Home Alone

The Imp is gone to work a retreat this week. She left Friday afternoon and I go to pick her up this Friday. Saturday we hosted our couples' prayer group, and I was so focused getting my house and food ready, I didn't really notice she wasn't here. Sunday the Singer, Hubby and I all just relaxed and read books. She would have been doing the same, so her absence was not keenly felt. Yesterday, however, as I had the house to myself from 7 am till 6 pm, her being gone screamed in the silence. I sure pray she's having a good week. She is actually facilitating the retreat (running it with other teens to train kids to facilitate weekend retreats). Some of her cohorts really enjoy Drama in their lives. The Imp has limited patience for that and I'm sure she'll come home ready to hole up in her room for a day or two for some alone time of her own (and some sleep).

I can't believe school starts in 5 weeks already. Somehow the summer always flies by. I'm ordering the Imp's textbooks this week. I'm also attacking her bedroom closet. I hope I survive. It will feel good knowing it's cleaned out and getting rid of some of the little girl stuff she no longer uses/wants.

My House Is Back

The house is finally 'put back together'. We've finished the floor and moved the furniture back. And we've even sifted through all our stuff before putting any of it back. We got rid of a number of books (very hard to do...but keeping every book bought when the girls were 9, 10 and 11 just isn't practical), some old VHS tapes, lots of magazines and just some junk. The living/family room looks great. It took longer than I had expected (and I thought I was giving ample time to complete the job). So I am soo over the whole job. We still need to get a throw rug for the middle of the floor, but other than that we should be good. We have our kitchen back and actually sat down, all 4 of us, for dinner together. With the Singer and Imp taking a Bible Study on a different night than Hubby and I, and with ballroom dancing classes and the Singer working out two days a week on her way home from work (putting her home around 8) we haven't had a many family dinners as I would have liked. But we sat around the table and enjoyed good spaghetti and fresh green beans (alas, not from my garden). Yep, the house and home are finally back together.

I get to scrap again today. Always a good day. I'm a little tired, which sometimes makes it harder to be creative, but friends are coming over so all is good.

Yesterday I got to teach my crochet summer class. I had 5 little girls (ages 10-15) and I thoroughly enjoyed, not only teaching crochet to others, but just the girls themselves. They're just a fun group and they all friends with each other which just made for a fun atmosphere.

Lack of TV Appreciated

The man who shot and killed two Tampa police officers during a traffic stop has been arrested. The memorial for the two men is taking place right now. My heart goes out to Officer David Curtis' wife and four young sons and to Jeffery Kocab's wife (who is nine months pregnant).

I am so ready to have my house put back together. Climbing over furniture to simply walk from my bedroom to the front door is annoying. Having no table to gather around at dinner time is frustrating. But, there are positives of this situation. Without a TV in the living room and tiny ones in the front computer room (with nowhere to sit except at the computer)and my bedroom, the house has been very quiet this week. I kept waiting for the girls to complain. We did all climb on our queen bed to watch "In Plain Sight" Wednesday night, but other than that, the TVs have been essentially quiet. At dinner last night (and we did go out to eat because I hated eating in shifts) the Imp said she enjoyed the lack of TV this week. Both she and the Singer have devoured books (although they are both avid readers, so that isn't too unusual for summertime) but the Imp said we've talked more as a family. The Imp, Singer and Hubby have all sat together on the couch in the kitchen just being silly. So at dinner I said we could institute a no-TV night each week, fully expecting resistance along the lines 'it was fun, but we really don't need to go that far...' but instead got a resounding "Good idea, MOM!" If I had tried to institute a no-TV night last week, I guarantee the girls would have fought it, complained, and then would have worked to make those nights less than enjoyable. They had to live through it and feel the positives before they'd buy into it. Hubby and I hope to have the furniture back in the living room tonight...definitely by tomorrow night (even with going to his cousin's to celebrate the 4th).

Fallen Heroes

The lead story of every news outlet in Tampa, is about the man who shot and killed two police officers during a traffic stop. I can't imagine being a "first responder." Whether a policeman, or firefighter, or EMT all these people face dangers all the time. There doesn't seem to be the proper respect given to these workers. The shooting happened early morning Tuesday, the killer has not been apprehended...yet. There is a $100,000 reward for his capture. Someone knows where he is and as our police chief has said, that no one has turned him in is as disturbing as him killing 2 officers. The "honor" of silence among the lawless is mind-boggling. Prayers go out to the families of Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab. I've purposefully omitted the killer's name from my blog. He doesn't deserve the ink.