I'm on a list! Granted, I've been on many lists before in my time but I think this is kinda cool.

My internet went down on Friday and I called in to the phone company to inquire. After explaining that I work from home and have 4:59 minutes to spare each half hour before I'm penalized (and go from earning $12-15/hr to $2-3/hr) by having my call routing shut down, she said she'd put my name down as one of the first to manually re-port or whatever the term was. So this morning at 6:15am I start having spotty internet service and promptly call the only person I knew would be up that early - brother in law Nathan - to walk him through cancelling my commits for the day. Since I lost 3 commits on Friday, I'm one away from having my calls dang near shut off for 25 hours of login time. Anyway, around 10:00 I left a message on the general voicemail for the phone company. Imagine my surprise when Kevin called me back within 30 minutes and wondered if I was still having trouble! He said that they added my name to the "must have" list of internet-dependant customers and he personally re-ported (or whatever it's called) me this morning as well as the hospital and emergency units. He also said that if I was still having trouble to call him back and they'd come out with a testing laptop for troubleshooting. Isn't that cool? I certainly wasn't expecting personal attention like that, and on a Sunday no less!

I spent the rest of my morning working while uncommited which means it took twice as long to make my goal but at least if I lost service I wouldn't lose the commit. After that I put BBQ meatballs in a crockpot, BBQ beans in another, and mixed up some cole slaw. That made for a very nice dinnertime since it was all ready to go. I helped Ed mow a little and then we swept some of the grass clippings into the lawnsweeper and tossed them to the horses. The three out front ate every last edible piece and the seven out back couldn't have been any less interested. Strange horses. I wanted to bathe our three but the wind is incredible right now and they've already headed back out to the pasture so we may miss that today.

I noticed in the paper today that one of our local reporters is holding a contest for a $50 dining certificate for readers if they guess the ending to the Sopranos. Some people apparently think AJ will off Tony and take over, but I'm with the reporter on that one -- the boy is clueless and Silvio wouldn't stand for that. Neither would Paulie. The reporter thinks that AJ will turn Tony in and the end will be about Carmella being said for Tony (who ends up in the slammer) but proud of her son for finally getting a backbone. One thing I've learned about this show is that you can't predict it either way but 9 times out 10 I get so irritated and the endings. Now, I love the show and I love it when a story line is neatly tied up, but I just hate the actual "end" of each show - HATE IT! So, I'm mentally preparing myself to be thoroughly in a tizzy at the final episode. Oh well, Big Love returns when this ends so there will still be one show a week I watch.

And back to the farm........ Moo has planted herself in the chicken coop and has hardly come out at all this weekend. I really think she's due any time but Ed says not for another week or so. I can't wait!

We have a coon getting the chickens in the barn and it's really frustrating me. For the past several mornings there's a headless and cleaned out carcass in the corner and, unfortunately, they've all been hens. I wouldn't mind so much if he was picking off the roosters as we have about eight I think, but I hate losing the hens. The bad thing is there's no way to critter-proof that barn without throughly packing each side with a bank of dirt and then doing the same to each stall door - which means they wouldn't open. No way can we do that. I'd thought about grabbing them as they started climbing up the rafters for evening roosting and putting them in the coop but with the cow in there we have to leave that door open. Not sure what we're going to do.

The boys have their last day of school Thursday and then we get to enjoy a couple of short months before I send them ALL THREE back in August! Oh my gosh, I don't know what I'll do without kids around me all day - it's been 11 years since that last happened. I can't tell if Vincent is more excited to start Kindergarten or ride the bus - probably equal. As stressful as the summers can be, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to more relaxed mornings, help with the chores, and spending afternoons with them.