I will be leaving one week from today.

The worker men, or felons as Vicki prefers to call them and this cannot be denied, left today. They have assigned the flim flam man to get the plumber to return to set the toilet and the sink and hook up the shower downstairs. He is also to clean up the debris outside left from the job. Today a cleaning lady is to come and clean up the rooms and clean up the air hockey table and all of the equipment Michael sr has downstairs. The felons will return to power wash the mats that go under the weight lifting equipment and set them under the equipment. If the flim flam man does not follow through with the plumber and the clean up, I am to call Tony, one of the felons, and he will get the plumber and he will be back to clean up the mess outside. I am to pay the flim flam man nothing more. These guys have really been wonderful for me. The flim flam man had decided to leave me high and dry, but these guys knew that was wrong and they have come here to complete the job. They are really good guys.

Michael sr. is continuing to heal. He was supposed to go to have a "wound check" with the doctor this morning but he didnt feel like going. He had me remove the bandage that covers the wound. He saw that there was no seepage on the bandage and the would looks clean so he probably will not make another appointment. I believe the worst time for him was Friday night and all day Saturday. Right now he is just dealing with the soreness that comes from having surgery on one's neck. His throat actually looks a bit swollen to me, but he is breathing just fine.

We are both sort of tense these days. As I said yesterday, I feel the time is drawing nigh for me, and I am sure he realizes that his boys are getting ready to go to Indianapolis and he will no longer have them under his watch. He will see them every other week end and all week of spring break and supposedly all summer long. We will have to wait and see how this goes. While the boys have been under Michael's watch their grades have been great. Brendan made straight fAs for the first time in his life. I see a more positive side of Brendan now. Instead of " all is lost" being his mantra , he now looks and mentions the good things first any time someone mentions something that has gone awry. This has been such a grand time for Michaelsr. and his boys even though all I ever spoke of was the grand time I was having. This is going to be a huge adjustment for all of them. Sadness is included in the emotions of the day. Michael sr. does not discuss his feelings with me, but I feel the tension. It is almost like if we dont talk, things will be better. So we dont talk much at all. Pray for him. Pray for the boys. Pray for all of us. Pray for an order in these last few days and a peace on all sides.
Precious times that become "memories" ...very difficult passage to navigate.

Right now my car doesnt start without a jump. I have an appointment on Wednesday at the Lexus dealership for some maintenance and some "fix its". I will receive a free loaner car for the time the dealership has my car. I am driving the van today. I plan to make a trip to Rawlgreens prior to picking up the boys, but I will leave early enough to have time to burn as I await the bus to drop them off.

I will leave now.

May God richly bless you, my loved ones. jk