So much has happened since I last blogged! The thing on the top of my mind is that I have begun my new job. While I don't think I have really experienced what the routine will be yet, I do begin to feel confident that I made a good choice and that I can be successful.

So far, I have mainly been contacting people who already have a tax sheltered annuity and offering to do an account review with them. I wasn't clear on how that would make me any money, but in fact I have found that many people either want to increase the amount they are putting in, or there are new and better products available now so that they benefit from rolling over their existing product into a new one. So I have, in fact, made sales at a relatively high percentage of my appointments.

The problem, of course, is that it's summer and that makes teachers hard to reach. Even when I reach them, a significant number just don't want to think about things like this until they are back in the school routine. So I have a growing list of follow up calls to make next month and beyond.

Since I apparently missed the entire month of July, I haven't written anything since Bob's mother and sister who live in Bryan, his brother from Texas, and his brother in Michigan and his family all came for Red, White & Boom. We had some company in the house for over a week, with the big concentration of them for 4th of July weekend. We had a wonderful time! I wish we had the chance to get together with big groups of the family like that more often. We did, really, when we were younger, but everyone is geographically scattered now and many of us have kids in school, so scheduling is tougher than it used to be. But it sure was worth it.

My sister's health problems remain undiagnosed, though she is now seeing a neruo-ophthamologist at OSU who is apparently somewhat "House"-like. Not in his temperament, fortunately, but in his ability to get to the root of problems other doctors haven't been able to diagnose. So we are pinning some hope on Dr. Katz actually diagnosing her problem and then solving it. She is nearly at the end of her sick pay from Kroger. She has filed paperwork to look into getting back on permanent disability (which it never made sense for her to be off of!) but so far all her doctors haven't responded to the requests for information, so that application is in limbo until they do. I worry about her physical and financial health, both. Anybody reading this who prays, your prayers would be appreciated.

Sam successfully completed Phys Ed and Health in summer school with an A in each. He is still finishing up his independent study in Algebra II, but he has been getting A's on all the tests in that, too. I couldn't be more proud of how hard he has worked this summer and the success he has accomplished. Now he's applying himself to trying to finish two merit badges for Scouts, which are the last requirements he needs to attain Life Scout rank. That is the last rank before Eagle, to which he still aspires. If he gets to Life by the end of the summer, then he will have about two years available to him to complete the very challenging Eagle Scout requirements. I believe he will make it.

So in general, life is good here at our house. I am once again gainfully and happily employed, Bob clips along in his usual sunny, successful manner, and Sam's life seems to be on a very positive trajectory. I will try not to let two months pass between posts next time!