Alli's almost back to normal.  She definitely feels better, so we just need to get her body back to normal.  She stopped throwing up yesterday morning, but still has a touch of diarrhea.  Ralph is staying home with her today (he can work from home).  It was a long day yesterday - up at 1:30, and only a few cat-naps during the day.  Alli had 4 showers, and I think I did 4 loads of laundry.  Maybe 5?  I forget!  But she ate a good dinner last night - the first thing she had eaten all day, but for a couple of crackers.

Last night was my book club meeting.  They are also going camping this weekend up in McCloud, but I won't make that trip.  Our book this time was Sarah's Key - a very good book - and it was a good discussion of it.  (Sometimes we get off track and forget to talk about the book!)  I left just a bit early - about 8:30 - and came home and went almost directly to bed - I was tired!  Alli got up this morning at 5:45 - normal for her - so we are off to a good start.  

Yesterday, I found out what the cats do while I'm at work - nothing!!  I went into my bedroom and found two cats sprawled in there, asleep.  Rufus was crashed on the bed  and Indy was crashed in Koori's bed.  And I do mean sprawled!

Picot decided to help me fold one of my loads of clothes yesterday - what a good helper! (Not!!)

The day isn't going well so far.  Alli woke me up this morning throwing up and with diarrhea.  Poor thing!  She has napped a bit in between, but she is still sick.  I caught a few cat naps myself, but not near enough!  I hope it is just a 24 hour virus, and it doesn't spread throughout the house.  No one needs this stuff!  (a 12 hour virus would be even better - that would mean she was almost done!)

I finally remembered to scan Alli's school picture an post it.  Not too bad!  She is growing up so fast - 14 and a freshman!  She's been doing really well in school - the teacher sent home a nice long note telling me all the things she has improved on already.  So much of her growth is dependent on someone 'making' her do it.  She is such a slacker!  

Ralph made it to the airshow yesterday, but forgot to take my camera.  His cell phone camera just didn't do what he wanted.  I think he had fun, he was there for several hours, wandering around the static displays and talking to the scout leaders.  Alli and I stayed home and she napped and I crocheted - a lovely day was had by all!!  I finished up a doily Saturday - this is going to someone in my Yahoo crochet group.  We had a bingo game, and the winner gets a prize - this is it!  I'm also sending one of the crocheted scarves that I have done - 'tin the season for scarves!  (Almost - we are still warm here!  It was cool and rainy yesterday, but we are back up in the 90's for the rest of the week.)

Whew!  What a week!  Did I mention I hate moving??  The office move is complete.  I went in yesterday for a few hours to get some reports done, and while they were running (that program is soooo sloooow!) I finished putting all of my desk back in order.  I even have a large box of papers to shred, and a large box of papers that I need to keep, but I won't look at unless an auditor wants to see them.  They went in a large box that can be stored somewhere other than at my desk - whew!  There is still a bit of moving to do - we are getting two or three more cabinets, so we have paper stacked on top of cabinets, waiting for them to come in.  The movers would not move our lateral files full of paper, so we had to unload 5 lateral files (7 boxes of files for each cabinet) and our fire-proof note cabinet for them to move them, and then load them back up.  What a chore!  Since we had to take every thing out of the cabinets, we decided to reorganize everything too.  I may never find anything again!

Here's my view from my new desk.  I actually have a more private desk now, which is nice, but it also isolates me a bit from the rest of the department.  (I may never know what is going on now!)  All of the stuff on the desk is now put away nicely.

We found a motorcycle for AJ last week.  Ralph's BMW started having fuel issues (pump or filter, we don't know - you have to pull the gas tank off to see, and for that it needs to go the BMW mechanic in Chico, because all of the seals would need to be replaced if you pull it.)  Ralph thought the cost of repairs would probably be close the the cost of a new (used) bike for AJ, and it is a 1987 BMW - there will be something else to fix pretty soon!  This is a 2003 Honda - just a bit newer, and there are local mechanics for it if it should need it.  AJ likes it, so far.

It was a bit loud at my house yesterday.  The Airshow is in town, and we are in the flight path (sort of) for the jets.  Ralph is going over today to take a look around.  The Scouts put up temporary fencing for the show, so they get a free pass to the show.  AJ gave his pass to Ralph, since he didn't want to go.

The view from the backyard was pretty amazing.  

Woohoo!  I actually feel like I won a round for Allison!  They told me last week that she would be getting picked up earlier in the morning, bringing her time on the bus up to 3 1/2 hours a day.  I called and spoke with the head of transportation, and expressed my concern with the hours she was spending on the bus - particularly the 2 hours in the afternoon when she is tired.  I found out today that she will be changing buses for the afternoon and will only have an hour on the ride home.  Yippee!  That will be so much better for her.  She was getting off the bus tired and cranky, so daycare will be happier too!  It also solves an issue for her appointments for her brace.  They are at 4:00 in the afternoon, so we would have to go and pick her up from school at 2:30 and take her to daycare, and then go back and get her at 3:45 to go to her appointment.

I tried a new project this weekend - lacy fingerless gloves.  One of the ladies in my department asked if I could make them - she thought they looked cool.  I'm not a big fan, but...the pattern turned out pretty nice.  I used the lace weight yarn that I had that has sequins built into it, so they are quite sparkly!  I only made one, just in case this wasn't what she was looking for,  I started another pair in Peruvian wool that is a simple single crochet in the back loop.  They are very boring to make!  I'm thinking of ripping them out and trying it with a half-double crochet - at least they will go faster, even if they are boring!

We got Alli in the water again this weekend - the pool is cold!  Since it is so cool at night, the water has cooled considerably, even though we are in the high 90's during the day.  She needed a bit of help to get in the pool (i.e. I gave her a little push!)

I feel like I've neglected my blog tremendously lately!  I keep waiting for the 'right' time to blog, and the days are passing in a blur.  Every time I think things might be slowing down, they speed back up again.  I think the home life is slowing down again - no company coming this weekend (that I know of) so I can just do the basic cleaning, though Ralph did mention inviting some people over - he just didn't mention a date.  Work slowed down for a second and then picked up momentum again.  I lost one person on the 9th to retirement, and then on the 13th, it was decided to physically  move my department.

We aren't going far - just to the opposite side of the building, but....it is still a move.  It is actually a swap between my department and the Payroll department - which means two sets of people carrying boxes, etc. around next Friday.  We will be bumping in to each other all day!  Not only boxes, but reprogramming the fax machines and copier/printers, moving the computers around (Payroll is on a different system than LAS, so they have different computers - we can't just leave our computers for them and they leave theirs for us).  Almost any other department, we could just swap computers.  The worst part - I have to clean out all the old crap in my desk, etc.  I have old manuals around to need to be shredded, old everything that needs to be cleaned up.  Not just me, but in the department, too.  Next week will be clearance time, I think.  I hate moving!

On the home front, things seem to be settling down.  AJ is taking to college life pretty well.  He has met a few new friends (a couple of them are even girls!) and sees some of his old classmates there as well.  His best friend is off to Santa Barbara for college today - I know AJ will be missing him.

Alli seems to be taking to the new school well.  I get a lot of updates from the teacher, which is nice.  She is trying to find a way to get Allison to eat nicely in public, and hasn't had a lot of luck.  I'm changing what I send for her lunch, so maybe that will help.  I'm also trying to get transportation back in line.  Starting Tuesday, she will be getting on the bus at 6:00 a.m. for an hour and a half ride to school (school starts at 7:40 and ends at 2:30), and then gets on the bus for an almost 2 hour ride home - she gets off at 4:20.  I think 3 1/2 hours a day on a bus are a bit much for her. That's a 10 1/2 hour day!  She is exhausted and cranky by the time she gets to daycare, which isn't good for the bus driver or for Daycare.  If they dropped her off at home, it would only save a few minutes - the bus driver estimated having her here around 4:00.  Hopefully we can come up with something before Alli starts hating to ride the bus - that would not be pretty at all!

What a week - and now it's time to start all over!   Between my quick trip to Susanville on the weekend, my birthday on Tuesday, a trainer from out of town for my department (making me in charge of them) and a retirement party for someone in my department (yes, making me in charge of that, too!) and then company this weekend for a BBQ, I was pooped!  Too many things going on in one week.  It was fun though - just a little busy.  I don't think I fixed dinner all week, I got home so late after work after running errands (and Scouts, and a nail appointment, and a haircut....as I said, too many things!)

I cleaned house all weekend, too, I think.  Since company was coming, and I had been out of town (and lazy) the weekend before, it needed some serious cleaning.  Most of Saturday was spent cleaning - and I still had more to do (and I STILL have more to do - a never ending job around here!)  Sunday, I spent some wonderful hours with Meredith shopping at the Honey Bee Festival in Palo Cedro.  It was a nice opportunity to catch up with what was going on with her and her family (and get in a little shopping).  The weather was perfect - 75 degrees and slightly overcast.  It got hotter that afternoon, but not as hot as the day before - it was 109 I think on Saturday!!!

My co-workers made me a lovely "older than dirt' cake - which was delicious - complete with a wheelbarrow, and also gave me these lovely flowers!  It was a good birthday!

(And yes - the "nut department" is appropriate for my department!)

Happy birthday to me!  I can't believe I'm 50 - where did that time go?  I don't feel 50 - what ever that is supposed to feel like, so I think I'll just ignore the number, and keep going!

Alli and I made a quick trip to Susanville this weekend, and we took the long way there.  We drove through Lassen Park, and boy, was it crowded!  I thought it might be, but I didn't really expect as many cars as were there.  I had to wait almost 10 minutes to just get into the park.  This little guy was amusing me while we waited:

Here's part of the line of cars I was waiting in:

The views were worth the wait, though! 

Alli and I stopped at the rest stop just above Almanor Lake, and I got a couple of good shots of her - She was still in a great mood - not too bad for already driving 3 hours!

Of course, after posing for too many pictures for Mom, the body language was coming through loud and clear!

Sunset Sunday night:

Monday, I went out to a 50th birthday party for a friend from high school.  These shots were taken from in front of her house, and in front of her sister's house.  It was a great party - her sister Hannah is a gourmet chef, and they served their grass feed beef for lunch, and other specialties from either their gardens or from the farmer's market.  Delicious!  They have a ranch dating back to the Peter Lassen days - her family was one of the original settlers there.  We walked around a bit - the newest barn on the property was built in 1909, and Susan's house was built in 1910.

Alli and I are off to Susanville today.  I'm thinking I'm taking the long way and driving through Lassen Park.  I really meant to be hiking Lassen this weekend, but...things just didn't work that way.  (The trail still had snow/ice on it a couple of weeks ago.)  I think a drive through would be nice, and maybe even a short walk around with Allison?  We'll see about that part.  It will be a fairly quick trip - a visit with Mom, and then tomorrow a birthday party for Susan.  I've never been out to her ranch, and I'm looking forward to it.

Does this look comfy to you?  Picot fell asleep in the oddest position.  I don't think I could have moved if I slept like that!  AJ loved her tail - even sleeping she has a a curl in it.

I had a nice relaxing day yesterday - too relaxing, I think -  I got restless from 'relaxing' and went shopping!  I hit Ross and Penney's, and came home with one work dress, one pair of work slacks, and three work shirts for under $50.00 - not too bad!  I love the slacks - light grey patterned linen - and one of the shirts I picked up was a beautiful lavender to go with them.  I'm set (for a little while, at least)!

Back to school night was last night - I do like Alli's teacher!  She is making her work hard!  It is amazing the things that they are getting her to do - and so far, no protesting!  The teacher was surprised that I even asked about protesting.  "She's so sweet and happy!  She's never unhappy."  Hmpf!  I think I sent the wrong kid to school!  She is sorting silverware, folding towels, collecting napkin holders after lunch period, sorting and folding paper to be shredded, holding the garbage bag to clean up after lunch, etc.  And it is just the second week!  They may work miracles in this school year!  She is not perfect at all of these things by any means, but she is improving.  Too cool!  Of course, the teacher pointed out all the things that I could be doing with her at home that would help her too.  I'm a lazy mom, and haven't been doing any of it.  I will try to do better, I promise.

It's a short week for me at work this week, but I think I managed to get all 40 hours in the three days.  (I was off on Monday, and I'm taking tomorrow off as well.)  Yesterday, I had 4 meetings that lasted from 8:00 to 2:00 (part of that was lunch with the meeting group at Red Robin - not too tough a meeting!)  Today we have another luncheon - a going away lunch for a person in my department that is retiring next week.  I could get used to all these luncheon meetings!  If only I still didn't have the actual work part to get done too.  Oh well, there's always next week,  The work will wait.  I'm going to enjoy my 4 day weekend!