Quittintime: Welcome Back Chif!

We had a great trip down to FL. We left CO pretty much "in the dust" which I mean literally. There was so much dust caused by drought, our lab would make dust clouds when he walked in the clearing. There would always be a layer of dust on everything in the house. I just found out (from a Taunton participant) that there was a fire at Mesa Verde National Park three days after we left...We lived 7 miles from MVNP. From all angles, it looks like we left at the right time.

Our animals were very well behaved on the way down. Moab (our springer) was the perfect passenger (he rode with me). He never whined once. When we'd pull into gas stations, he hopped into the driver's seat and sometimes he'd honk the horn with his butt. I got a couple of sneers because other gas station customers thought I was honking at them but when I'd point to the dog, they'd laugh. Sam, our toothless cat, spent most of his trip between the armrest and my leg. He's so mellow, he barely spent any time in a carrier. When we had to stop anyplace, almost on cue, he'd duck under the passenger seat. We spent one night in a motel after telling the desk clerk we had two dogs - then sneaked in the 4 cats (and their litter box). They aren't dirty or noisy and no harm was done to the room. We spent the second night in a security rest stop sleeping in our vehicles. Rest stop bathroom was huge and damned clean!

Restaurants are falling over themselves to hire Hubby but if I ran naked down US19, I couldn't scare up a bit of attention toward my secretarial skills. Today at an agency, I timed 97 words per minute - and got the "we'll be in touch" schpiel from the agency rep. I have 21 years' experience on Wall Street. For crying out loud, what the heck do people need in a secretary that I don't have???! Whine over.

Daughter is enjoying the pool very much and has taken an interest in diving and in the swim team at school. We're still unpacking but it's liveable now. Our "outside" cats are now "inside" cats because there's a lot more traffic on our new street than there was on our old one in CO. They wouldn't last a week outside. They're adjusting and being lazy most of the day.

It's great to be back here on the board and I can't wait to have my kitchen in order so I can do some SERIOUS cooking. I know I've asked for more than my share of good wishes, but if you can spare a little "good job hunting mojo," please toss it my way. Hugs to you all