Okay, this is ridiculous! First I lose a week in April. Then I lose a week in May. How did we get from the Open House in three weeks to the Open House in TWO WEEKS ! Yes folks, only two weeks until the Graduation Exstravvvagaaannnnza! At this point, I have no idea how many people are coming or what we're feeding them, but I know one thing: I'd better get my ass in gear.

I think I've been resting on the laurels of my having gottent he announcements out in plenty of time. I've totally forgotten that sending the invitations means people might actually come to the silly thing! I've avoided the whole issue of food for so long I'm fairly flummoxed regarding the whole issue. I suggested to Hubband that I might phone Sister-In-Law (she of the "Betty Crocker Award For Excellence In Home Economics", 1966) but he was kind enough to remind me that this could involve relinquishing control of the situation.

I'm not up for that yet.

One cool thing (you don't know it yet but that's a pun) is that we'll have air conditioning by the day of the party. (See?) This will, of course, guarantee the coldest summer in Michigan history is on it's way, but we're doing it anyway. AC guy was very pleasant and quite chatty. Turns out he installed units for Hubband's parents, his nephew and Contracter Bob and his family. Can't get better recommendations than that. Plus he was so geeked about the tile backsplash in our kitchen he went out to his truck and took pictures. (Flattery will get you pretty much there with me.) It's a little more dear than I was hoping, but we went for the nicer model and included air-duct cleaning (god only knows what they'll find), a furnace check and cleaning and an automatic thermostat. Should be a pleasant summer in casa de Keeley.

I spoke to a friend of mine last night that's losing her house. Her husband lost his job last year and hasn't been able to find anything close to compensating. I remember the first time we went to their house. We were digging ourselves out of our own near financial ruin and I had been envious of her leather furniture, art collection, etc. Hubband reminded me that they probably had a mortgage as large as their square footage. I reminded myself that her pretension was not so much to impress me that she was good enough but to impress herself.

They're talking about moving to Arizona, which I would think would be good for them. Says she can take selling her dream home for an "adventure" more than she can just downsizing in the same area. They love the sun and have friends there and family, as well. I hope they'll be okay. It's an awful strain on a relationship and the last few times we've seen her she's been tipping that wine bottle back pretty steadily.

It makes one grateful for what one has. It's also a good incentive for me to start socking away the money. I so don't want to go there again.

Good News:

Big Boy has been accepted a tough tech school of his choice.

Little Boy made the honor roll, thanks to his teacher and principal who overlooked his 'C' in reading because he's raised his reading level 2 grades this year. I love this school. It's public, too!

Dr. 12-Year-Old says my blood pressure is good, no need to increase my meds. 128/83, I think.

Bad News:

Under the heading of, can you believe this? I went to my grandmother's favored salon last week to get her a gift certificate for Mother's Day. The perfect gift for the 82 year old who has everything, right? I finally thought I had it! She gets a wash and set each Wednesday (I know, yuck!) so I got it for that amount.

AND THEY TOLD HER ABOUT IT AND APPLIED IT TO YESTERDAY'S VISIT!!!!

Morons. Anyway, I still have the gift certificate I bought so I'm going to give it to her anyway. They'd better honor it, too. And it is the gift that keeps on giving because now she has a funny story to tell every person she meets for the next month.

Must go make lists!