May 28, 2009

What's Up?

Most of my days/weeks/months are so crazy with work that I don’t have time to do what I have to do, let alone the things I want to do. You’d think by now I’d have learned to manage my time better but there is always more to do than I have time for. At times I feel like I’m almost getting caught up and then I have to go out of town for a meeting or conference and when I return I am buried again in mail, email, and phone calls to return. The good news is it’s all normal business and not any big crisis or emergency situations like I had for my first year here in Idaho—just a bunch of little fires and no big explosions (knock on wood).

Our family is doing great. Nancy is teaching pre-school Special Ed full time. She is filling in for a teacher who is on maternity leave through the end of the school year. She loves working with the special-needs children and has decided to go back to school to certify as a Special Ed teacher. She has a real gift of love for those special souls.

Dan and Derek are "Bug Boys" selling pest control systems in the Chicago area for the summer and seem to be doing well. Sarah, Wyatt, and Amanda are there with them. Amanda has been job hunting but has not been able to find employment there yet. Nancy and I are flying out in a week to visit. We miss our kids a little, but we miss Wyatt a lot. He turns one on June 2nd.

Clarke just finished his Junior year at Texas A&M and is holding his own with grades and part-time work at FedEx. He just landed a summer internship at Caddo Lake State Park on the Texas Louisiana border, not far from Shreveport, LA. They are keeping their apartment in Bryant but he had to quit his FedEx job to take the internship. He will be chasing gators and poachers all summer. We talk to them each week on Skype so we can see Benjamin growing up, but it’s not the same as being with him in person—but it’s better than not seeing him at all.

Shawn is doing great on his mission. I assume those who are interested are keeping up-to-date through his weekly emails and the blog I made for his mission information: http://farrerawaynj.blogspot.com We had a great visit with him on Mothers’ Day. It’s hard to believe he has been out over a year. He was recently transferred to East Orange which is 95% black. He’s having a great experience there.

My "Honey Do" list has included removing eight trees from our yard that Nancy didn't like. When the roots came up so did our sprinkler pipes so my next project was to repair the sprinkler system. I tried to save some money by using some old pvc pipe that was in the garage when we bought the house. That ended up making the job twice as hard because the pipe was brittle and had several hairline cracks that I didn’t know were there until I turned the water on. Fortunately I was smart enough to check the system before I reburied it.

The next project was to plant eight new trees to replace the ones we tore out. Two locust trees for shade, two pear trees (no partridges), a peach tree, an apricot tree, a Camperdown elm, and a mystery tree (hackberry?) that was growing in the backyard and is now in the front yard.

My current project is to replace our patio deck. Nancy and her Father tore out most of the old framing (much of it was rotting) and I replaced it with pressure treated wood. On Memorial Day I finished the framing and put down a new deck using Trex (plastic wood). All I have left to do now are the nooks and crannies, railings, and finishing touches.

Our next project is to build a patio area off the deck. Then I can rest. Hah!

So, that's what's happening in my life right now.