Here we are, another few months gone by. Where has the time gone? It's the beginning of the warmer weather, and before we know it, I'm sure winter will be back upon us.

So, what's been going on lately? I'm still working late reliefs, starting around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. and finishing anywhere between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. It's wonderful! I did try going out to play at 3:00 p.m. one week and that was a disaster. Far too early in the day for me to go play in traffic. The 5:30 p.m. start is even a tad early, but it's only tough for about 90 minutes in traffic, then things settles down nicely and the rest of the night is smooth.

The warmer weather is finally here! I wasn't sure we were ever going to see it this year. April started off very sunny and mild (we still had a chill in the air), and the last 2 weeks of April it rained and rained and rained. We still had cooler than normal temperatures at the beginning of May, with plenty more rain, but finally, it has gotten much warmer and the sun is shining.

April brought a phone call from my friend Sharon's daughter. She needed a place to crash, as she had caught her boyfriend cheating. Sadly, she had nowhere to go, no money, no job, nothing. She's only 22, and I am hoping so has learned a very valuable lesson in life. She's been at my house since mid-April and it hasn't been too bad. I've been a bit rough on her at time, but you know, someone has to be. She was the baby, so it was "leave her alone, she's just a kid". Well, that did her no good, as she's a very bright young lady just very lazy. Trying to get her butt out of bed before 2:00 p.m. is like pulling teeth. There have been days when I've screamed at her to get up and that moves her in a hurry. She will be leaving the 2nd week of June to move in with a friend.

Of course, the week I take my vacation (as I write this), it's been gorgeous and I've been inside painting my little house! As small as this place is, when you are doing quite a bit of the work yourself it does take time. My friend Brenda was down last Saturday to help out, and my friend Julie has been here after work to help. Julie is coming tonight and this weekend to help me finish it off.

When I first moved in here, I did the "hurry up and paint it" thing. Yes, it looked nice, but I didn't repair some of the holes in the walls from where they hung pictures. They used very large screws for this task and it made a mess of the walls. I also didn't paint the kitchen at all, and it's the ugliest room in the whole house, if you ask me. I hate my kitchen! As I write this, a few things need to be finished in the livingroom then it's on to the kitchen.

One of the things I have been doing while painting, is going through boxes and getting rid of things I've had for years and don't use. I took a huge box of books and 3 large garbage bags of clothing to the Goodwill earlier this week. My friend Sharon is moving back to the city, into the building I lived in before I moved to the house. It's a great building and she needs to be here for medical reasons. Having to travel down for medical appointments is too tough on her with her fragile health. She lives just over an hour northwest of the city. Since I was getting rid of my old waterbed frame, she wanted it. I also had a bookcase and a futon to give her. It helps clean up the spare room, which I swear a family of 20 had invaded. I had so much stuff in it. I am going to buy an air mattress for overnight guests. That way, I can give up my bed for the guests or they can sleep on the air mattress. I don't have overnight guests often, so it made no sense to keep the futon. It just takes up space in a tiny room.

Seems all I have done the past 2 weeks is spend money. I had to buy all the paint and primer for the house, the car needed a new exhaust system, front to back, and I had to buy a headboard, bed rails, night stands, a dresser and lamps for my bedroom. I got new ceiling fans for the bedrooms. Some nights it's not hot enough for the air conditioning to be on, but you need a fan. I also bought new ceiling fans for the kitchen and diningroom. It didn't take long to go through my savings account.

As you all know from the last Casual Community News, I quit smoking on January 31st and I'm happy to say I'm still smoke-free. That is what prompted me to paint the house. Get rid of the nicotine off the walls and give it a fresh new look. Each week I took what I spent on smokes and put it into my savings. With that I also bought myself a 19" flat screen monitor, and some new clothes for summer. I think I might be the only person I know who quit smoking and didn't gain weight!

That's about it for now…now it's off to paint some more.

Tracey