I have been very quiet lately. I have found that this buying a house business is almost a full time job. ( With a power of attorney, I bought a house for my son when he was deployed, and it didn't seem nearly as difficulty). The process was complicated by another buyer who immediately posted a back up contract, so that if I don't get anything done on schedule, they are prepared to jump in. I have begun to work from a planner for the first time in years just to get everywhere I need to be when I need to be there. Of course the process is complicated by the fact that I am a stove-up old coot with the memory of a sieve, and Janet is still pretty fragile. (Though, off topic, I am so thrilled with her. She still walks like someone pretty frail, but she tossed away her cane - well, at least put it away- two weeks ago, she and I are both working through a diet program, and between her illness, a lot of water aerobics, and the diet she tried on a size **I don't tell her measurements just mine** skirt the other day. It didn’t' fit her yet, but it fastened and will fit soon, and she will be hastening down the size ladder-- I'm moving a bit more slowly. I took my measurements the other day and I have lost inches around the hips and chest so that now they are both smaller than my waist. Somehow that makes diet and exercise feel less rewarding.)

Of course the impetus for the new house came from the fact that we have a commercial offer for our house (that is dependent on a zoning change). If it doesn't sell, we will rent it to students, the neighborhood is more like a fraternity yard anyway, but we need to get to somewhere more private and more restful.

When we finish packing boxes (we hope to move right after closing, May 31) sorting through thirty plus years of stuff stuck around a five bedroom house that used to hold six kids and still holds an amazing amount of their "stuff", holding some sort of yard or estate sale, and similar activities, I hope to begin posting regularly again. I have finished writing my account of our departure from Finland and our progress here, but I have to edit it for the blog. ( I am writing for my family, then editing it down for the blog). I was looking at "Tracksy", and thinking I ought to post less frequently anyway. It seems that my traffic has jumped.

I actually have been writing. I spent a whole day thoughtfully writing a comment for one of the posts on Saurkraut that had to do with Mormons. Of course by the time I got it in, the topic she was following had changed four times so it was probably a waste of time. (She posts EVERY DAY, she is currently writing some interesting stuff about Will Durant. -- and no, the in-text link doesn't work, I am a failure at that, but there is a link in my blog-roll.) By the way, with some help from GAYLE I am finally getting to where I can edit or add to the blog-roll a bit so I will try to up date that.

Thanks to those who read this thing with some regularity in spite of my peripatetic contributions. Now I have got to make a decision about the loan.