Double-Digits and Counting...

The fact that I'm a day late should tell you how this week went. I feel like I've been running from one thing to the next non-stop!

Cookie season is winding down for the Girl Scouts, so our daughter has been busy with site sales. Their troop leader is a cookie season dynamo and made sure the girls were organized and ready. If you haven't bought your cookies yet, make sure to pick some up quickly because this is the last weekend!

I love how the girls decide what to do with the money they earn. I wasn't in on the planning meeting this year, but last year they were able to buy over $300 worth of supplies for a local animal shelter- on top of paying for a trip to Great Wolf Lodge! It was amazing. They loved being able to make the calls on where their money was going. That's the whole point of cookie sales. The girls learn how to set goals, run a business, learn how to deal with rejection, budget money, and then plan where their money will go. All valuable experiences to prepare them for the future.

Our youngest son and I were invited to the retirement community where our new friends from the pool live. We were generously treated to a tour and lunch. It was fascinating to find out that the woman who gave us the tour was a doctor before retirement, and was the only woman in her class. We take so much for granted these days. Did you know that women didn't even earn the right to vote across the United States until 1920? That's less than 100 years ago!! What a wealth of knowledge and experience we have in our older generations. It's a shame we don't spend more time with them. My son was most amazed by a man who is 100 years old.

House improvements have been going full-steam ahead. When my husband isn't at work, he's in the upstairs bathroom grouting, or sealing, or scraping, or something. It should be complete within the week and is looking fantastic! I can't wait to show you! Below is a small peek.

The vanity counter was installed yesterday, and as I type, my dear husband is installing new glass doors for the bath/shower. The cacophony from drilling and the guys on our roof cleaning out the gutters is deafening. A small price to pay for the progress being made!

We reached a milestone this week. 100 days. We now have less than one hundred days until we hit the road. A little scary, but I have every confidence that we can be ready in time. Our first walk-through from potential renters was this morning. It's getting more real every day!

- Jen

Contractors and a Slobbery Pillow

Slowly but surely we're making progress toward being ready for our departure date. Nothing monumental happened this week but a lot of little cogs were set in motion. I made calls to contractors for gutter cleaning, bathroom counter measurements, yard work, and so on. These little things will add up to make all the difference in how our house functions while we're gone, and hopefully, how it will look when we return. The goal is to list the house for rent soon, so we'll be starting the "Quick! Someone is coming by to look at the house- pick that up!" mantra. I'm sure our kids will love it and be completely on board.....yeah right. ;-)

Volunteering with our oldest son at the Food and Clothing Bank last weekend was fun. It's good for him to see how these organizations work and he totally stepped up. When I was a child, I was one of the people standing in line- so I'm especially thankful for the opportunity to help now. As an adult, I can appreciate the impact places like this make for families who are just trying to make ends meet and stay together. When I was younger, though, I was ashamed and embarrassed because I thought my friends would make fun of me. If you've never known what it is to struggle, then it can be hard to empathize with those who are struggling.  I can honestly say that I'm thankful for that experience because it taught me that no one is "better" than anyone else and you can learn something from every situation. I now have the drive to serve others, knowing that we are the same.

Once we were given the tour, several of us were assigned to the clothing area, which was perfect for me and my affinity for order. There is a door in the side of the building where people can donate bags of clothing and other items. The pile can get pretty big, so it needs regular sorting. The nicer items were hung on racks so people can look through them easily. All the clothes with holes, stains, pet hair, or smells (yes, smells...) were either donated to the Salvation Army or thrown away. For the most part, people donated really nice things and only a few items needed to be thrown away. I'm not sure why anyone would donate their old, slobbery, stained, ripped pillow- but there it was. Thank goodness for gloves! I can't give the Food and Clothing Bank enough credit. They really do care for the people in our community and work hard to make a difference- and they do!

Coming up: Girl Scout cookie site sales and more house projects... It's going to be a busy week!

- Jen