Saturday, September 28, 2024

Saturday, September 28, 2024, MN

 What a week this has been!  Since Ben was out of town and Jill had surgery on Tuesday, Lois and I have been helping out with the girls.  I was there after school on Monday and Jill took Camille to swim practice (4:45), Lois took Norah to gymnastics (4:30) and I took Charlotte to swim practice (7:15-8:45).  Tuesday morning, I was out of the house by 5:30 to get them off to school.  They have their routines down and got ready, tidied up their rooms, came down and packed their own lunches, ate breakfast (I made pancakes), and got their backpacks ready and headed out to the bus stop. Same with Charlotte.  My job was easy, just keeping track of time.

Jill’s surgery went well and she is in recovery mode for a couple of weeks.

I helped Joann pack up her  canned goods in the afternoon - six boxes full of cans and packaged foods, probably dating way back in time.  What a shame! I know canned goods last a long time but I sure wouldn’t want to eat any of it.

I started my new cleaning job on Wednesday, for a very nice couple who have a very nice home not too far from me.  All went well and I finished in three hours, got paid promptly, and got some very nice feedback when Cassie got back home.

Thursday was another helping out day. I made enchiladas and Mexican green rice for dinner, got there after school and took Camille and Norah to their swim practice - Lois did the late shift with Charlotte. Dinner was liked and much appreciated.

Friday was Joey’s haircut day and I hung him from the shower curtain to do his legs and face and that all went well.  We took a break after that and I had a 2.5-hour phone chat with Tom.  Several times we were cutting off the conversation, ready to sign off and one of us would come up with another topic - I guess that’s what happens when we don’t talk that often and we have a lot of catching up to do. 

After the phone chat, I got ready to finish cutting Joey’s back and sides, secured the clamp-on brace that restricts his movement to the table and realized that it was broken - the nut kept coming out of place when I tightened the bolt that holds the post and it would not stay in place. I managed to finish the job without it but he still needs a few tweaks where I missed a spot here and there.

Today was a swim meet for the girls and they each competed in three events.  It was Camille and Norah’s first meet and they were pretty anxious but ended up doing really well. They left the meet with first, seconds, thirds, and a fifth.  Now that they have a meet behind them, they will be more confident and keep working toward improving their times. I didn’t get many pictures.  This is Norah and Camille cheering Charlotte on in the 200 yard backstroke - she took first!