August 28th

The Band of Oz http://www.bandofoz.com/index.html

We had heard the Band of Oz at the Wake Forest 4th of July celebration last year. We enjoyed their music a lot. They play a variety of music from old favorites, beach music, and 60's or 70's stuff. Now it turns out the the key board player is my new boss's boyfriend! They were playing in Zebulon tonight at one of those "after work concerts" at a local bank. So after dinner, we packed the lawn chairs and went to listen!

August 27th

Daniel's 1st day of Senior year

It's my last child's, last first day of school... Sniff...

August 26th

Today we had a pot luck and baptism after church at Sandling Beach. Eight people were baptized. Sierra stopped by tonight after work. She's doing fine although her apartment plans aren't going quite as well as she had hoped. She's going to look at an house for rent tomorrow but her friend said that it isn't much to speak of. So please continue to pray for her.

August 25th

I actually slept until 9:30 today! That is really late for me. We got the house picked up, did the groceries, stopped at the bank ... The usual Saturday stuff. Saturday night we went to the cheap Mexican restaurant, El Tapito's , for a celebration dinner - celebrating Arthur getting a job! Then we went to North Hills to Starbucks for coffee.

August 24th

A dilemma - Carolina Panthers vs New England Patriots

Today was the first really frustrating day at work. I messed up a lease and it had to be on a difficult new resident. Then I had another woman called and start yelling at me because she had lizards in her apartment. Ugh. There isn't a whole lot that we can do other than get the lizard out and try to figure out how they are getting in block it. I am really, really glad that I have the weekend off!

August 23rd

With God!

Thankful Thursday

So much to be thankful for this week:

1. Arthur got a job! He actually had 3 job offers – in about 2 days. He accepted the first offer which is slightly more money than he is making now!

2. Included in this job is something that I have been worried about – life insurance.
Arthur is considered uninsurable unless he is under a group plan because of his heart attack in 1994 and his family history. I was kind of panicked that if anything happened then I was going to be in big trouble because I can’t afford this house on my own.

3. It is still unbelievably hot. We hit 105 degrees this past week. But are air conditioning still keeps our house at a comfortable 72.

4. God’s perfect timing. This was one of the scariest things for me – loss of income. And yet, everything came together perfectly. I am just in awe how God worked things out.

5. Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies! They always cheer me up.

6. Ben is safe for another week.

7. My new job is so close that I can come home for lunch everyday, visit with Dan, and save money on lunch!

8. Andy got a promotion and a raise at his new job at Barnes & Noble.

9. I have a weekend off ! I worked 2 Sundays ago for my Property Manager and then this past weekend. I don’t have to work another weekend until Sept 15th.

August 22nd

Lizards! 'Tis the season around here for lizards and ants. We don't have too many lizards around our house although we do have a lot of little, bitty peep toads. At work, we are constantly getting calls about lizards because our town homes are near the Neuse River. There isn't too much you can do about them. We did have some black ants getting in the house but Arthur sprayed all around the house and that seems to have stopped them. We do still have a fire ant mounds in the yard. Those are nasty!

August 21st

Another storm came through. I'm still amazed by the storms that come through North Carolina. Arthur says that we had the same thing in RI but the I don't remember storms coming in with so much wind and torrential downpours as often as they do here.

August 20th

I was off of work today. I decided that our yard is a mess so I needed to get some weeding done and just general clean up. It has been so hot that I haven't wanted to get out there. I thought I would beat the heat. I was wrong! It does look a lot better though. I mailed out several more packages and put together another one for Ben. I also made several phone calls to insurance companies and that sort of thing. Having a day off during the week is kind of cool - you get all those odds and ends done that you never get around to.

One bad thing - Sierra moved out today. She was supposed to be moving on Sept 1st but then pulled her usual of not coming home. She told me she was going to Myrtle Beach with a friend and other than a brief 12:30 am voice message on Saturday morning, we didn't hear from her again. She came home at 4 am Monday morning! So she moved in with a friend. So please pray for her safety and for her to use good judgment.

August 19th

Today, we had church. Arthur didn't play in the Praise & Worship team so he got to sit with us. I had to work at 1:00. The afternoon was quiet. Then at 5:00 we had our Resident Pool Party. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. It was over at 8:00 so by then I was pretty wiped out!

August 18th

I had to work today. It was my first Saturday working by myself and it went fine. After work, Arthur and I went out for dinner at a little Italian restaurant in North Hills and then to see The Bourne Ultimatum. I've had to watch the first 2 this week so I could be caught up. The movie was ok and totally realistic (can you sense the sarcasm there?) . Arthur has recently started his Atkin's diet again. He does a modified Atkins - we don't count our veggies. So...


He had the antipasto salad for dinner.
Now I am trying to eat mostly veggies so...

I had the Pasta Primavera.

August 17th

I had today off of work. I got my hair cut at an actual salon! I'm thrilled. I don't think I realized how badly I needed it. This could also count as my picture without make up .

I get so much done when no one's home (or at least awake). I got most of the upstairs cleaned, washed sheets, made the grocery list, did the groceries, and got my hair done. For dinner, I cooked Chicken Parmesan and Zucchini Ribbons Alfredo. It was just fun not rushing around.

August 16th

Look what I found in my travels! Big Man! He used to be in a field off of 401 when we moved here. Then they moved him. The other day, I spotted him when I was coming off the highway.

August 15th

Trying to get back on the healthy eating bandwagon. Michele can not live on hush puppies alone.