Chloe-Bear

is greatly improved. She's still spending most of her time curled up on the floor nearby...but when I got home and came in through the garage door, I got three twirls....she twirls when she's excited....and last night, she barely moved when I got home. Tonight, it was twirls, a quick trip outside, a little play time, a little of her new food...She is so much better and I'm so relieved. I'm so glad J. was able to stay home with her today - she was able to eat a tablespoon of food every few hours and that seems to have perked her up also.

Tomorrow is the last day before the break. At the very least, I will sleep in while still possibly going in a couple days next week. Definitely Thursday because we are screening apps for a position we are interviewing for as soon as we're back from the break - one of my direct reports moved to a new job so we are replacing that positions ASAP. I hope so 'cuz I spent a big chunk of today doing his job on top of mine - and that's not great for me. Too busy already to add another job to the mix. It won't be long...

As always, there are so many 'to-dos' on the list here...

The cabinet guy gave us an estimate on just the bathrooms - and for what he quoted, we think we could buy a room full of cabinets. We're going to head to Lowe's and Home Depot and see if we can order or buy the cabinets for over the toilets ourselves...we are reasonably confident that with the two boys assisting us with the lifting and positioning and holding in place while we bolt to the studs, we can do it ourselves...and save a lot of money. I don't know what his quote will be for the pantry but based on his quote for three small over-the-toilet cabinets, it will be ridiculous. Plus it's taking him forever. It's been over three weeks since he was here - and he finally emailed me the quote for just the bathrooms and said we need to arrange to have his cabinetmaker come look at the pantry - though he didn't suggest a time to do that. We waited three weeks for him to be available for the quote!

So far, Angie's List isn't really working for us all that great....hard to find people with very many reviews - and without reviews, the companies don't appear in any searches.

We planted a Jacaranda tree in the front yard last year - and while every living plant around us is returning to beautiful, lush Spring growth, the Jacaranda is doing barely anything. I see 'buds' on it - so I'm thinking it is still alive - but it's not growing yet. I remind myself that I think it's a tree that is typically in warmer climates - and it's still barely 70 here and was much cooler than that today with a steady breeze. So we need some true warmth and hopefully the tree will take off.

We also have a solar company bugging us to sit down with them and show them our electric bills - which I won't do. It's like cell phone vendors - show them your current bills and they will structure a 'plan' that is just a wee bit lower than what you've been paying. I want them to quote what our energy rate with them will be without having any idea what we pay every month - otherwise, what's the point? They say they will install the panels for free and then for whatever the length of contract is, we buy our electricity from them. We have the perfect roof for it - but again, they want to know what we're currently spending - and I'm not telling them that. Let's see what their proposal is first and then we'll go from them.

J. is at church for rehearsal - he's playing twice this week! I'm watching Survivor and then heading up to bed.....