We Got a Kitten and Back to School

We got a sweet, tiny kitten on Sunday. After weeks of looking for the right puppy to join our family and having several failed attempts to meet puppies, we decided to reconsider our options. Metaphorically speaking, we believe strongly that when a door won't open...it isn't meant to be opened. I must admit that the loss of Boomer hit our family very hard. In addition, we really want to travel when this pandemic is over and worry about leaving a dog for a few weeks if we are able to travel in the next year. We decided that a second cat would be a more appropriate addition to our family for the next year or so. Anne has been wanting a cat of her very own that could move with her when she grows up. So a new kitten would be hers, but of course the whole family can enjoy her.  Once the decision was made and we decided that Anne wanted a black kitten (black cats have been proven to genetically be the friendliest), we found black kittens everywhere. We went through a rescue agency and are fostering our new little sweetie until she can be spayed (the spay clinic is really backed up). Then her adoption will be finalized. She is about 10 weeks old and about 2.5 pounds. She has the sweetest personality. 

The guys continue to build figurines and do Belegarth in their spare time. They even built a shelf and installed it in Tim's room for all the figurines. It is really nice to see them spending so much time building, reading and spending time outside.

Anne decided to start back to school this week. She wants to graduate as soon as possible and there really aren't any major plans for the summer. Even a long weekend vacation is looking unlikely with the new kitten (Salem) and the huge spike in Covid-19 cases. I can't imagine where we could safely go and I am really not a fan of camping. 

Anne's 12th grade credits ~ 

• Health ~ completed last year
• U.S. Government and History II  
• English IV (mostly writing)
• Latin
• Sign Language III
• Piano
• Dance ~ I have been recording her dance hours which have been in the thousands over the last four years and will turn some of them into credits when she is done.

My major goal this week involved painting all of the trim, mirror and cabinet in the men's bathroom. We would like to gut the bathroom someday, but that is many years off. So we decided to start beautifying it for now. There were five different woods in the room between towel bars, the mirror and cabinet. Also, the fixtures were chrome, bronze, and plastic. The plastic tileboard is super outdated and the floor needs replacing. We are slowly going to paint or replace all of the surfaces this year. I am also watching for an interior door from Habitat for Humanity that would match the other interior doors in our home (so I didn't paint that for now). Dear husband changed out the light fixture, vent covers and all of the towel racks. I did most of the painting of the trim, mirror and cabinet. We changed all of the fixtures, pulls and handles to chrome. It certainly isn't perfect, but it looks much better already. I think we will study how to paint the tileboard next. The floor will be last because we need to remove the toilet and take care of some water damage around the tub. When it is all done, it will buy us a few years until we decide if we are moving or staying put.

I am putting my paint brush aside for the next week or so. I am going to concentrate on decluttering the basement and weeding the garden. We are starting to get a huge harvest of green beans. We even have enough to freeze. I am staggering the crops of green beans so they will keep producing all summer.

What we ate for dinner this week ~

• Ribs, potato salad, and fruit for the 4th of July
• Taco salad (a favorite around here)
• Baked ranch chicken with green beans
• Pot stickers and fried rice
• Meatball sliders
• Subway subs
• Nibbles for movie night ~ Brie, crackers, chips and guacamole, cherries, peppers and cheese cubes.

Blessings, Dawn