Things I've Done or Will Do This Week

In too many ways, this goes down as one of those goofy, crazy weeks that defy normalcy. My job has been goofy (actually in a good way). My home life has been practically nonexistent, as I think of it. My future, along with the retirement plans of millions of others, has been clouded by plummeting "fortunes" (can anyone say "85-year old Wal Mart Greeter"?)

Anyhow, this week, I have: taken pictures of grungy basement bathrooms in our county courthouse for environmental review purposes (long story); talked to a small village's committee on how to do some town-wide planning on the cheap; sped from that meeting to a church band practice, where the entire band fell in to a 12 bar blues structure and just jammed it for a sweet ol' time; just met today with two entrepreneurs down in a village south of here about their plans for some expansion and job creation (a rare thing these days) and need for financing from a loan program run by a village Community Improvement Corporation; left that meeting, picked up Linda and we drove the two hours down to have dinner with our son at our favorite Mexican restaurant down there in his college town, since he leaves Friday for a week in Honduras to visit his girlfriend who is teaching for a year down there; zipped home to practice a bit for my role Friday as co-emcee and "one man band" for a portion of our annual meeting of all employees, where we have to regale them with a game of Jeopardy (topics relating to our jobs and our employer; teams picked from each department); went out Monday night to help with square dance lessons. Oh, and tomorrow after work I get a handoff from the son in law, as we have agreed to DOG-SIT their puggle and boston/fox terrier as they travel to Columbus this weekend. Always some photo opps when it's a three dog night down home.

Which reminds me of the (out of focus a bit - it was dusky) license plate I saw across the street from the son's apartment as we were leaving tonight. (This is for you, Margaret, and all others who can identify...)