Day #5 of my Dad's visit, and things are going fairly well. Our decision to build a dedicated guest room in our house has been confirmed, though, since my Dad has informed me that he will be back July 2nd through the 9th or 10th. He really is a pretty easy houseguest and tries to help in any way he can. It is just difficult to have an extra person in your house for that long, especially when it involves re-shuffling the living arrangements of my kids.

The highlight of the visit (so far) has been the dvd he brought of a gig he played with none other than Mr. Lucky (respelendent in teal sansabelts) and also with my high school music theory teacher (now retired) who was down in FL visiting my Dad and sat in with "the band". I am happy that my Dad has something to do that he enjoys so much. I think my half-brother is following in his footsteps. He is almost 25 and is in South Korea with the Army.....he's in the band. He doesn't keep in touch well at all, especially since his parents divorced (which is when he volunteered to go to South Korea ) so I keep up with him via his facebook page. It is full of images of him performing, and apparently the latest gimmick is that he has been impersonating Elvis, singing all the predictable tunes, with the band as back-up. I have seen the pictures, and they are impressive and a little frightening. Seriously, they make me laugh my head off. Keep in mind that my brother is 6'5 and many of the photos I see on his facebook page are of him in full costume with Koreans after the show. Hysterical. In his words, this is what he does "I play and sing music... and act like a big funny clown... Koreans seem to dig it." Indeed they do, from what I can tell. I wish he would put a clip on you tube. Who knows what I would be doing now if I had grown up with my Dad and been exposed to the fullest extent to the performance gene?

On a completely different subject.....our kids are driving us NUTS! Bicker, bicker, bicker, whine, whine, whine......AAAAHHHHHH! DH lost it yesterday morning when Luke and Joel started fighting over the Sunday comics during breakfast. He grabbed the comics away from them, knocking Joel's cereal bowl off the table in the process. He then proceeded to rip the comics into shreds very dramatically before throwing them away. (and he made Luke and Joel clean up the cereal!) All of that is so unlike my husband that it made me realize we need to find a different plan for the rest of the summer. We're working on it.

Right now, I am waiting for my cleaning lady to arrive (with an amount of anticipation many would say is inappropriate. ). She was sick the last time she was supposed to come (May 27) so the house is really looking neglected. I don't know for sure what time she usually gets here, since up until now I have always been at work on the days she comes. We are meeting with a realtor here at the house later today, so I am really hoping she shows up. We need her more than she needs us, I know.

We also are meeting with our builder this afternoon to go over some of the tweaks that we feel need to be made to the plan. I don't think any of them will be a big deal. When I told my mom we were going back (I've shown her the plan and she seemed to like it) she said (in a knowing, snotty voice) "Oh, you need to cut some stuff out, right?" WTH? I just told her we weren't at that point yet, which is true, but it pissed me off. The house we are building isn't showy, and if you have been reading my blog, you know I am dealing with some "guilt" for having the life we do, even though DH and I work hard for it. I don't know why she chose to be so bitchy.

In less than two weeks, DH and I will be in Oregon! I will get to meet Nellie, and DH and I will have a chance to have conversations without being interrupted......all kinds of conversations! I can't wait![/QUOTE]