Starting to settle in.....

It's Saturday, June 29. Yesterday, I had a job interview at the district offices of the Live Oak School District. The job is at Cypress Charter High School, and the interview was so much fun! The committee consisted of Les Forster, the principal, a teacher, a parent and two students. It was great. They gave me the question in advance, when I arrived early, so I had time to think about them before going into the room. I was not nervous, just excited, and I talked a blue streak, I think, as I always do! I hope to hear some good news soon...I would absolutely love to work at this little school. There are only 150 students in grades 9-12, so it would be such a great community experience.

The really great news is that Harper Lee is back. She snuck out an open window our first night here and I was franticly searching for her from Wednesday to Friday. Last night, I can't explain it...I just felt her presence SO strongly. So I was outside calling her, like I had been all along, but this time, I took a flashlight and got down on my hands and knees to look under the hedgerow around the yard. Sure enough....I saw her bright green eyes shining back at me. She never made a peep. She just sat there until I climbed my way to her and picked her up and brought her inside. She is fine...hungry, but fine, thank G_d.

Today, we worked on cleaning up the house a bit before our landlord inspection tomorrow. Grayson had already done a lot of cleaning for us, which we are very grateful for. We got the work done early enough so that we felt we could afford some time off, so we went to the beach with Grayson and Bridgette and Caitlin (Bridgette's sister, who is here visiting). It was SO sunny, but windy, so it didn't feel hot at all, and we got good starts on our California tans. I met two girls riding horses on the beach and they told me the secret entrance to this beach, so I can bring Quincy there someday. He will need to be much more bombproof before he can go there...there are people, dogs, kits, frisbees, footballs, etc... all over the place, and he would probably freak out if I tried going there now.

Speaking of Quincy, he is doing well. He's been moved to a paddock that allows him to sniff the noses of other geldings that he will eventually be living with. We are integrating him into the herd a little at a time, which is good. He got started on switching to the California hay, which is totally different than New York hay....it's made from oats, and looks like straw, but he loves it! I'm mixing it now with the hay I brought with me for a few days. I took him for a walk around the property today so he could check things out. I won't ride him for a week, though. He's been through quite the ordeal, and I just want him to relax, put a little weight on and get used to things here.

Deven and Derek are having a blast here. They've been doing some serious shopping, hitting just about every surf shop there is in Santa Cruz. They should have lots of nice souvenirs to bring home with them from this trip. They have been amazingly helpful to us, even after we got here....taking the dogs out, cleaning, etc... I don't know what we would have done without them.

Abner rented a car yesterday to drive down to LA, where he has family. He'll visit with them for a couple of days before heading back home to his farm in Ithaca. He really misses his family: his beautiful wife Jodi, who is nearly 7 months pregnant, and precious Diego, his little boy. I'm sure that will be a very happy reunion when he gets home.

Chris is enjoying the sunshine, and already has a great tan! He took a nice nap on the beach today, which is exactly what retired dentists are supposed to do, right? I think so....

I hope you are all doing well. We miss everyone so much. Take good care of yourselves and each other, will you? And remember to email us or message me on Facebook.

Much love,
Judy

Chris' email: chrisdevenpeck@yahoo.com

Judy's email: 9monkeygirlz@gmail.com