Good news / Bad news

THE GOOD

--Beautiful May flowers and the sweet fragrance of the lily of the valleys permeating the air.

--The lovely keepsake box Sam made made me for Mother's Day.

--The Mother's Day tea at Grace Village featuring the Apron Lady's stories, songs, and dozens of her treasured aprons. (Judy and I were in Grace College together 50+ years ago.)

--The Wild Trees tutorial two of us enjoyed during art club.

--The WhatsApp chats with a couple friends I grew up with in Argentina, and photos of their children. Sadly, Julio's daughter (far right) passed away a year ago.

--The successful completion of sophomore year for Moriah and her friend! Here they are pointing to the culprit. Elaine had to pospone her trip home to Minnesota and spend the night here due to a faulty tire. Thankfully Michael and our friends at Upland Tire were able to find her a good replacement.

--Elijah's well-done speech -- "Addiction- jail/prison or treatment? "  

--A great hike at Mounds State Park with a new Meet-up group--old and young from near and far.

And delicious smores at the end.

One of the new friends had extra tickets to the Taylor University commencement and invited me to go with her!

--A birthday wish fulfilled, the privilege to experience a wonderful graduation ceremony, hear VP Mike Pence speak, and hug one of the graduates who helped me set up my author page and website!

With my new friend Patty, the golden ticket, the commencement crowd and speaker, Aubree DeVisser!

--The last chapter I wrote included memories of my second birthday!

THE BAD 

What a week! Our house is in terrible disarray:

--The refrigerator stopped working a week ago. Michael ordered three different parts in succession. Each attempt to repair it failed. Last night we purchased a new fridge which will arrive Friday. Meanwhile we make do with styrofoam coolers and frozen juice bottles.

--My laptop also stopped working. The Geek Squad was unable to repair it and are sending it back to the manufacturer.

--The kitchen sink drain was blocked for a couple days until we were able to purchase an auger.

--As prearranged, our main living room furniture, the sectional, was picked up to be reupholstered.

--One of the recently acquired bee hives died out or disappeared.

However, as we look back, we must conclude the good outweighed the bad. Wouldn't you say?

We had two interesting visitors, not necessarily good or bad--a racoon that came up to the back door and looked in (no photo), and a critter by our front door! That's life in the woods.