The hot tub was delivered and installed on Monday and we’ve already made good use of the spa. It is bigger and quite a bit different than the tub we had in Colorado Springs. Although I’ve read the owners manual once, I think I need to read it again as there’s a lot of capability that I’ve still got to learn about. We’ve ordered the fence to be put around the back yard and need to get it approved by the Architectural Committee. Yup — covenants say that we have to get all of this stuff approved. We also have to plant at least 4 maple trees of a special variety, which will cost about $250 or $300 apiece. Lovely.

The yard is growing a reasonable crop of grass and a huge crop of morning glory. Nina has spent several hours out there pulling out the morning glory runners to give the grass a chance at seeing sunlight. I put down some fertilizer, but the couple of strips I missed are now quite visible. I need to fill in on a couple of strips of the back yard that are now looking quite anemic compared to the other parts of the yard. And then there’s the sprinkler system. Whoever put them in didn’t pay much attention to the contours of the yard. Every one of them around the outside of the yard are level — meaning that they spray right into the lawn where the yard slopes up from the sprinkler. I spent a couple of hours resetting sprinker heads tonight, raising and breaking a pretty big blister in the palm of my right hand. I should have been wearing gloves!! It’s now quite painful and will be worse tomorrow, I’m sure. What a pain in the hand!

The Relief Society Presidency paid Nina a visit this evening. As I’ve noted before, we are living in a very friendly ward and they’re doing a good job of pulling us into the ward. I’ve been asked to teach the lesson on Sunday in the High Priests Group. That should be a lot of fun. Saturday is the "Gillette Cousins Reunion" in Bountiful, Utah. Mom and dad will drive over here and ride down with us. We should be back about 5 p.m. that evening. My brother Perry and my sister Eileen will also be there for the event. This will be the first Gillette reunion I’ve attended in several years.

I had my three-month review this afternoon in my new job. The review went well and was very positive. I’m enjoying the work and it looks like the company is happy with me so far. It doesn’t seem possible that I’ve already been here for three months! As Kermit the Frog said, "Time’s fun when you’re having flies!"

I still have a couple of sprinkler heads to reset, but they’re on a different sized pipe, so I’ve got to make yet another trip to Home Depot for supplies. I’ll also get some lumber to put shelves in the closet in the office and in the closet in the back hallway near the utility room. Gloves will be part of this activity. I don’t need any more blisters!