Merry Mayhem

After spending the afternoon shooing children away so we could muse about our job and financial future, we refocused to spend the evening with them. Lunch is always so late on Sundays that dinner is usually an afterthought. Cory got out the air popper and said "Let's have a popcorn party." The kids got really excited. "Let's put up crepe paper!" they cried. I wasn't about to do that, but Cory got a picnic tablecloth out, and laid it on the living room floor. It was an instant success. Then he got out our electric lantern, so we were "camping." The event was over in just a few minutes (Sterling immediately turned over the big bowls of popcorn), but we all had a great time. Then Cory made "milkshakes" with this and that. Those were really good, too. I should let him cook dinner more often. It's way more fun when I'm not thinking about it.

This and That: sorry to Mom W., we think of your crippled state often and cringe. Very glad you got a substitute for seminary. I wouldn't have let you go, anyway.
Elder West's happy birthday letter should be in the mail tomorrow, and get to Japan a week late.
Cory installed a dishwasher right before he got laid off. No, we wouldn't have bought it if we'd known in advance, but we didn't and it's too late to return it, so we just enjoy using it.
Cory filed our taxes yesterday, since that "income" is more sure than any particular job application. Right now it's a hirer's market, since there are more unemployed people to choose from; not a job-seeker's market, since there is so much built-in competition and so many hiring freezes. That said, of course he's been applying for several jobs a week.
I added Digital Photography to my college load for this semester. The extra credits made me eligible for enough financial aid to cover tuition, and the extra class will put me back on my graduation class. I just hope I can stay focused enough to learn in both, and be a good mother/learning coach.