Fluffy

Yesterday's bud will eventually look like this . . . light and fluffy. This is a mini-rose bush that sits at the corner of the house at the intersection of the backyard and the side yard where the water fountain is. This plant, which is named "Hot Tamale," blooms almost all year long. Today its blossom looked soft, even touchable.

I accomplished a significant amount of work this morning when I skipped church (which I rarely do) and didn't let anything distract me (except to walk the pooches around the backyard for a potty break). I managed to organize the group mailing lists for my students after responding to almost every student email the past several days. The first week of school each student has several emails they must send me. This email requirement is all part of getting them up and running and realizing this course is going to need their focused attention. By the end of the first week, I usually think I've created a monster with this requirement--more work for me than them, but the remainder of the semester is so much more organized. Through this email exercise I learn who is going to lag behind and who will be the early birds.

We've enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon with rain clouds lurking and romancing us with the thought of rain, but it was all just flirting. We didn't receive a drop of liquid.

Around the corner, a house just like ours is for sale; this afternoon was the "open house." So we went to lookey-lou. The owners had refinanced until they could no longer afford the home. "They owed more than it was worth," the real estate agent told us. So the house is an empty shell with no one living there. There's bits and pieces of furniture left, pictures on the walls, and boxes of junk in the garage. With some new carpet or a person who carpet cleans and can work a miracle and some new interior paint, I think the house will be quite a deal for someone and a lovely home that is completely landscaped and has a nice pool and spa in the backyard. Around the corner in the other direction, a house just like it sold early in February for twenty thousand more than the asking price for the one we saw this afternoon. I'm fascinated by real estate. It seems much more "real" to me than the stock market. Mr. Fun thinks I'm crazy. That's our opposites.

Tomorrow is what we call the President's Day holiday here in America. I hope everyone has a nice Monday.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol