Can't Get Their Act Together

Finally got seven hours sleep and it felt good.  I was up and walking at 6:20, just as the sun was coming up. It was a crystal clear morning and the hint of fall was certainly in the air.  I had a ton of things to do today so I was happy to get a jump on the day.  When I came home, after about an hour, all the kids were outside waiting for the school bus so I was able to connect to the neighborhood, which was fun.

Colin's Retirement Shadow Box

The big event today was to be the closing on the refinance of the other home here in Charles Town.  There is some program that we qualified for and we could knock 1.25% off the interest rate we are now carrying. Cindy and I did all of our paperwork weeks ago but the good folks here in Charles Town have not made this a priority.  About two hours before the scheduled closing, I was told they were missing one form and that it might take them another hour.  It is now 4pm and I’ve not heard back.  I’m very angry because today was also the Hail and Farewell for Colin’s retirement from the Coast Guard. It was held in Washington so I could have gone, except for this closing nonsense.  I just got a photo from him of a shadow box that he was presented at the ceremony.  Here is a photo, it is really cool!  It traces his history in the USCG from being an entry level enlisted seaman to his final rank as an officer. It turns out that I need to get to the airport tomorrow evening, instead of early Thursday, so I’ll be able to meet Colin and Meagan for dinner and get to see the shadow box up close and personal.

Aside from the uncertainty of the closing ever taking place, today was a good day in terms of getting things checked off my list of things to bring back to Moscow.  Thank goodness for Skype, since I was able to walk around the house with the laptop while talking to Cindy about what she needed and where to find it.  I might write an article called Packing with Skype.

Last night I decided to have a real dinner.  I set the table for two, lit a candle, put out wine and water glasses and silverware and prepared a bistro lamb dinner.  I took all the fresh green beans and trimmed them and steamed them until they were just starting to get soft.  I drained and patted them with a towel to make sure they were all dry.  I got a bit of olive oil nice and hot and added the green beans, two handfuls of cherry tomatoes and a handful of chopped garlic.  The beans turned nice and crispy just as the tomatoes started to blister.  I transferred them to a hot serving dish and added three loin lamb chops that I had had sitting in a baggy filled with fresh rosemary. They cooked up quickly and in no time I was sitting down to dinner, with a nice NZ wine, which I used to toast Cindy.

Just got through taking the window AC out of our bedroom, where we ran it in lieu of turning on the central AC at night.  I can feel my shoulders tightening up as I type. There were a lot of Stink Bugs around the AC since that seems to be the best way for them to get into the house.  I hate Stink Bugs!  I was also able to repot a few of my larger plants so that they can continue to grow.  My cactus plants are doing remarkably well and seem to love being root bound. All in all I’ll give Olga an A for her tending the greenery.

Ok, time to get back to work.  Cindy had a great day, was invited to dinner at the neighbors and seemed happy as we Skyped, a marked change from last night, which gives me great pleasure.   Ciao, Wm