No More Travels!

I rode over to my youngest son's college this morning so I could stay in the car with the girls while he went in to buy the rest of his books, and to pay for his malpratice insurance. He finally was admitted to the Respiratory Care program, after trying for several semesters to get into either the nursing program or respiratory. He has long since finished all his pre-requisites and achieved his AS degree, but unless you pay really high tuition to a private school there aren't many slots to get into the programs. From what I understand it is a lack of teachers, so admittance is on a lottery basis. But after all the waiting and sweating it out, he is ready to begin the next grueling two years.

We then drove to REI to find a suitable backpack that would hold all his books and be sturdy enough to last for a while. He will have to take ALL the books to ALL the classes every day because the courses are all integrated, is how I think he phrased it. Fortunately he doesn't have to take a laptop or the load would be back-breaking.

When I left Springer Mtn, GA on March 2, 1997, my backpack weighed about 55#, way too much for my body weight at that time. I had suggested to Joe that he bring all his books to REI to see how the different packs felt under full load, and when I picked it up at one point I swear it felt as heavy as my 1997 pack! That can't be good for your back. It is a good pack though, and is made so that the a good deal of the weight can be shifted to the hips. I am so happy for him and his family, especially his beautiful wife who has backed him all the way on the decision to go for this program. Early in their marriage they lost twins - one stillborn daughter, and their son, Owen, lived only 7 months and never was able to breathe on his own. I am so proud of Joe for wanting to get into this field.

They came back to my house, after stopping to get Joe's large extension ladder. I was able to climb up to view the roof, although I know my ladder-climbing days are past and I probably won't ever do it again. I have decided to get an estimate for fixing the roof to prevent leaks, as well as an estimate for decent rain gutters. The house has rain gutters the size of a 5th wheel RV, and when the heavy rains come down the water pours over at the lowest point, which is no doubt where the water damage to my house has come from. It's not a good time financially, but my credit union is offering a low cost home improvement load using one's Certificate of Deposit as collateral. That might work for me.

The 2 and the 4 yr old had a great time exploring Grandma's house for things they can hold and play with. They first went to the kitchen cabinet where I keep the treats for visiting grandchildren! While he was here Joe fixed a couple of items that needed fixing, and loaded the unused pergo and underlayment into my car that I want to return to Home Depot in hopes of getting a credit to go towards the purchase of a new dishwasher. I can look at the dishwashers while I'm there, and I just hope I can unload this stuff out of my car. A box of pergo is a bit more than I can lift, although I'm hoping I can sort of slide it out and onto a cart. I have to get back on track for painting and fixing my house.

Life is so good to me.