So, in the midst of change, I change more. Most of you don’t know that I resigned from my job as treasurer at the middle school. I am working at Old World Market in downtown Valparaiso. I really wanted a job that allowed me to be on my feet and move around. To do the treasurer job right, I had to sit at a desk. So, I probably wasn’t doing it right. Anyway, at this point, Old World Market is a bit short handed, so all of us are putting in some hours. In addition, I am closing out the year at the middle school. So, I am sorta working two part time jobs while selling our Lakehouse and trying to get everything that we intend to keep from the lake here to Valparaiso. We need to sell boats and I haven’t even started that process. The pontoon boat that we intend to keep has no lift in Valparaiso. So, where does it go? Where does any of it go? Our garages are full of stuff from the Lakehouse, so we now have stuff leaning on the garage door, in addition to the five cars that live here, which are parked in the driveway. We look like a rental house. And Bert, the SUV of questionable origin, is still full of stuff (from the weekend) that I just have no idea where to put, so I have left it in the car. What is happening here????

So, in the midst of all this, I realize that my kids are still untrained. Since they have jobs or school, they frequently stay home while Travis and I haul stuff from the lake back home. Sometimes they are amazing and clean the entire house. Other times, not so much. Last night, I came home from work and the clean dishes were still in the dishwasher, with dirty dishes in the sink. I didn’t even eat at my house. Two kids were at work, which started at 4 and 6 pm, so plenty of time to empty and fill a dishwasher, so the ones at home got an earful. The situation was rectified and all was well… until before I retired for the evening and saw a bowl and spoon in the dishwasher. Look at the photo. Technically, the offender put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but SERIOUSLY!!!!! Letter of the law anyone? So my harping, “Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher!” Was followed, but come on? But the dirty dishes are, in fact, in the dishwasher. 

So, the monkeys can be trained, but not fully. I now apologize to my mom in my head for all the things I did to drive her crazy. And I silently wish the curse of the non compliant (but overall good) kids upon my own kids. And we move on… By the way, if anyone is bored this weekend, I will be trying to organize my garage and welcome any help. Perhaps I can rope some semi-trained Haldemonkeys to assist. Have a great week everyone!