In high school, I always thought it would be fun to get to wear one of the football boy's jerseys. Little did I know that 14 years after I graduated, I would be wearing a football player's jersey to high school.
So the boy isn't a boy anymore and the jersey is 20+ years old...still never too late. :) And how cool that the last name on the jersey is now also my last name!
Many, or maybe most, or maybe all of our projects seem to snowball out of control. We see it coming, but are powerless to stop it. For a while, the first row of bricks on our front step have been a bit loose. One day recently, I stepped off the step and a brick fell off. The mortar that was holding the step on was laying on the sidewalk. Upon closer inspection, several other bricks were equally loose.
So...after getting a few estimates to repair the loose bricks, it became apparent that the best and longest lasting approach was just to start over with the whole step.
First, the bottom step was broken off. It was really loose and broke away easily. I mean, it looked like it came off pretty easy. I was a few feet away. You know - supervising. And by supervising I mean saying helpful things like "ooh! Watch the siding!" and "Poor hosta!" Helpful things like that.
The the top step was busted out. After much work by David and my dad, the final result looks like this:
A fresh clean hole for shiny new steps to go. Well, I hope they are not shiny. I prefer old looking things to shiny things. 
David is now officially licensed to drive - drive a semi-truck that is! Since mid-August, he has been enrolled in OTC's Transport Training Institute and today he took AND passed his Commercial Driver's License test! I'm a proud trucker-wife. :) He had a great instructor - Virgil - who you can see in the reflection in the picture above. 
Great work Mr. D!
Henrietta has been unusually stressed - can you tell? She is one spoiled cat. Even after the clothes are dry, I turn the dryer back on just for her enjoyment.
The Spring Creek Tearoom where Christina and I planned to eat lunch for my birthday was closed for the week. Wouldn't you know? So we went to the Jazz Cafe nearby. It's just off the square in Ozark, and if you haven't been, I highly recommend it. We shall not discuss how much of the bread and olive oil was consumed, but let's just say that we weren't hungry when we left. The food was delicious and the service was great. Go. To. The. Jazz. Cafe.
This lovely yard decoration appeared in Krista's front yard. I think it's really neat that she is embracing the green movement by recycling this old toilet. Without her creative idea for reusing it, this beauty would certainly have ended up in the landfill. Great job Krista!
Gracie went to the vet last week for her annual exam and vaccinations. She wasn't amused at all. The vet's assistant wasn't able to hold on to the acrobatic Gracie, and Gracie jumped/fell to the floor. Poor kitty! The vaccinations seem to affect her more than Henrietta. For the day or so following her vet trip, she just lays around and cries if you pick her up. Now she is sneezing, sneezing, sneezing. Since they are indoors and at home all the time, I wonder how necessary the vaccinations are. Gracie thinks they are not necessary at all and should be skipped.
