On Monday, I wrote the blog and watched Avery. On Tuesday, I fixed bike tires and watched Avery. On Wednesday, I unpacked my new mitre saw and learned how to use it, eventually making the four cuts I needed for the two baseboards I needed to put a big bookcase back downstairs. I also painted the baseboards I needed. Thursday, I was ready to get those baseboards on the wall. I unpacked my new nail gun to learn how to use it and discovered that it requires an air compressor. (Seriously? That quickly went from an affordable new tool to an unaffordable one.) I was no longer willing to wait. I wanted to get that bookcase back! So . . . I used my glue gun to put up those two baseboards. Aha! You know what? They look fine. Great in fact! And the bookcase got moved out of Calianne's room and back to its place in the hall and the books got moved out of Cheyenne's and Savannah's rooms and back to their place on the bookshelf. Crimeny. Who knew there could be so many steps to something that looks so simple? I didn't even mention all the YouTube videos I have watched on cutting and installing baseboards. Those baseboards are just the tip of a very large iceberg of time and learning.

Cheyenne finished finals this week! She finished with a B+ in anatomy. She is relieved and we are so proud of her! She surprised us with a visit Thursday morning and stayed most of the day. She helped me move the bookcase and she played piano and read a book in the sunshine and then went with me to cheer Bethany in her track meet. She has a couple more weeks with the church friends she has met at her apartment complex until they all leave for summer adventures. Then she may be at home more. She's currently looking for a summer job.

Mariah also finished finals this week! Including her accounting class which she didn't have to take but I'm so proud of her for wanting those skills anyway! She had a great semester and also finished up her two jobs. We got a very happy Marco Polo from her! She needs to stay another week to finish the track season. She'll run in conference next weekend and come home on Mother's Day!

Calianne STARTED school this week. Yes. She had all of about five days off before spring semester started. She's taking a statistics class and an advanced writing class. She drives to campus four days a week and is already super busy. She does manage to see Jordan (her cute boyfriend) everyday, too, since he is working and attending spring semester, too!

Bethany ran hurdles in track again this week and Chey and I cheered her on! She is trying to stay caught up in math and to get a book read for English while still doing track and karate and having phone time, too. It's hard to find time for it all!

Benjamin had guitar, karate, and tennis this week. He is also playing a lot of chess. He asked me if he could play in some tournaments, but I haven't been able to find any for his age. Maybe I will ask on Facebook.

Kevin is busy with work. He taught for IITAP this week three days. He also did a question and answer session through Parent Guidance for parents in Texas after the shooting there last week. He really wants to work on his book and gets frustrated when he can't, but he is making progress there, too. He is a hard-working guy!