Sunday

We had a very productive day today. J. and I worked hard on the garage. Tidied, culled, swept, etc. Still lots to do but we made progress and the swept concrete floor pleases me for reasons I can't explain. J. inventoried several bags of Goodwill and he will (I hope) drop it off at our local charity on Tuesday this week, or next. Once those bags are out of there, and the recycling is taken to the recycling center, we'll have some clearer space. Still so much out there that is 'garage sale' ready. We just need to actually have the sale. Soon, I hope.

We also worked in the backyard - used the Scott's Patch Mix to try to fill in some spots in the yard that have been suffering all summer. Not sure if we're having sprinkler problems, dog problems or both - but we had a lot of patches that needed reseeding. A friend of ours told us about the patch mix - looks like mulched paper that has seed in it - and we put it down on top of some new top soil (after breaking up the surface a bit with the weed tiller), water and wait. It should show new grass growth in a few days. I'm going to go get some more patch mix tomorrow to finish the back and also do a couple (much smaller) places in the front that need attention.

We all slept in this morning and skipped church. I know - but I just needed a 'commitment free' day and that included no church. J. and I headed to Costco around 1ish and did a fairly large shop. Then we worked out back.

I'm lunching with a friend in Livermore tomorrow. Tuesday has no firm plans, though the cleaning crew comes and I like to get out of the house when they're here. Still, I'm not likely to go anywhere 'cuz I don't want to spend any money. Maybe a movie? I'll see. Not sure. Am 'in the mood' to continue working on various projects - like the garage - and may just work along side the cleaning crew, trying to stay out of their way.

The van has For Sale signs. We drove it to Costco today and J. will drive it to BART tomorrow. He'll try to drive it a bit over the hill and hope we get a call. If we get desperate to sell it, we'll drive it up to CarMax in Sacto and see what they offer. It looks terrific and has been well maintained - so it should sell quickly. But, in this economy, nothing sells quickly. So we wait.

We got a letter from our attorney reminding us that we should update our estate documents - which we do need to do. The arrangements that currently exist are not what we want anymore - and yet we hold off 'cuz we're not sure what to do, exactly. B. will be 18 in 4 months. It's not that he would be ready to assume responsibility for himself - nor his brother - but it's hard to re-do guardianship arrangements for a kid who's legally going to be an adult in 4 months. And what about his brother? Still, we have to do something - we don't want them to go where our current arrangements say we do - and ultimately, we want them to stay in this town. So we have to think about this and try to figure out what we can put in writing. Thinking about all this makes me uneasy. It was hard enough to put it all in writing 2 years ago - and now it's going to be hard to re-do everything. We need to make the appointment with the attorney, talk through the things that have changed and see what he suggests. I know we need to do it. I'll feel a lot better once it's done. But honestly, when I'll really feel better is when H. turns 18 in 2.5 years and we won't have to worry about guardianship arrangements anymore.

The news is full of bank failures, insurance firms selling off assets, etc. It's a scary time in our economy. My nerves are frayed. I dreamed last night that gasoline was approaching $10/gallon - some futuristic dream. We all seemed 'fine' with it - like it was the norm. And it may be....things are getting a bit crazy, don't you think?