Tom sent Michael the letter today. He explained to me that if he filed a civil suit, we wouldn’t even have to be there, and we couldn’t go to jail either way. The worst that could happen would be that a judgment would be issued against us and his wages would be garnished, not that that wouldn’t be a nightmare. We’d be forced to leave Oregon altogether if it came to that. If it were up to me, our next move would be to a house for something like 15-20 years, then we’d live off the rest of our lives in a retirement community. However, I was never allowed to be in the driver’s seat of my life, so I’m sure we’ll be moving around every few months to a few years. It’s just that I’d really prefer it if God would not sic yet another person on us to make our lives miserable. We’d have to run with no money if he filed a suit against us. Before, we at least had a few grand. Tom, being the optimist he is, is hopeful that because Michael stated in his letter that the “contract would end and the land would be put back in their inventory for resale” this means he won’t file suit. Either way, I just wish God would give us a break!

I keep forgetting to mention that Tom learned at work why that pig was cruising around the mountain before we left it. It had to do with an escaped convict. I don’t know what he was convicted of or if they caught him, but that’s what it was about. He was out doing road work with other convicts when he bolted.

I cleaned the kitchen and bathroom today. How fast it went compared to the old house’s two baths and giant kitchen! I figured I’d do that and change the rat on Mondays. Tuesdays I’ll dust and vacuum.

As for my diet and exercise regimen, I’m going to work out 5 days a week for an hour and have 3 meals and 2 snacks. Breakfast will be something like a protein bar, lunch will be a meat sandwich of some kind, then I’ll have a Banquet TV dinner for dinner with fruits and veggies mixed in as snacks. I was 129 pounds when I got up at 12:30, so we’ll see where I’m at in a week. That still may be too much food for my shot metabolism to lose weight on. That’s not what the fitness magazine said, though. They have you do this formula to determine how many calories a day you can have to maintain your target weight, judging by your age, weight, height and activity level. Then they recommend you start having that amount and letting your weight drop to your target weight while you do, rather than drastically cutting your calories and eating more when you reach your goal weight, ultimately gaining the weight back.

What’s really cool about our street is that from certain parts of it, you can see Mount Shasta in California. Maybe that’s why they call it Shasta Way.