August 27        This is officially the last of summer for us.  School begins (and I go back to work) Monday morning.  I had my orientation on Tuesday.  There were a lot of route shake-ups because in order to get all their government reimbursement money the school district had to require that all the runs have roughly the same number of students.  It's easier said than done when we are by square miles, the largest township in Pennsylvania and at the same time the number of students is shrinking.  A

lot of drivers who had the same route and kids for years had theirs changed or completely taken away.  I was lucky to keep mine with just a couple of new stops.  I think it's that I'm out on those back roads with just a few kids that don't really fit into anyone else's route.  There are also a lot of security changes this year due to the fact that the district's gone to a system of all day kindergarten.        We finally celebrated Mom's and my birthdays on Sunday.  We met her and John at the Texas Roadhouse after church.  It was our first visit and we enjoyed it.  Megan, who is unbelievably picky, was thrilled to find ribs on the menu and enjoyed an order of those.  Mom had a huge chicken salad and the rest of us enjoyed delicious steaks.  Tim tattled that it was our birthday so the wait staff put big foam cowboy hats on our heads and sang to us.  It was so funny.  The only down side was that we'd planned the dinner to be our gift to Mom.....and John grabbed the check and paid.  It was nice of him, but now I still owe Mom a gift.        I finished painting Megan's bedroom this week.  Well, except for the closet.  Tim has to take the doors off and then I'll empty it and paint it to match and hang beaded curtains instead of the doors.  Megan is so happy with it and we are pleased with how it turned out.  After the primer, it took two coats of Lion's Mane gold to cover the walls completely and then we sponged on glaze tinted Allspice.  The end result looks like distressed leather or maybe parchment.  Together with all the jungle accessories it makes for a very sharp room that Megan assures me is not only the prettiest room in our house but also the nicest of all her friend's rooms.  I'm glad she has a space she likes and can be proud of.  Up until now it had been just a collection of mismatched stuff and I know she was always comparing it to her friends' rooms.        We've had beautiful weather all this week.  Plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 80s.  I think this is the longest stretch of nice weather we've had all summer.  We've been getting caught up on the yard work again.  All the rain we've had has sure done wonders for the weeds.        The Steeler game was great!  They won....38-3!!  We sure enjoyed the club seats and seeing how the other half lives.  The lounge was air conditioned with fancier food than on the other levels, fully stocked bars, sitting areas with leather sofas and a big screen television, a pool table and lots of tables and chairs.  The only thing I didn't enjoy was the behavior of some of the fans.  Quite a few of them were very drunk and we saw some things that made me glad the kids weren't along.        We're still waiting for the call from the butcher that our side of beef is ready.  I had expected it a couple of days ago, but have heard the butcher went on vacation over last weekend so guess that's put them behind.  We're looking forward to having that freezer full of meat, but at least the delay gave us time to get prepared.        Tim's been working late every night, six days a week, trying to get done at the car wash, but the owners keep making changes and adding things.  He is hoping that today is finally the last day of it and he can begin working on the next Get Go on Monday.  I'm hoping so, too, because it is considerably closer to home so even if he works late, he'll get home earlier.        I have our Cairn Terrier gated off in the kitchen because she wet the livingroom carpet three times yesterday.  She doesn't usually do that so I don't know what's up, but I don't want her doing it any more.  This morning I came out of the bedroom with a large basket of laundry and forgot about the gate.  Yep, I tripped over it and went down hard.  I don't think I broke my toes, but all of them on my left foot are pretty bruised.  I took the skin off my knee and I'm feeling pretty stiff and sore at this point.  I think I'll go take a couple ibruprofen and maybe put some ice on my foot.  Have a great weekend!        Carpe diem!