I hate to say 'What a week" again, but - What a Week! I'm still trying to get adjusted to getting Alex to school at 6:15, and back home again to get Alli ready, and to daycare, and picking Alex up from the Y after work. I am leaving the house at 5:55 a.m., and don't feel like I get back home again until 6:00 .p.m.! This week, I worked the late shift (only until 5:15 - not really late, just later than everyone else) so I didn't get Alex picked up until 5:30, and I fight the downtown traffic to go home. Tuesday, there was a major fire in Redding - up on north Market Street. They evacuated the school Alli used to go to - Turtle Bay. The fire started up by the shopping center on Lake Blvd., and burned down to within 20 yards of the Sundial Bridge, crossing Market Street. No structures, but the Arboretum at Turtle Bay took some damage to a lot of the garden areas. Alex had a soccer game Tuesday night as well. He told me it was at 4:00, so I took some time off work and went to watch his game, and got to sit in the 105+ heat watching them warm up - the game didn't start until 4:30! We didn't get home from that until 7:30 - another long day! Wednesday - still busy, but 'normal'.

Thursday - busy, and then.....Ralph called at 4:30. He couldn't get home. There was a fire just outside our subdivision, and the subdivision was being evacuated. They wouldn't even let him in to get the dogs out! He brought Alli in to me, and I picked up Alex at the Y, and we went shopping (retail therapy strikes again!) Alex had a Back to School night that night as well, but he didn't want to go until he knew about the fire and the dogs. Since it was about 107+, with hot winds of 20+ MPH, I know why they evacuated us, but we were north of the fire, and the winds were blowing to the south! It was pretty stressful for a while, but it worked out okay. Alex got a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts, new swim trunks, and two shirts (all for about $90.00!), Alli was a perfect angel for an hour of shopping at Penney's, and they opened the east side of the subdivision at about 6:45 that night. Dinner was a bit late! Joe (brother-in-law) managed to time it well - he showed up just as we sat down to dinner! (His original plan called for getting to our house around 5:00, drop some tools off, and run some errands. The fire changed his plans as well!)

I'm glad it is the weekend!