July '07

Good day, Sir or Madam! Thank you for your interest in the Slovan branch of the Richey family.

How are things with you? ALWAYS happy to hear from you, whether by blog comments,
email, phone, or letter. A personal visit would be welcome, too!

Been busy trying to get "this old house" into shape. Took out a home equity loan at the bank
to combine with a little left from the tax refund, and have been fixing things up with help from
a couple of friends. Got a new 3-glass-door medicine cabinet and light bar in the bathroom,
(Chartel really likes it!), a new surround over the tub, a new light fixture in the kitchen
(replacing the old shaky fan and single/uncovered light bulb fixture), new boards and shingles
on the porch, flashing on the chimney and hot water vents, repaired kitchen faucet, and Chartel and Donny (her latest, a really nice guy!) are starting to paint the porch and retaining wall!
Already replaced the furnace last October - a Sears 85% efficiency unit which has already
reduced our heating bills by $100 a month! - and paid it off with tax refund $s. Thank God!
Will replace the water heater, too, soon, as I think it's on its way out. Then - hopefully,
prayerfully, that will be it for a long time. Plan to sit back and enjoy and watch the house
rot if it will, or may sell it and get something smaller like a 2-bedroom apartment, once the
"little princess" decides what her life's direction is going to be.

Speaking of the "little princess", her latest employment in the headquarters' restaurant of
the Eat 'n' Park chain seems to suit her fine! PTL! She's starting to wait tables, and likes the
experience of bringing home tips every time she works. That relieves the "hey, Dad, can I
borrow some money?" requests, though the "borrowing" term is probably not appropriate.
Ha-Ha! Her court hearing from her last October's episode has her on probation, confined to
home between llPM and 7AM, with only the exceptions of work. We expect to hear from the
state soon, conditionally suspending her driving privileges for anything but work related
purposes. Yes, "we" had to pay a couple of fines, which she will be reimbursing the "bank"
for (me), and she must get her GED certificate and attend substance abuse classes a few
weeks, probably Saturday mornings. Parenthood, what a joy! Not sure I'm cut out for it!
What? Too late? DRAT!

C.J. is enjoying his summer working at school - midnight shift- and attending his once-a-week
class. As I probably already reported, most of his class work is done independently, online,
in the library, writing papers, etc. I think he's coming home on Thursday July 5th for a day
or so, which will be nice, probably including a physical, eye exam, etc., with a dental checkup
and cleaning next month when he journeys westward to Slovan. He's talked about getting his
own vehicle, but as long as the Lumina is running good and looking fine, he might as well keep
saving his money, if that's what he's doing!? My old station wagon keeps perking, and I don't
go anywhere but work usually, and don't date at all right now, so things are okay. Can you
believe he's graduating college next May! WOW! WOW!

Lord willing, I'll be in Kimberly to visit Bill and family from July 13th through 18th. Not sure
if I'm going to borrow Chartel's Intrepid or take the Greyhound, but I plan to go. Got a few
days of vacation to take or lose, and I'm going. Also, I took leave from the IGA so I can
concentrate on getting my back fixed. Therapy is going slowly, but "they tell me" that I'm
making progress. Wish I felt the way they think and I think I should feel! Anyway, I'm doing
my exercises, getting 2 or 3 sessions at the clinic a week, and will by done before I leave for
beautiful Wisconsin. Will work all day on the 4th (13 hours), but will get holiday pay, so will
have Thursday and Friday off (in addition to tomorrow), so plan to help the youngsters
finish the painting project. Considering an early Christmas present to myself in the buying
a ticket to see/hear Josh Groban at the Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh on August 4th. Don't like
spending the money, but "I'm worth it", and I don't spend money on myself for anything
else, so there's a good chance I'm going to do it, all things being cooperating. Want to go?

I think I've rambled on enough. Thanks for your posts! Comments/replies welcome.
C.J. will have a new cellphone number probably starting tomorrow if the package arrives
when it's supposed to - it is (304) 914-2249. Thanks for reading - God Bless - Bill.