What a DAY!

Yesterday morning started out luxuriously cool. I suppose it should have been a warning to me, but I wasn't really paying attention to warnings. I was excited because it meant that Tanner and Jonathan could finish the very last wall with a hole in it. I dropped Kate at school and made a quick food shopping run, and then I came home. Georgie was already taking her morning nap, and Reagan was quietly playing in the living room. Jonathan was taking a crowbar to our nailed in window. Tanner helped me in with the groceries, and then headed out to the shed to get all the necessary equipment for the day.

I turned off the front air conditioner and opened the doors and windows. We kept the back one on even though it was right where they were working, but we figured it would manage to keep them cool. I hated the idea of cooling down the outside world, but the morning started to heat up fast, and I knew that it was cool the outside world or the wall wouldn't get done. A few minutes into unpacking the groceries and I heard Jonathan say, "Oh, that's gross." And then Tanner said, "Noelle, don't come back here right now, okay?" I finished unpacking the groceries, and when they gave the all clear, I poked my head into the back room. The had pulled the sheetrock off of one section of the wall and on display was a lovely rat's nest. They had apparently found a couple of dead rat's when they opened up the wall, but thankfully no living ones.

After that brief drama, they sawed and nailed and screwed things in all the rest of the morning. They were done by the time I had to pick up Kate from school. Well, let me rephrase that. They had the hole plugged. No insulation. No sheetrock, but the hole is plugged. I consider that a done deal. So, I left the two little girls with Tanner. Because I wanted to spend some alone time with Kate. Tanner told me to be back by 4:00 because he had planned for some guests to come over. I was incensed! How could he do this to me? My house was a wreck from all of the construction and the front room was messy because the kids had carted half of their toys there because they couldn't play in their bedroom. He swore he would clean the house. I asked him who was coming, and he said he had promised Jonny not to tell me, but that it was someone he had met at church.

Huh? I crossed my fingers. Maybe Jonny had made a new friend! Yay, for him, but I was going to have to have a serious talk with him about arranging for friends to come over to our house, like, hey, dud, give me some notice here so that I can make snacks and stuff like that. Well, I headed out to pick up Kate and spend some time with her. We stopped at Peir One, and World Market and Bed Bath and Beyond. We got candy for movie night. Then we headed home. I was impressed with the tidying up job that Tanner had done. The back room was still a complete disaster, but at least the living room was picked up and the kitchen was semi clean. We put all the girls down for a nap and took a walk.

When we got home, I opened the door, and as probably all of you know by now, there was my sister, Joanelle, standing in my living room. She and Emma had come on a surprise visit. Trust me, I was crying. So, we hung out for the afternoon, Joanelle getting all sweaty and hot. Emma and Kate went outside to play, but Emma only lasted about 5 minutes. She said it was too hot out. I chuckled because it was a pretty cool day. I mean, Tanner and I had thought it was cool enough to go for a walk, and I don't let the girls play outside on hot days. I gave her water and made her drink it.

We found a great restaurant to have dinner, near a huge fountain with a promenade so that the girls could run and scream if they wanted. I had debated on whether to wear a sweater or not because the evening was cool, and I wish I had. I was shivering by the time we went into the restaurant. Joanelle was sweating. She couldn't believe that my hands were dry. It really was cold. We had a cold front roll in that took the evening temperature down to 74. Brrrrrr. After dinner, Joanelle took Kate and Emma to the hotel, and I went home to grab clothes and popcorn and candy. I also changed into warmer clothes because I realized that Joanelle was probably going to turn on the air conditioner. Even then, I was freezing in her room. We let the girls have their movie night, and around midnight Tanner and I took Reagan and Georgie home.

Thanks for my surprise AND for my RICE COOKER! Whoop! Now, perhaps my rice will turn out correctly. If not, I'm going to have to special order Homai.