It is lunchtime on Monday. It is inordinately quiet around the house as Darla and the boys are up at Lake Almanor enjoying some boating and swimming and wake boarding. We drove up to the lake early on Saturday in a mild drizzle of rain that became a steady downpour. We left early in order to get up to the lake early and spend some time with Darla's brother, Steve, who was at the lake last week and couldn't get the same week off as the rest of the family. We stopped in Oroville and decided to eat breakfast instead of donuts as the rain was incessant and we knew that Almanor would be a soggy situation as well. I let David drive once we got to the top of the Feather River Canyon. The drive is a winding, climbing drive along the river bed and I didn't want him to have to learn curves with a steep drop-off to the river on the right side of the road. The Feather River canyon is a beautiful drive through the trees as we climb from the valley up to 4000 feet.

The rain was just as in evidence in Almanor and we spent the afternoon visiting with family in Earl and Frances' motor home. The boys and their cousins did venture out to the lake and went swimming during the downpour, but the adults sought shelter from the rain as experience would teach you to do.

We got into our cabin just before three and the roof had leaked the night before as they got a good gully washer up at the resort. One of the bed's was drenched with water and we had to dry the mattress with use of a space heater. I told the boys that there was no leak, that the prior tenants had a young child with a bladder problem. They laughed, but looked at me funny.

Sunday. we went to the local church which has become the Westra's home-away-from-home church. The pastor was doing a series on "Get a Grip", the parallels between golf and our relationship with God. I sat up straight and listened as the local golf pro gave some tips on timing and tempo. It was a clever analogy about timing in the golf swing and God's timing and tempo in our lives and I enjoyed it. Sunday was a day with a peekaboo sun and some showers and the rain was a bit of a nuisance. I was able to finish LA Dead, the fourth book in the Stone Barrington murder mystery series by Stuart Woods. I had a very nice visit with the Westra clan, but was in the Mustang by 4:15 and back to the salt mine. Darla fully expects me to continue to bring in money while she is up enjoying her vacation. I don't mind. I have a lot of telephone followups that I need to accomplish and I can get that done this week.

I took the Mustang in to the body shop this morning to have the paint work done. I'm having additional work done that will bring my investment in the repair and paint to about $600. David is paying for half of the repairs as he wanted to have some additional dents taken out. The car's blue book value is $5500 and after all is said and done we'll have less than $5,000 invested in the car. David will pay me $1,000 for the car in addition to his half of the repair bill and buy the car in September. I will then take another leap of faith and buy a replacement vehicle for myself. Salesmen on commission say the best motivator that they have is taking on a new financial commitment. I'll be living that theory in about a month.

Jennifer will be home in three weeks and she is getting excited about the prospect. She called for me the other night and I was out with Jerry Tuel at the new Indian Casino down the road. She talked to Darla for about 45 minutes about everything she hoped to do when she gets home. She is up for promotion in about two months and is nervous about it. I guess she shared her opinion about the lawn mowing duties that she has been given in addition to her regular job and her superior didn't take that well. You aren't entitled to an opinion in the Army.

Well, folks, be well. Keep your eyes on the Lord and He will direct your path.