Earlier this week, I finally planted my garden!  I've got about 15 things going, and hope to see some veggies in the coming weeks.  I also planted a few herbs, and of course I'm still working on getting some decent strawberries out of those plants.  So far, all my organic fertilizer seems to have done is make the strawberry plants more bushy.  The berries are not any bigger, so I'm getting to the point where I may dig them up and plant them in a planter box with all new dirt.  It may be too late for this year, but at least they will have a better change for next year.  And if I'm lucky, since they are everbearing plants, I may still get some better berries later in the season.  We shall see!  I wonder if I should relocate my blueberry bushes also???

My tomato plants really need some sun, and should get it this week.  I'd hate to see them looking really nice now, and then rotting with the cold, damp weather.  Either way, I'm going to pull all the plants up at the end of the summer like I did last year and hang them in the garage.  I know we'll get tomatoes for at least 3 months if it's anything like last year.

Yesterday Jeff's band played in Darrington at Greg's dad's place.  Gary and Henny, friends of Kurt (Curt?) Bressler, the band leader, put on an amazingly delicious barbecue!  I haven't enjoyed a picnic that much for a long time.  I sat and talked with Starla, Kurt's wife during most of the 2-3 hours we were there.  She was really nice and it was nice to sit outside in the beautiful green wooded, hilly, setting we were in, with a partly sunny sky looking down on us.  The band played some, and spent some time trying to work out their sound system.  It would be a lot easier if they could afford some good equipment, but they just have to work with what they have, and it's often frustrating and time consuming.  But I just sat and ate and chatted, so I was happy.  The only downfall was the long drive there and back (an hour each way).  And that was following a week full of driving.

I had a Friday board meeting on Whidbey for Readiness to Learn (about 3 hours driving total), also on Friday a dentist appointment for Amber (no cavities! but 1 1/2 hours driving), and on Thursday I had to drive to Bellingham for an eye appointment (2 hours driving!).  I was really starting to feel it, and was sleeping badly, waking up every two hours with colitis problems and night sweats, and my legs, especially my right leg as usual, was feeling like it was starting to have tingling, slight numbness, and swelling.  Those are all signs that my body is not doing well.  I went to bed early last night, and even though I had to get up several times during the night, I felt better today than yesterday.  I know I need to take it easy, though.  Tomorrow we have to drive to Jeff's mom's but at least Jeff will be driving, and that's easier for me because I can move around a bit.  I've also had to drive a lot more than usual because we are still working with one car and I have to drive Jeff to work anytime I need the car, so that means I also have to pick him up after work.  I hate driving!!!  Our KIA should be fixed soon, thankfully, and it will be a little easier.  I just noticed that I have meetings and doctor appointments covering Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so things aren't looking much better next week.  I'll have to be very careful to get extra rest and do some consistent walking.  I think that will help.  Now that we finally have insurance, I've got a backlog of medical/dental/eye appointments to catch up on, so that is adding a lot to the schedule.  I'll just do the best I can!

The fundraiser mailing I worked so hard on has finally been mailed and I've actually received mine in the mail!  It looks great, and we're hopeful that it will raise some much needed funds for the organization (Readiness to Learn).

With all the meetings, appointments and gardening I've been doing I haven't had time to get to the garage for about a week now, but the next step is to scrub the other half of the floor (it's totally emptied out and ready to go) and then I think we're going to paint the walls, just on that far side of the garage.  They were never painted, and it's hard to make the garage into a fun rec room with ugly walls.  So floor scrubbing, wall painting, and then moving out the two couches, hanging the curtains, and trying to dress it up with some fun/cute things.  That parts a little up in the air!  And finding a nice used ping pong table is still out there, too!  We have an extra TV, but still need a DVD player for it.  I'd also like to roll out a carpet on the bare cement floor, but it's not really in my (non-existent) budget, so for now we'll just do without it.  I had hoped to have it done by the end of school, but it just isn't happening that quickly.  Even so, I'm very happy about all we have accomplished, and feel good about what a good job we are doing.  It was long overdue!

It feels like someone is missing to have Michann gone, but I am also excited for her.  She left Thursday for Barb's and I haven't even talked to her yet!  I keep wanting to call her, but whenever I think of it I'm not where I can call, or she's at church, or whatever.  It's frustrating.  We'll be there tomorrow, but I still want to talk to her.  Jeff was able to get her earlier today while I was at church (his single's branch meets later).  She made it to the Bellevue single's ward and some guy from the ward was picking her up for an activity tonight.  I'm glad she's already getting involved and meeting people.  She's good at making friends.  Also, her friend Rochelle who is kind of an investigator (her grandma recently joined the church) who she met at the single's branch up here, lives in Seattle part of the week so she was already over there at Barb's this weekend and spent the night with Michann.  So Michann is keeping busy and hopefully having fun.  She has a college open house this week.  She wants to find a job asap and will be starting school in about 2 weeks.  AJ will be coming to see her and saying goodbye (that's the plan) in a week or two.  I hope it doesn't totally throw her off with starting school and work soon.  He was told he has inoperable cancer and may not have a full life ahead.  He wants to pursue things with Michann, but not in an "LDS stardards" kind of way.  Now that Michann is active and trying to do things right he's feeling like he isn't ready for that.  So it's best if they part ways, but they both feel very strongly about each other, so I am just expecting that Michann will have a hard time for a while.  I hope she will be so involved in a lot of good things that she will be able to handle it without too much misery.  (She has had a pretty roller coaster-ish relationship with him for quite a while and it has had some dramatic highs and lows.)  He helped her in many ways to be a better person, so I'll always be grateful to him for that.  I hope for the best for him, both with his health problems, and finding the right person.

Magen hasn't gotten word about her housing being confirmed yet.  I'm wondering what is going on???  We'll call them tomorrow and hope that things are fine.  Otherwise, where will she live?  She is showing signs of immaturity with her priorities, but I'm sure it's normal for a lot of kids her age.  Her main priority is her friends and social activities.  Unfortunately, her best friends aren't members of the church, but she's also fairly involved with the single's branch, so she has friends there, too.  All the girls could use a car, but there isn't money for that.  Magen and Amber haven't even had driver's ed yet, so they have permits, but not a license.  They are both still job-hunting.  Not like their lives depend on it, so in this job market I'm wondering if they will get a job.  I hope they are able to, because they both need to help with their own upcoming expenses.

Amber's excited about her upcoming weeklong trip with Kate and her mom to Oregon.  I'm excited she gets to do this and appreciate the invitation.  I hope it is a good trip.

I've got so many things on my to-do list that I'm wondering how I can ever get caught up on what I need to do...