head out of town right after Labor Day and go on a 2 week vacation into the southwest regions. We didn't get a vacation last year, so we are more than eager for one this year. I know that with the kids geting older (14, 17 and 20 this year!), we don't have that much time left before they have other lives to lead that don't include family vacations.

That's the news from this side of the globe. If you stop by to read, let me know. I will try to keep you up on all the changin'.