Coming back

It's been a while and I have no new pictures to post, but the drywall is going up so fast!! The kid says it always does, it's the mudding and sanding that takes time. I may not get my smooth ceilings, but he's going to give it a go. The rafters are so uneven that it may not be as attractive as I'm hoping. But then again, when you have a couple ceiling fans and a smoke detector (now required by codes) cutting up the line, it just may work. Joe said to wait until the first couple muddings before we make any decisions. Then picture where the fans and such will go, and it might work. I'm still counting on it! Mom wants me to get down there and finish painting the basement before it's my turn to paint everywhere and I get overwhelmed with it all. I think we all know that's going to happen no matter what! We picked out all the paint colors Monday. The boys were going to have a blue room, but Grandma wants to make them some "Cars" bedspreads and such, and the blues just don't match. So their room changed to red. They were both pretty happy with that. Lots of decisions were made that day. There is a lineoleum-type bathroom wall covering that matches my tile nearly perfectly. I am so excited about that. It will be different for me not to be able to accent with wallpaper borders, but the neutrality of the colors will also be new to me. It will leave me open to change. We also picked up the countertops, but found that they were all wrong, so we unloaded them. Jeff will be back today, so I'll call him in a little bit.

The retreat went pretty well this weekend. It was an all E-Free conference and there were a few more women than I was expecting, but I think my dramas went ok. There were plenty of lines I forgot, but slid through like they were never there. They made me do the funny one again for skit night because the Kansas City gals didn't make it there in time to see it Friday night. I messed that one up that time, but we were all laughing so hard anyway that it just didn't seem to matter!! I also won a 15 minute massage there, and even though it was short, it was soooo nice! What a good time for a relaxer!! There was lots of free time to do manicures and workshops and such, but it was in the town where my grandma lives, so we took most of the free time to spend with her and my aunt. My aunt has that same cat problem that I have, so it's nice every once in a while to see where one's quirks originate. She has a hole in her wall and a fenced in run with outdoor carpet and a log for them to sharpen their paws. I think I've already mentioned the look the drywaller gave me when I pointed out the little cat crawl through to the basement. Hey, I don't want the door hanging open, but I want the cat's private places down there. Anyway, crazy birds of a feather need to get together.

So during the retreat, there's always this need to call home. Go figure. You'd think one of these times we'd decide it's best not to know. The guys took the kids to the river for the afternoon. At the retreat, everyone's reaction was, "Oh, no, what's the house look like??" Well, at least Michael's pretty good at covering about half of his tracks. It's nice not to get the whole story!! Anyway, they brought the little mudballs home and stuck them in the shower. Michael went to check on them and found that Morgan didn't even have wet hair, so he stuck him back in to try again. Later, Morgan told Grandpa, "I don't know why it's that important. I've gone to bed with dirty hands before and when I wake up, they're clean." So anyway, I'm sure they had a good time, but all table manners and such were lost notions. I've decided that next time, either my little girl will be going with me or going to a house that still contains some female role model!! I know, it's probably good for her, but she really just had this dazed look in her face everytime anyone mentioned what they did over the weekend. Maybe I just need to show her how to keep them in line. Like that's possible!