Finally, maybe.

We may actually get some of the stuff done to the house we've been trying to get done.  The contractor finally called me back and is coming Tuesday and also now my husband is thinking maybe he'll do the work to save money, so there's that.  I'm very hopeful that the house will be in good shape by Thanksgiving, at least the public parts of the house. The laundry room, master bath and bedroom need makeovers as well, but that will have to be for another time.  I'm cautiously optomistic about this getting done now, which is an improvement.  Part of what it took to get out of my ennui was the courage to call the contractor again and ask for an appointment.  My daughter encouraged me to do that and now I feel better.  Although that means I will need to spend my day off on labor day cleaning my kitchen.  That's fine.  I didn't really have plans anyway.

Son and daughter in law are settled in Mississippi and I think it's probably for good.  I am very sad over that.  I'm working on adjusting but it's hard.  As you all probably know, video chats are just not the same and I have been grieving.   Maybe we'll see them at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I don't know.  We need to work on getting a place for them to sleep when they are here.  We have an air mattress, but air mattresses don't work all that well for 2 people.  I may get a sofa bed of some sort.  We just got new couches from them when they moved, but they are recliner couches, good for sitting, but not so much for sleeping a whole night.

We've settled into this season, I guess, with youngest son starting back to community college a couple of weeks ago.  He dropped a class he didn't feel like he needed and accidentally dropped below full time, losing 3/4 of his financial aid so that has dipped into my savings for the house.  He's keeping busy with schoolwork and playing D&D on Monday, Thursday and Friday, Pathfinder on Saturday and board games on Tuesday.  My daughter is doing all the games as well, and is still "officially" working on the house with me, but since housework has been stalled, she has not been as busy with that.  We really need to be serious about finding her a job.  As you know if you've been reading this blog, she's very shy, so I may have to help her again.  Last time, I actually just took her along to an interview I had arranged for myself, told them I had accepted a different job (which was true) and presented her as an alternative to me.  They hired her and she worked quite happily there until the school started experiencing financial troubles.  Sigh.

The dogs have both been in cones for almost 2 weeks, Cosmo because of a sore on his leg and Freckles because she had to have eye surgery again.  Freckles has had a cone before and took to it like an old pro, but Cosmo has been hilarious running it into things. The whole first day, he just laid around and moaned and whined, but he's gotten somewhat used to it now.  He still knocks it into about 3 things every time he moves and walks behind us bumping it continually on our legs.  I think they'll both get them off on Tuesday. 

Anyway, that's the update.  Again, trying to adjust to life's new pattern, and find the new normal.