I figured I better write another entry today to get rid of my nasty poop- and barf-laden entry of yesterday. Go ahead and thank me. I don't get enough real email, just the stuff that wants me to enlarge my breasts and the penis I didn't know I had.

Here's a good piece of advice. Make your bed. I know. I'm the last person that should be telling everyone to do that, but at least make your bed when people are coming over. It doesn't matter if you just stripped off all the sheets. Take the time to drape the comforter back over the bed. If you don't, the heating a cooling guy will walk right into your bedroom (remember, this is the place where all the stuff goes when I'm cleaning the rest of the house, so the bed wasn't just unmade, but stuff was stacked to the rafters) and witness your matress with the one and only stain on it that you couldn't get out and you didn't bother covering that morning, because you didn't think he would just open the door to your bedroom and walk in. He lots major points with me when he did that. I don't care that we could save $500 from that place.

We really, really liked the guy that came yesterday. He was full of information, willing to do a few extras like fix our outside faucet for nothing, and did not walk into my bedroom without asking. He was also a really nice guy, easy to talk to, and seemed like he really cared that our installation was done right. All the research we did said that you could get the most efficient furnace and AC money could buy, but if it wasn't installed right, you're wasting your money. I think this guy would make sure things were done right. Not only that, he fixed our thermostat! He checked the fuse box, the furnace, and the thermostat to see what was wrong. He didn't have to do any of this, but he did. For free. He got our furnace/AC running again, so our cats won't melt while we're away, and we won't come home to a hell hole. It's not guaranteed or anything, but we aren't going to spend the money on a new thermostat for this furnace only to get a new one for the new furnace. No, a new thermostat won't work for both. Our furnace is older than God, and things have changed.

We have one more estimate late this afternoon. I really liked this woman on the phone, and I'm afraid I'm going to like her a lot and the estimate will be cheaper. I decided that if it's just a matter of cost, we'll call the other guy and try to negotiate a better deal, because he fixed our air conditioner, and no one is going to be able to top that. I think. We'll see what I'm thinking at 6 PM.

After all that work I did to get the house cleaned up yesterday, I was still embarassed when the guy came this morning. I don't know how I can go from being fine with it yesterday to being humiliated again today, and the house hasn't gotten any messier overnight. I think part of it had to do with him going in the bedroom, and the other part had to do with his fancy shoes and pants that seemed a bit much. But mostly it's just that the place still has a long way to go, and what seemed like great progress yesterday seems a tiny dent today. But I'm not going to worry about it now. I have vacation coming.

I still have a long list of things to buy today. Hammy has to go to the dentist too, and then I have to make sure I'm home for the next estimate. There's the usual laundry to do, and of course, packing. Packing for this is like packing for the beach and then some. Everything is so big and bulky, and I have to cram it all into our truck and the topper we're borrowing from John's aunt and uncle and still have room for our dog in the back. I don't really know how I'm going to do it. Who knew 20� sleeping bags would be so huge? I bought bags to put the sleeping bags in, and I split the bag putting, or rather trying to put, one of these behemoths in. I'm taking the other three bags back. I have yet to decide if I'll try the other, more expensive bags with the straps to make your sleeping bag smaller. I'm afraid these monsters won't fit in those either. The good thing is we should be nice and warm.

There will probably be record-setting heat up there now that we're prepared for the cold. We got the nice, warm sleeping bags, and I spent the extra money to get the larger, warmer heater too. I get so cold so easily that I didn't want to skimp on products that will keep me warm.

I feel a tad more prepared for this vacation than vacations past, which is surprising considering how much I have to take and do for this. Most of my preparedness is thanks to my extremely organized mom who gave me her camping list. I was able to go down the list and mark off what we had, what we need, and what they will bring. I just transferred the things we need over to my shopping list, and I'm ready to go. So really, most of what needs done is laundry and packing, neither of which are small chores.

I doubt I'll be writing tomorrow, since we're leaving after John gets home from work. We don't get a phone signal in the mountains, so I won't be updating while I'm away either. Even if we did get a phone signal, I wouldn't update, because I'm trying to get John away from the computer for at least a week. I don't know that we're even taking the computer. I'm voting no. So it will be two weeks before I'm back again, which might be my longest break ever. So all two of you that read here regularly can skip it for the next couple weeks, but don't go getting hooked on someone better. My poor ego couldn't handle it.

Here is where I'm going. I'm climbing that peak too!

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