The First Day of School

It was a lovely first day of school in my life!  I only had to work lunch and recess duty, but that was long enough to figure out I had forgotten most of the students names!  Never fear!  They were quite willing to remind "Mrs. Zupke" of who they were after Mrs. Zupke refused to play any guessing games! 

Maybe, just maybe . . .

For the first time since mid-May, when we run our dishwasher tonight, it WILL work!  The repairman actually showed up today AS scheduled.  The parts were ALL actually here.  He put it all together . . . we can only hope!

Dishwashers are, without a doubt, a first world problem.  And we are definitely looking forward to being first worlders tonight!

The Saga

Mid-May - Dishwasher Breaks

End-of-May - Problem Misdiagnosed

Beginning-of-June - Problem Correctly Diagnosed

Mid-July - Correct Part Arrives

First-of-August - Repairman does not show because part is not here

(BUT IT IS HERE!)

Mid-August - Repairman is sick

September 8 - I hope we have a winner!!!

 

 

At 6:40 a.m.

 It was a balmy 53ºF this morning when I stepped into the invigorating 75ºF Como Regional Park Outdoor Pool.  Steam was rising giving an aura of mystery as I swam my laps . . . 

Wait!  It was freakin' cold, so cold that it took a hot shower, hot chocolate and a hot breakfast to bring my core body temp back up!

But I had promised Matt that I would swim at least once this summer at Como, where he was the Assistant Manager.  Since today was the last day of the season, and, due to differences in our schedules, the ONLY one we could make work, there I was.  Chillin' out this morning!

Along with a bunch of other maniacs!  Once I got feeling back into my fingers and nose, I have to admit, it was kind of fun to swim while the sun was rising and steam was coming off of the pool. 

After my ice cold shower (the showers heat up as the day progresses), Matt took me on a tour of the facility which was really quite nice.  I met some of the staff who were also very nice.  It was good and I'm glad I went.    

"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a . . . "

 HORNET NEST OF EPIC PROPORTION!

Just what our neighbors wanted to find when they came home from vacation!

M*A*S*H

This is the M*A*S*H pole in our backyard
with flags depicting every country we've traveled to with Mercy Ships

This is Sam adding our newest addition to the M*A*S*H pole . . .

Where would M*A*S*H be without Major Margaret "Hotlips" Houlihan?  
This is our "Hotlips" Turtlehead, also known as Chelone Lyonil.

Fair-Trade

The fact that last weekend Sam repaired the deck, put in a new kitchen faucet, changed six sets of lights in the house and mowed the lawn allowed me to make locker tags, door tags, name posters, and a "what's app" assignment for his classroom this week! 

Thankful Thursday!

Woo hoo! Our furnace died twice last winter and the repair technicians were able to bring it back to life each time.  But with every revival came a word of caution:  "Your furnace is thirty-six years old.  You might want to look at getting a new one."  

I am ever so thankful to say that our new furnace was installed today!  The electrician will come tomorrow to do whatever it is he does.  The city inspector will be here next Wednesday.  And the snow can fly on Thursday . . . hope not!