Blustery!

Here it is Friday again and a whole week since I wrote anything. I actually had a post nearly finished the other day, but one of the computer gremlins came and wiped it right away.

This morning was beautiful. Clear and calm. Now the winds are strong and the dust is blowing. We are expecting some rain or snow later today and there's a 40% chance for snow tomorrow, too. This is definitely NOT the type of weather I am used to! Except the wind. Phoenix always had a lot of wind in March, too.

Shane is busy finding all the kitchen cabinet doors over in the shop. Time to scrub them all up and get them painted. I am thoroughly enjoying being in the kitchen these days, but it is time to put doors on the cabinets. My family will remember how I always hated not having cabinet doors in the houses Dad built when I was young. It is crazy how long it takes to get things done sometimes though.

A friend from church asked Cody and Amy to help sort potatoes today. We are very thankful that Gilbert was finally able to sell the rest of his potato harvest--he's been concerned. It isn't fun to take a loss, but it would be worse to have to trash the whole cellar load of potatoes. Cody and Amy have done potato sorting periodically over the last few months. Gives them a few extra dollars.

While they were working, I went to the office. I spent the morning making phone calls. We're trying to determine whether it makes sense to offer a shepherding home (similar to a foster home) for girls who need a place to stay while they are pregnant. It doesn't seem like that's going to be a good answer. In the meantime though, we're still raising money so that we'll be able to rent or buy a home. I talked to several people from local Social Services offices to let them know about our services. One of the six counties that we serve wants me to come speak to their group of employees who work with the public. That's cool!

In two more weeks we're having a big yard sale. Last year I organized a yard sale to benefit the Women's Resource Center and Valley Horizons combined. We netted nearly $1,000. Hopefully we'll do as well or even better this year.

We also have a good deal right now on Elitch Gardens tickets if you have friends or family in the Denver area. We get to keep $5 from each ticket we sell and the tickets are just $20. Pretty good deal.

Okay. Enough about Valley Horizons and my work there. Most of you want to know about the family anyway. Dana and Abby are building a chicken coop right now. Actually a chicken ark. Funny name, but it is actually a clever idea. There are handles on each end of a rectangular structure so the ark can be moved around. The ark will have nests on each end and a small "yard" in the middle. The roof can be opened on either end to gather eggs, plus you open the "yard" section during the day so the chickens can range free. Makes for healthy eggs!

Funny thing happened this morning. Abby woke me up. She was worried because Blackie (one of the roosters) had a thread wrapped around his tongue! Funny kid.

Cody dropped a bombshell on the family this week. I won't bore you with the details of what led up to this decision, but he has decided he wants to join the Army when he turns 17. That upsets me greatly for lots of reasons, but it might be a good thing for him. I've told him I will sign the papers but asked for him to show he's the man he thinks he is and get some things done in the next six months. Yeah, less than six months. He turns 17 in late September. I never dreamed I'd be asked to send a 17-year-old to the Army. He will get his GED in the Army before basic training. I never dreamed one of my kids would choose to drop out of high school either. I guess that just means that Mom doesn't know everything, right?

By the way, I told you about mice being in my kitchen--remember? The day I wrote that post, I bought mouse traps. Set them and caught one mouse. No more issues. I'm SO THANKFUL! I HATE the idea of mice in my house.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful, blessed, great and happy day!