Visiting with Mom and Dad

Wow it has been nearly a month since I had any news to post. Well, not really, it's just been one of those crazy months with so much to say that it's easier to avoid saying anything! In synopsis, I was in the field for 3 of the weeks, during which I found out I am on the brink of losing my job along with everyone else in my office, as our new contract will maintain 50% of the work we had for the previous 5 years. Our office got the bad end of the stick and most likely will be eliminated. We are all hoping that the new contracting company that gets the other 50% of the work comes in and hires us all. We are all waiting to hear what happens on the magical day of April 24th when the new contract gets signed.

Meanwhile, I've had a birthday and my parents have come out for a 5-6 week visit during which we celebrated my birthday and her 60th! Needless to say there has been lots of distraction and plenty of cheer in our house despite the looming liklihood of unemployment. My parents have a way of making any time a good time, and so it has been so good for the soul to have such comfort around.

We've spent much time in the yard (here they are supervising me turning the compost pile)

I took a day off of work on my mom's birthday and we did some countryside sightseeing and went out to lunch...

... and scrapbooked of course. My Dad is tying flies for fishing.

Plus, a real bonus is that my mom has made dinner for us everynight when we get home from work and my dad has been busy doing projects around the house such as building shelves in the closet (happy thought indeed!) hanging pictures, and supervising contractors that are still doing warranty repair work on the house. We really needed the help and it has been enjoyable and a big relief to get some of these things done.

This week I'm back in the field, and my parents and friends Liz and Ed, who came down from Vermont on Friday, are heading out to Charleston for the week together.