Yesterday didn't see much get done by way of moving.  We were both pretty exhausted and spent much of the day recouping.  We had been invited to our friends Steve and Susan for supper, but had forgotten until the calendar application in my iphone beeped at me.  I reminded Anh who lept from her nap and started putting food together in the kitchen.  I became Mr. Step'nFetchit as she ordered my support activities.  All ended well; no breaks, bumps or bruises.   

Susan is a great cook and had prepared pork that just fell off the bone at the touch of your fork.  There were also baked potatoes and salad with garlic bread and a garlic spread Susan had made.  I wasn't hungry before I got there, but somehow rose to the occasion and over indulged in food.  Then she brought out this decadent dessert that had oreo cookies, fruit and some kind of sweet creamy whipped stuff.  I think it probably radiates calories.  If you sit next to it, you can almost feel yourself growing larger.

The feast was just to soften us up for the Cribbage game the followed.  Steve and I won the first two games, but the girls took control of the battle field from there on.  We didn't get home until almost midnight because it took 5 games to demonstrate their strategic and tactical victory.  Ply them with food and then take advantage of their diminished state; it worked brilliantly.

 The roofers didn't protect our home the day they tore off the old roof back in May.  As it turned out, we had a big night of rain before they put the new roof on.  Now we are repairing the damage and today I have to mask the living room and kitchen.  Our friend Truong is coming over to help me get it ready for the repairs that will be done on Monday.  They will remove the damage and retape the sheet rock and finally retexture the ceiling.  Then we get to repaint.  This will be a terrible mess and we simply must protect the house.  I would have expected the roofers to take care of this, but life is full of little disappointments.  So before Truong gets here I need to get some of the furniture out into the garage.

These pictures were taken just a few minutes ago. It took us most of the day to get everything ready. It irritates me to think that this should not have happened.  And I should not be left to fix it...Arrrgh

Sometimes I think I should go back to having a job so that my life can slow down.  These moments are fleeting.  At this pace though, I think I'll burn out.  This has to be temporary.

I am enrolled in the Summer quarter at The Evergreen State College in Olympia Wa.  My independent learning contract is called "Autobiographical Writing".  My professor is Nancy Parkes.  This blog is one of the activities I will be doing throughout the quarter as part of the program.  Other activities include reading the autobiographies of Fanny J.Crosby,  Corrie Ten Boom and a couple other books more ominous is size.

The main work product will be four finished works of autobiography.  My first piece will be about grandparents.  I'm calling it "Roots" and it is currently in rough draft.

The real challenge is that all this will be happening while I am doing the following:

• Make a road trip to SW Florida in July.  Pine Island is our destination.  I estimate the trip will take at most 6 days; maybe less, but I don't want to be in a hurry.
• buy a house in SW Florida - We are in touch with a realtor and have some prospect properties to look at when we get there. 
• move our stuff - Out of the old and into the shop.  We have been moving our personal stuff to the shop for the last couple weeks.  The essentials for setup will be in the van we drive down in July.  We are near exhausted, but have made great progress.  I think we have help coming to push us over the finish line this coming week of the 4th.
• setup house in the new house - Much of this will be handled by Anh while I'm working on the plane.  She and our friend Susan will be shopping for furniture.
• finish the airplane project I started some years ago - This will happen in Eugene Oregon beginning July 30.  I have rented a room to stay in for the month of August.  We expect to have it finished, painted, and inspected by the end of August.  If you would like to read more about the plane/project, here is a link.
• It was looking like Anh would need to make a trip to Hanoi in August, but I'm not so sure about that now.  If you are interested in reading about our Vietnam saga, here is a link.

Any of this would be a lot, but I hope to accomplish all this in the coming weeks of the Summer of 2012.  I will have to keep my laptop charged up and close to me so that I can get my writing done.  I do enjoy writing and hope to improve.  The nice part about autobiographical  writing is that you don't have to be creative.  The hard part is that much of my life is either a distant memory to me or completely forgotten, and conjuring them back takes work.