This has been a crazy year already. I pulled off a great surprise party for Eliott's 30th - he was completely taken!

That night (December 18), we acquired a houseguest who, little did we know, wouldn't leave until March 7!! That's right! 2-1/2 months!! He is (was?!? ) a good friend, which made a bad situation worse, but we were finally able to (gently but firmly) get him to move into a residential hotel.

NO MORE HOUSEGUESTS FOR US - at least for a good long while, and only if they sign a contract insuring they will leave after three days (my mom kept on reminding me that guests, like fish, begin to smell after 3 days).

Eliott completed his credential (YAY!!), so we have one less stress in our lives. My job did NOT end in February, as I stated on one of my cards. Due to budget cuts, they were unable to hire their permanent staff person, so I've been kept on, on a part-time basis. I'm also filling in from time to time at another office (for a friend of John's, JoAnna Wool, who left), AND I'm training another woman at Schwab on PageMaker.

I also inherited the back yard - the woman who tended it moved, and none of the other tenants are that interested. Right now, it's full of calla lilies growing like weeds.

Time to stop rambling. Hope y'all are doing swell. I'm hanging in there O.K., despite my ups and downs. Ciao.