If March went out like a lion, then June must have left as a hurricane...

 July came in with the promise of a closing, then the first delay, then the second, then the notary missed our designated time. She was 45 minutes late, but she did show up. To say the air went of the ballon would be an understatement. The kids went with us, and they were less than impressed and cranky on top of it. I should have left them at home. If it could go a miss, it did. Even I felt let down. It was as if she had no idea what she was doing.

On the way home we dealt with feelings of disappointment from the teen and who cares from the new teen. The only one excited was DH. I was somewhere between them all. Once home I called the utilities to change the accounts, the electric is still not done. Perhaps by Monday all will be settled.

Chicken round up went smoothly tonight; the usual holdout is the yellow hen. She will be around about 7pm and I will pick her up and put her in the enclosure.  Here it is 9pm and my hen has not shown up. She is not going to be coming in anymore. I wish I could add pictures to the blog again, but it is not cooperating with me. It was too hot for the cats to even stay outside today. At least that way I don't have to force them in. Even Orange baby came into the laundry room at the end of the day. The others are here in the cool basement and that is the only cool place around here. I have done nothing toward packing. I just don't know where to begin.

In my head I can figure where to put it when I get there. I just cannot get it packed today. On top of it, I was informed that the guest house will be occupied. I cannot exactly complain, my kids have always lived with us for extended periods of time. I know that she needs this. But it will not be without its challenges. She does not stay on her meds, and they are crucial.

 Well, back to the chickens. I still have not decided whether to take them or not. It is costly to raise them to laying age and then walk away from them. But it is also a challenge to keep them safe and travel between two states moving and timing the travel in a manner to keep them alive. I need to go there and set up a coop area and a safe dog area before transporting any of them. It is infinitely better to leave them behind until we are staying long term. Even if long term is just this next winter.

DH has come to the decision that renting out the houses here is best for the short term. I will look for an agency to monitor and handle that for us next week. He also thinks he can do all the moving himself. I should let him. That would nip that delusion in the bud. But it might also kill him and that would be counterproductive.

With June being so busy for us I am sure July will be quieter. Okay maybe it won't be quieter. We will begin the process of moving to the next house. Our first trip will be one that sets up the animal areas. Or at least that is the plan for now. We may be able to clear out most of our personal belongings by the end of August. I also want to take our fruit trees to the new house and plant them before Fall sets in.

But for the moment, Happy Fourth of July! There is a laundry list of to-dos in front of me. I wonder how much will get done this weekend. In fact, as I sit here typing this, I happened to look down under the dinette set and I noticed an area that needs to be swept. What strikes me about this is the colorful item that is sitting amongst the other dust and debris... an iridescent stylus that I swept up with another dustpan full of debris just yesterday. How is it that this same item is back on the floor in very much the same area as before? Can the culprit not at least toss it on the floor somewhere else? No, no they cannot.

Sadly, the fireworks that our local fire station does, were cancelled the State put out new requirements for licensed pyromaniacs, I mean technicians, limiting the traditional shade tree fire captains, and disappointing all but the HOA folks and gated communities. They had their own displays that were closed to the public. Probably shouldn't tell them that we saw bits and pieces in the air. They might demand HOA dues from us.

Here it is Saturday morning, and the sun is just popping over the horizon. I have released the dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and of course the lone goose and rooster for the morning routine. Other than the burrito dog barking at me for some canned cat food, the house is quiet. Yesterday I packed two boxes and did two loads of laundry and did the dishes. All in preparation to go watch the fireworks. We did see some neighbors shooting off some and other people waited until I had fallen asleep. The sudden booms did wake me but just enough to realize I am getting old LOL.

An early morning talk with LLL and reliving memories that are better left alone, and it is time to get the day rolling. Yes, I made poor choices, but they are the choices that made me, and I have spent years regretting those choices. I have spent years wondering if you were okay. Ronnie always assured me you were fine, when I did talk to him. I wish he and I had continued to talk, maybe things would be different. Maybe his daughter would be in touch with you. Maybe he wouldn't have gone to Montana. A lot of maybes and lost time. He urged me not to join the Army. He was sure it would lead to disappointment and regret. On that he was wrong. 

The last time I saw him he was in Taylor Michigan, I think it was, and he talked a lot about wanting to see his daughter. He said she was in the Denver area. I want to say she was about 3 in 1988. I never thought I would end up in Colorado. I also spent a lot of time trying to leave Colorado. I never thought of sharing his "secret" with you or anyone for that matter. I told him I was joining, and I really never heard from him again after that. I wanted to look him up after I returned from BCT, but I didn't. Life moved fast after that. When you brought back the memory of you leaving for Basic Training, that whole summer came back to mind. Thanks for the walk down memory lane... now I must continue the day.